[In-person] Curiosity Café: Imagination

Imagination is our capacity to represent things beyond our immediate physical experience, from possible worlds to abstract ideas or stories. While Blaise Pascal saw imagination as a “mistress of error” leading us astray, other philosophers such as Robin Kelley believe in what he dubs “Radical Imagination.” Specifically, he thought that “imagination can [help us to] … see the future in the present.” So is imagination best conceived of as a useful mental tool, or a vehicle for error and escapism?

In our first Curiosity Café of 2026, we will be reflecting on our own experiences with imagination. To do so, we’ll ask questions like: What are the positive and negative influences that imagination has on our lives? What is the difference between fantasy, idealization, and catastrophization? What sorts of functions might they serve? Considering notions of utopia and moral progress, does imagination play a role in politics and society? Is collective imagination possible?

Join us on January 20th for this discussion, co-moderated by returning guest Beatrice Turner and our very own Marybel Menzies, to explore many of the fascinating ways we use imagination in our daily lives, on large and small scales.

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.