Cabinet of Curious Contrarians

Where political convictions are questioned, ideologies interrogated, and certainty is treated with considerable suspicion.
An intentionally small weekly gathering of political philosophers, ideological misfits, constitutional sceptics and amateur architects of utopia.

The idea of the event is to examine 1–3 questions exploring politics, power and the peculiar ways humans attempt to govern themselves;
From liberalism, conservatism, socialism and fascism to democracy, authoritarianism, statecraft, constitutional constraints and the occasional legislative absurdity, few political ideas are beyond scrutiny.

The questions under consideration are on the event page at https://imperfectlycurious.com/event/cabinet-of-curious-contrarians-17th-october-2026/. Consider the questions beforehand if you wish, or arrive armed with nothing but curiosity and a vague suspicion that something is fundamentally wrong with civilisation. Both are perfectly acceptable.

The number of open places will be capped (potentially due to lack of interest) to keep our little cabinet small enough for everyone to contribute, challenge, reconsider and occasionally contemplate overthrowing the entire philosophical framework of the discussion. If the limit here is reached please visit https://imperfectlycurious.com/event/cabinet-of-curious-contrarians-17th-october-2026/ and join there (account creation necessary).

No expertise, party allegiance or fully formed political manifesto required. Half-baked theories, inconvenient questions, ideological contradictions and “I’m not sure, but…” are all welcome. Revolutionary fervour is optional; intellectual humility is encouraged.

This isn’t a lecture, a parliamentary shouting match or an opportunity to demonstrate how many political philosophers you can quote before somebody changes the subject. The hope is to explore competing perspectives, question our assumptions and consider whether even our most cherished political convictions might benefit from a little constitutional restraint.

We won’t be campaigning for particular parties or ideologies, nor attempting to settle centuries of political disagreement over an afternoon. The objective is to understand ideas rather than simply defend them, and to disagree without declaring intellectual civil war.

Sometimes we might discover the foundations of a just society. Other weeks we’ll conclude that Plato’s philosopher-kings would have struggled to get planning permission.

Either way, we’ll probably leave with more questions than answers, a few bruised certainties and a renewed appreciation of why governing people is such a spectacularly difficult business.

The goal is a good conversation, not a consensus.

And, mercifully, coalition formation is entirely voluntary, although defections are encouraged.

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