Blaise Pascal said that ‘the heart has its own reasons that reason does not know’. I extend the metaphor by adding that reason has its own passion. That is probably what Pascal meant by that phrase: that reason and passion are not opposites but integrated parts of a unified mind. The Philosophy Plays project is an attempt to bring together reason and passion, the cognitive and the affective, through the integrated medium of philosophy and drama.

The objective of the philosophy plays is to introduce, promote and develop philosophy in the public domain. To this end the Philosophy Plays project aims at making philosophy, and especially Western Philosophy, accessible to the general public and render philosophy accessible to people who would otherwise not have access to it. This paper will explain and demonstrate the theoretical rationale and methodology of the Philosophy Plays project as a way of doing public philosophy.