This paper suggests that Jean‐Jacques Rousseau, John Dewey, and Paulo Freire each engage in philosophical projects that seek to employ the practice of philosophy as a means to the development of the person and as a political and educational method of philosophy that aims to discover and answer the problems of cooperative associations. The paper argues that the philosophical projects of Rousseau, Dewey, and Freire are intimately related in approach, scope, and intent. Furthermore, it argues that by reading Rousseau, Dewey, (...) and Freire in conversation with one another, their philosophical projects can be effectively employed in an inquiry into citizenship and citizenship education and accordingly as the foundation for a fruitful philosophical methodology that is both political and educational. (shrink)