About us
Welcome to the Toronto Philosophy Meetup! This is a community (online and in-person) for anyone interested in philosophy, including newcomers to the subject. We host discussions, talks, reading groups, pub nights, debates, and other events on an inclusive range of topics and perspectives in philosophy, drawing from an array of materials (e.g. philosophical writings, for the most part, but also movies, literature, history, science, art, podcasts, poetry, current events, ethnographies, and whatever else seems good.)
Anyone is welcomed to host philosophy-related events here. We also welcome speakers and collaborations with other groups.
Join us at an event soon for friendship, cooperative discourse, and mental exercise!
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Bluesky and join our new Discord for extended discussion and to stay in touch with other members.
Feel free to propose meetup topics (you can do this on the Message Boards), and please contact us if you would like to be a speaker or host an event.
(NOTE: Most of our events are currently online because of the pandemic.)
"Philosophy is not a theory but an activity."
— from "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus", Wittgenstein
"Discourse cheers us to companionable
reflection. Such reflection neither
parades polemical opinions nor does it
tolerate complaisant agreement. The sail
of thinking keeps trimmed hard to the
wind of the matter."
— from "On the Experience of Thinking", Heidegger
See here for an extensive list of podcasts and resources on the internet about philosophy.
See here for the standards of conduct that our members are expected to abide by. Members should also familiarize themselves with Meetup's Terms of Service Agreement, especially the section on Usage and Content Policies.
See here for a list of other philosophy-related groups to check out in the Toronto area.
Please note that no advertising of external events, products, businesses, or organizations is allowed on this site without permission from the main organizer.
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Make a Donation
Since 2016, the Toronto Philosophy Meetup has been holding regular events that are free, open to the public, and help to foster community and a culture of philosophy in Toronto and beyond. To help us continue to do so into the future, please consider supporting us with a donation! Any amount is most welcome.
You can make a donation here.
See here for more information and to meet our donors.
Supporters will be listed on our donors page unless they wish to remain anonymous. We thank them for their generosity!
If you would like to help out or support us in other ways (such as with any skills or expertise you may have), please contact us.
Note: You can also use the donation link to tip individual hosts. Let us know who you want to tip in the notes section. You can also contact hosts directly for ways to tip them.
Featured event
Kant: Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (Week 1)
What does 'morality' mean, and what does it mean that we are moral? Kant's classic of meta-ethics, the Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, tries to address these questions while working towards inaugurating a new approach to metaphysics. Kant's ethical project is broad, covering problems of personal responsibility, virtue, rights, cosmopolitanism, world peace, and religion.
Note: Meetings focus on developing a common language and fostering friendship through the study of Kant. The host will provide an interpretation of Kant; other interpretations will not be discussed until later in the meeting. Additional interpretations, topics, and questions can be addressed through the Jitsi chat feature.
No prior experience with Kant is necessary.
In this session, we will be covering the Preface and Section 1: "Transition from common rational to philosophic moral cognition".
(links to text at bottom)
Schedule for Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals:
Week 1 (21):
Preface and Section 1: Transition from common rational to philosophic moral cognition
pp 43 - 60 (Practical Philosophy, Cambridge; 17 pages)
pp 4:387 - 4:405
Week 2 (22):
Section 2: Transition from popular moral philosophy to metaphysics of morals
pp 61 - 93 (Practical Philosophy, Cambridge; **32 pages**)
pp 4:406 - 4:445
Week 3 (23):
Section 3: Transition from metaphysics of morals to the critique of pure practical reason
pp 94 - 108 (Practical Philosophy, Cambridge; 14 pages)
pp 4:446 - 4:463
PDF: https://annas-archive.gl/md5/9c47b527649eb9ebf0761b4bcd7f0654
The reading group will continue with the Critique of Practical Reason and Metaphysics of Morals, so if you plan to continue with the group, I recommend getting the volume 'Practical Philosophy' in the Cambridge editions of Kant's work:
https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Philosophy-Cambridge-Works-Immanuel/dp/0521654084/
PDF (Cambridge Practical Philosophy): https://annas-archive.gl/md5/cc039aba3af613584ddbbb620649318f
Upcoming events
560
Philosophies of the South: (De)Bordering the Human
·OnlineOnlineThe Philosophies of the South series creates a platform for scholars, thinkers, activists, and practitioners engaging with intellectual traditions and critical frameworks that challenge the dominance of Western philosophical paradigms. Bringing together work inspired by decolonial thought, Indigenous epistemologies, and other critical traditions, the series explores how philosophy can be reimagined through perspectives that emerge from histories of colonialism, resistance, and alternative ways of knowing. Through conversations across disciplines and practices, the series alms to foster intellectual exchange, expand philosophical inquiry, and contribute to ongoing struggles for epistemic justice.
