[In-person] Curiosity Café: Dignity (Ticketed Event)

Dignity is commonly understood as a kind of moral worth or status shared by all human beings, and the basis for a variety of legal and ethical duties and rights. From prohibitions against torture to the provision of medical assistance in dying, the notion of dignity is frequently cited in discussions of how people should or should not be treated. At the same time, there remains widespread disagreement as to what, exactly, dignity means or entails. In an essay entitled “The Stupidity of Dignity,” Steven Pinker called it “a squishy, subjective notion, hardly up to the heavyweight moral demands assigned to it”; and even those who believe dignity is neither squishy, subjective, nor stupid have advanced very different accounts of what it is.

So what, exactly, is dignity? At our next Curiosity Café, moderated by Reshma Aser and Adrian Ma, we will engage in a collaborative exploration of dignity and its relevance to ongoing debates in ethics and human rights. Along the way, we will ask ourselves:

• Where does dignity come from? From our rationality? From God? From our social status? From the mere fact of being human? From something else?
• Is dignity unique to human beings, or can it be extended to non-human animals?
• Is the vagueness of dignity a strength, rather than a weakness?
• How does the concept of dignity apply in major areas of legal and ethical concern, such as end-of-life care and meat consumption?
• And many other questions.

We do not know if dignity will turn out to be stupid, but we promise the discussion will make us all a little smarter.

Space is limited! 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.