[In-person] Curiosity Café: Meaning in Life

What do we mean when we say that we want to live a meaningful life?

‘What’s the meaning of life?’ If you have ever told people you’re interested in philosophy, you have probably been asked this question. Sometimes, the question is asked jokingly, as if it isn’t really that serious – perhaps the answer is too far removed from the realities of everyday life to impact how we live, and hence doesn’t matter, or the endeavour to answer it is futile. But as philosophers like Susan Wolf have pointed out, it might be that what more of us actually care about is the question of how we can live a meaningful life (have you ever thought to yourself, “this work isn’t meaningful, so I should stop doing it,” or, “wow, so-and-so lived such a meaningful life”? What are you picking out there?). In other words, the question of what makes an individual life meaningful has more direct import in our lives than the question of what makes human life as a whole meaningful.

In our next café, then, we will focus on exploring the topic of meaning in life. We will explore questions such as:

• What role does meaning, understood in the sense of “meaning in life,” play in your life decision-making?
• Is living a meaningful life the same as living a “good,” or “happy” life?
• Are there certain universal conditions that must be met in order for us to judge our own, or someone else’s, life to be meaningful?
• What roles do close relationships, spirituality, and work play in living a meaningful life?
• Is it important that a certain kind of feeling or attitude accompany our endeavours in order for them to contribute to meaning in our lives?
• Are there specific conditions that must be met, no matter who you are, in order for your life to be accurately deemed meaningful?
• Would a life that lacked suffering be a meaningful life?
• What roles do goals and achievement play in living a meaningful life?

On Tuesday, May 28th, join our very own Dylan Michels and Sophia Whicher to explore these questions and more in a lively, collaborative, low-stakes setting.

Please also obtain a ticket here if you're attending this event.

You can support our organization by implementing optional “Pay-What-You-Can” tickets, in addition to the usual "Free Ticket" option. We ask that you consider making a donation when you RSVP to help us make our work and growth as an organization possible. (The ticketing page also has info about accessibility-related concerns at the venue.)

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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.