(De)Bordering the Human:
Borders are often framed as neutral tools for organising political life. Yet modern border regimes are deeply entangled with the histories of empire, colonial expansion, and racial hierarchy that shaped the modern world. In this online conversation, Nandita Sharma and rémy-paulin twahirwa examine how borders regulate movement, produce categories of belonging and exclusion, and define the boundaries of the human. They bring together critiques of nationalism, migration governance, and coloniality to reflect on how struggles over mobility continue to reshape our political and philosophical understandings of the world and what a borderless human might look like.
About the Speaker:
Nandita Sharma is Professor in the Sociology Department at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa and an activist-scholar. Her research addresses human migration, migrant labor, nation-state power, ideologies of racism, sexism, and nationalism, processes of identification and self-understanding, and social movements for justice. She is the author of Home Economics: Nationalism and the Making of ‘Migrant Workers’ in Canada (University of Toronto Press, 2006) and Home Rule: National Sovereignty and the Separation of Natives and Migrants (Duke University Press, 2020).
The Moderator:
Rémy-Paulin Twahirwa is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Aston University (ESRC-funded project: Peripheralisation of Asylum Accommodation), community organiser and writer based in London, specialising in immigration detention, borders, and the racialised governance of mobility. Their research examines confinement, legal personhood, and the expansion of the carceral state, with particular attention to the afterlives of empire and coloniality in contemporary border regimes. They are currently completing their first manuscript, On Ghostly Lives and serve as Managing Editor of The Philosopher.
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This is an online conversation and audience Q&A presented by the UK-based journal The Philosopher. It is open to the public and held on Zoom. The event is free to attend but the Zoom registration page has, by default, an optional donation amount that you can change to $0 (or whatever you wish). Donations go to The Philosopher magazine to cover our costs and expand the scope of our series.
Please send feedback or comments about our events directly to thephilosopher1923@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you!
About The Philosopher (https://www.thephilosopher1923.org/):
The Philosopher is the longest-running public philosophy journal in the UK (founded in 1923). It is published by the The Philosophical Society of England (http://www.philsoceng.uk/), a registered charity founded ten years earlier than the journal in 1913, and still running regular groups, workshops, and conferences around the UK. As of 2018, The Philosopher is edited by Newcastle-based philosopher Anthony Morgan and is published quarterly, both in print and digitally.
The journal aims to represent contemporary philosophy in all its many and constantly evolving forms, both within academia and beyond. Contributors over the years have ranged from John Dewey and G.K. Chesterton to contemporary thinkers like Christine Korsgaard, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Elizabeth Anderson, Martin Hägglund, Cary Wolfe, Avital Ronell, and Adam Kotsko.
10 attendees
FTI: Emotional Intelligence (EQ): The Hidden Driver of Success and Impact
·OnlineOnlineIQ can open doors—but EQ determines what happens once you walk through them.
In this session, we break down what emotional intelligence really is, why it plays a critical role in leadership, relationships, and decision-making, and how improving it can dramatically increase both personal success and collective outcomes.
We’ll cover:
- The core components of EQ (self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, social skill, motivation)
- Why high EQ individuals consistently outperform in leadership, negotiation, and team environments
- How EQ influences trust, influence, and long-term relationship building
- Practical ways to measure and improve your EQ in real-world situations
- How stronger EQ at scale leads to better organizations, communities, and outcomes
This isn’t just about being “nice”—it’s about building the awareness and control needed to navigate complexity, align incentives, and create win-win outcomes in every area of life.
A little about our host:
Garrett is a programmer turned award-winning software inventor turned entrepreneur (PlateRate.com is his company). His hobby is writing and discussing practical philosophy, and he does life coaching on request to help people live happy, moral lives. He is also the executive director of The Free Thinker Institute (FreeThinkerInstitute.org), which aims to create a community that helps members increase happiness and decrease harm for themselves and those they can influence.Format:
Lecture and discussionNote:
Social time for our community 15 minutes before the presentation.
To get familiar with our past events, feel free to check out our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmixGB9GdrptyEWovEj80zg
After registering via zoom, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.We publish our event recordings on our Youtube channel to offer our help to anyone who would like to but can’t attend the meeting, so we need to give this clause. If you don’t want to be recorded, just remain on mute and keep your video off.
Here’s our legal notice:
For valuable consideration received, by joining this event I hereby grant Free Thinker Institute and its legal representatives and assigns, the irrevocable and unrestricted right to use and publish any and all Zoom recordings for trade, advertising and any other commercial purpose, and to alter the same without any restriction. I hereby release Free Thinker Institute and its legal representatives and assigns from all claims and liability related to said video recordings.27 attendees
Past events
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