Public Political Philosophy, Moral Sentimentalism, and Larp

In this article, I claim that moral sentimentalism is a good approach for political philosophers wanting to engage in public political philosophy. I propose live action roleplay (larp) as a method to maximise the potential of this. In the first section, I present the urgency for public political philosophy through Jonathan Floyd’s recent article. I claim that Floyd’s presentation of public political philosophy is complemented by thinking of certain topics in political discourse as wicked problems. I argue that moral sentimentalism is an excellent fit for public political philosophy because of its goal of eliciting empathy. I present methods in political philosophy that have appropriate immersive properties, but claim that larp takes this a step further. In the final section, I look at why this is and suggest larp as a method for moral sentimentalists to engage in public political philosophy research.