Philosophy and Dungeons and Dragons

Dungeons and Dragons (DND) is a fantasy role-playing game where students pretend to be characters inspired by fiction like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Percy Jackson. The University of Melbourne reported in 2019 that students who play role playing games like this “have higher cognitive abilities than the average population…[including] comprehension, spelling, attention span, and critical thinking.” Philosophy and DND adds a layer of ethical thought experiments to the game, where students will first play the game and then discuss the real-life implications and philosophical basis for the challenges they encountered in the game. It makes learning about the liberal arts fun.