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

Empathy can be a valuable tool for understanding others. But its value in decision-making tends to be a subject of heated debate. We speak of empathetic people as being considerate of others. We also tend to think of empathy as a motivator for making the right decisions.

But while empathy has its merits, it may not always be the best guide for moral decision-making. After all, we tend to empathize more with those who are similar to us, those who look like us or share our backgrounds. Studies have also consistently shown that we have a strong ‘in-group’ bias in that we tend to more strongly empathize with those we perceive as peers. The benefits of empathy can differ with respect to a person’s dispositions. For instance, Paul Bloom writes, “Empathy makes good people better, then, because kind people don’t like suffering, and empathy makes this suffering salient. If you made a sadist more empathic, it would just lead to a happier sadist”. We might disagree with this characterization, but nevertheless, it calls into question whether empathy is a reliable tool for moral decisions. Are there more effective ways to consider others’ perspectives? What are some other ways that people can be motivated to make the right decisions?

Join guest moderator Leena Abdelrahim and our very own Marybel Menzies at the next Curiosity Café on September 10th, to unpack the benefits and drawbacks of empathy!

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.