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
Socrates vanquishing the Sophists: Plato’s Protagoras (Live Reading)
Can excellence and virtue be taught? Can virtuous politics be taught? Can political excellence be taught or transmitted in any way, shape or form? These are only some of the questions with which Protagoras wrestles and the provide Plato with ample opportunity to engage with diverse topics such as the constitution of human societies, the ultimate unity of virtues and the responsibilities of teachers.
Protagoras, possibly the most famous sophist of his day and a leading figure in the sophistic movement, is charging a king’s ransom as a fee for his professorial services and a young man by the name of Hippocrates is prepared to pay. He persuades Socrates to act as a mediator and convince Protagoras to take him on as a student. The ensuing dialogue will cast doubt on Protagoras’ claim that he is able to prepare the future leaders of the political community.
The dialogue is supposedly taking place some time before the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, probably in 434-432 BC but was written in the 380s and belongs to the early platonic period.
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This will be a live reading of Plato's Protagoras. Saturday March 21 will be the first session on the Protagoras and thus the ideal time to join our group. Reference will be made to contemporary and older scholarship. Historical context will be brought up whenever necessary to illuminate the dialogue.
We will be using Benjamin Jowett’s translation, which can be found here.
This Plato group meets on Saturdays and has previously read the Symposium, Phaedo, the Apology, Philebus, Gorgias, Critias, Laches, Timaeus, Euthyphro, Crito and other works, including ancient commentaries and texts for contextualisation such as Gorgias’ Praise of Helen. It is our aspiration to read the Platonic corpus over a long period of time.
The host is Constantine Lerounis, a distinguished Greek philologist and poet, author of Four Access Points to Shakespeare’s Works (in Greek) and Former Advisor to the President of the Hellenic Republic.
Upcoming events
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Kant: Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (Week 1)
·OnlineOnlineWhat 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 - 4:405Week 2 (22):
Section 2: Transition from popular moral philosophy to metaphysics of morals
pp 61 - 93 (Practical Philosophy, Cambridge; **32 pages**)
pp 4:406 - 4:445Week 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 - 4:463PDF: 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
16 attendees
Kant FTΦ: Schiller’s Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man (Live Reading)
·OnlineOnlineIn Kant's Critique of the Power of Judgment, we see vague suggestions on how aesthetic judgments contribute to culture. In Friedrich Schiller's letters, we can see a more developed argument on how aesthetic education is required to promote the freedom of the individual as well as transition us between a state of nature and a state ruled by reason.
Hopefully, this reading provides an opportunity to compare Kant's interest in how aesthetic judgments (and moral judgments themselves) contribute to culture with Schiller and expand our interpretation of both.
I've linked the Penguin edition of the book here, but please feel free to use whatever edition you have or want.
At this meeting we will be starting at Letter XIX, paragraph 1.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Aesthetic-Education-Man-Friedrich-Schiller/dp/0141396962?sr=8-1
PDF: https://annas-archive.li/md5/22dcd586440cfd2d7ada034ca119db79
PDF (with facing German): https://annas-archive.li/md5/005de78cf1a714cc2c155ce569f670cf
Note: Kant FTΦ (Friends Through Philosophy) is a group of individuals who have connected over reading Kant (and other philosophers).
This meeting will focus on the interests of regular attendees. We will frequently reference Kant and other philosophers. Discussions may involve shared notions that have developed over time. If you are not a regular attendee and feel lost in the conversation, it may be a byproduct of being newer to the meetings: don't hesitate to ask for clarification.
6 attendees![[In-person] Curiosity Café – Work and Identity](https://secure.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/5/1/f/a/highres_534200986.jpeg)
[In-person] Curiosity Café – Work and Identity
Madison Avenue Pub, 14 Madison Ave, Toronto, ON, CAThe average Canadian who is working a full time, paid job spends 1,750 hours a year working – almost one-third of their waking hours. With so much of our time spent doing paid and unpaid labour, it’s difficult not to identify ourselves
by the very thing that we spend much of our time doing.We often ask children “What do you want to be when you grow up?" and adults "What do you do?" at dinner parties, as a way to get to know others. The unspoken expectation is for that answer to be about work and professional occupations rather than other aspects of our lives. We regularly make assumptions about who a person is based on their answers to those questions: the argumentative lawyer, the boring accountant, the patient pre-school teacher. Work and identity conflate in our day-to-day lives.
But what does it mean to work? Is the value of work dependent on its utility, or is it possible to truly enjoy what we do just for the sake of doing it? Can we live a full and happy life while also working a job we don't connect with in an emotional or spiritual way? How does work conflict with our personal values or make us question who we are? Are you the same person when you're working as you are when you’re at home or with friends? Put another way, are we "bringing our whole selves to work" or do we find value in holding some of ourselves back?
Join returning guest moderator Minami Alguire and our very own Sophia Whicher, at our next Curiosity Café where we will explore the dynamics between work and self.
Space is limited! Please obtain a “Pay-What-You-Can” ticket from Curiosity Café at this link (click here) to attend this event. You need a ticket to be admitted. See the above link for more info about tickets and other options including a limited number of free tickets. Come and hang out with us, grab food, and read through our handout from 6-6:30pm. Our structured discussion will run from 6:30-8:30pm with a 10 minute break in the middle.
Hope to see you there!
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This event is brought to you by Being and Becoming, a Toronto based non-profit. We aim to create community around exploring everyday concepts and experiences so that we may live more intentional, thoughtful, and meaningful lives. We use philosophy as a tool with which we can come to a richer understanding of the world around us.
By offering activities, spaces, and other opportunities for conversation and co-exploration, we hope to enable the meeting and fusion of individuals and their ideas. Everyone is welcome, regardless of background: indeed, we believe the journey is best undertaken alongside explorers from a variety of disciplines, cultures, backgrounds, and experiences.
Find out more about Being and Becoming here.
About the Curiosity Café Series:
For those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to join us at our Curiosity Cafés and are wondering what they’re all about: every two weeks, we invite members of our community to come out to the Madison Avenue Pub to engage in a collaborative exploration of our chosen topic. Through these events, we aim to build our community of people who like to think deeply about life’s big questions, and provide each other with some philosophical tools to dig deeper into whatever it is we are most curious about.
10 attendees
Past events
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