Welcome to the Daily Dad podcast where we provide one lesson every day to help you

with your most important job being a dad. These are lessons inspired by ancient philosophy,

by practical wisdom, and insights from dads all over the world.

Thank you for listening, and we hope this helps.

Do you do this over dinner?

Some families watch TV at dinner.

Some families eat separately. Some families talk idly about their day.

Dinner at Agnes Callard's house is different. She and her children debate. Because she is a philosopher,

many of their debates are philosophical. If a conjoined twin committed a crime, should both twins be punished? Is it possible for

the other twin to be completely innocent? These are the things they talk about. And of course,

some of the topics are silly. She explained on the Daily Dad podcast recently that they just

finished a long family debate led by her seven-year-old on what would be the

ideal type of glove. It's not the content of the debate that matters. It's the activity. It's that

they did it as a family. It's that they used it as an opportunity, countless opportunities over

the years to teach important lessons. And as an expert on Socrates,

Callard wanted to show her children how to ask questions, how to probe to the truth, how never to be

satisfied with superficial answers. And she also used these debates as a chance to illustrate

what good faith looks like, how to change your mind, how to

argue respectfully. Like most great parenting strategies, this wasn't some forced or formal activity

either. They began as discussions between her and her husband that her kids wanted to join in.

Each child came to see that the way to be included, the way to participate in the dinner

discussions, was to have something to say in a point of view. So the dinner debates evolved over

...