What we’re about
(Update: This group is transitioning to a new location. In the meantime check out the Toronto Philosophy Meetup for daily events, both online and in person!)
This group is being rebooted! Here we facilitate casual, good-natured conversations on anything under the sun that's of interest to members, including social and political issues, current events, local culture, international culture, ideas, books, music, art, movies, television, hobbies, sports, and more.
Our members come from around the world.
We meet in person and online!
Anyone is welcomed to start a conversation here, big or small, light or serious! Collaborations with other groups are also welcome.
Why "Reboot"?
Many years ago this was a reading and conversation group (Read Out Loud Toronto) that was improperly converted to a real estate group by someone who took over. This was against Meetup rules.
Since that individual has left, I want to restore this group to something like its original purpose. If you have any further ideas for the group please send them my way or leave a comment below!
In the meantime check out the Toronto Philosophy Meetup for daily events, both online and in person! - https://www.meetup.com/The-Toronto-Philosophy-Meetup/
Terrence Malick, American cinema’s great philosopher-poet, confirmed his place in the pantheon with this ravishing masterwork, his follow-up to debut Badlands (1973). Set in the 1910s, it stars Richard Gere as Bill, a Chicago steelworker who accidentally kills his foreman then goes on the lam with his sweetheart Abby (Brooke Adams) and teenage sister (Linda Manz), the film’s narrator. Finding refuge in the Elysian wheat fields of the Texas Panhandle, they are hired as seasonal harvesters by an ailing farmer (Sam Shepard), who falls in love with Abby, believing her to be Bill’s sister. Malick motifs abound: hushed, dreamy voiceover; endless magic hour; the indivisibility of man, nature, and God. Néstor Almendros’s impressionistic, Oscar-winning cinematography remains a benchmark of the art form. Malick’s visionary prowess won him Best Director at Cannes.
"One of the most mesmerisingly beautiful evocations of the past ever laid on celluloid." (The Guardian)
"The closest to poetry in motion that I have ever seen." (Salon)
"This is the towering, unconventional power of a true artist." (Empire)
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Join the Toronto Philosophy Meetup to discuss the 1978 movie Days of Heaven written and directed by the American filmmaker Terrence Malick, recently voted the 152nd greatest movie of all time in Sight & Sound's international survey of film critics and scholars. The movie won for Best Director at Cannes and Best Cinematography at the Oscars. In 2007, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"
Please watch the movie in advance (95 minutes) and bring your thoughts, reactions, and queries to share with us at the meeting. You can stream it with a viewing link to be posted on the main event listing here.
We'll be joined by many other participants from the Toronto Philosophy Meetup at this meeting — https://www.meetup.com/the-toronto-philosophy-meetup/events/310784876/
Check out other film discussions in the group every Friday and occasionally other days.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- FTI: Will the Rich Leave If We Raise Their Taxes? Myths,Facts&WhatHappens Next?Link visible for attendees
Raising taxes on the wealthy sounds like a way to fund social programs and reduce inequality—but does it really work? Or do the rich just pack up and move to lower-tax countries?
In this discussion, we’ll look at the evidence behind a common debate in economics and politics:- Do higher taxes drive people—and their businesses—away?
- What does history show from states like California and New York, or countries like France and the UK?
- What are the ethical and practical considerations of balancing fair taxation with economic competitiveness?
Whether you believe in taxing the rich more, protecting capital flight, or finding a middle ground, this event invites open minds from all perspectives to discuss how we can fund public goods without creating unintended harm.
Format: Lecture and discussion
Note: social time for our community 15 minutes before the presentation.
To get familiar with our past events, feel free to check out our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmixGB9GdrptyEWovEj80zgAfter registering via zoom, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
We publish our event recordings on our Youtube channel to offer our help to anyone who would like to but can’t attend the meeting, so we need to give this clause. If you don’t want to be recorded, just remain on mute and keep your video off.
Here’s our legal notice: For valuable consideration received, by joining this event I hereby grant Free Thinker Institute and its legal representatives and assigns, the irrevocable and unrestricted right to use and publish any and all Zoom recordings for trade, advertising and any other commercial purpose, and to alter the same without any restriction. I hereby release Free Thinker Institute and its legal representatives and assigns from all claims and liability related to said video recordings.
- Romola - George Eliot (week 4)Link visible for attendees
This meetup is hosted by Wisdom and Woe. For more details and to sign up for this event, go to: https://www.meetup.com/wisdom-and-woe/events/310036369
Romola (1862) is one of George Eliot's most ambitious and imaginative works: sworn by Eliot herself to be "written with [her] best blood"; admired by Robert Browning as "the noblest and most heroic prose poem" he had ever read; and vivid with historical, political, and geographical details that are "wonderful in their energy and in their accuracy" (Anthony Trollope).
It offers an in-depth perspective of the artistic, philosophical, religious, and social life of Renaissance Florence, featuring a cast of real-world figures such as Piero di Cosimo, Fra Angelico, and Niccolò Machiavelli. The novel begins in 1492, just as Italy is entering one of its most turbulent historical periods: including war, the exile of the Medici dynasty (famous for its luxuriance), and the ascendency of the religious zealot, Savonarola (famous for his austerity), harbingering Italy's proto-Protestant Reformation.
In this crucible is introduced the heroine, Romola, a naive youth seeking to define herself. A mysterious shipwreck survivor, Tito Melema, arrives in Florence seeking to redefine himself. The two are soon married, but Tito is haunted by a dark past. Swirled in national and marital intrigues of Shakespearean dimensions, Romola confronts crises of faith and virtue, loyalty and resistance.
Schedule:
- Week 1 (August 17): Introduction-Chapter 14
- Week 2 (August 24): Chapters 15-33
- Week 3 (August 31): Chapters 34-51
- Week 4 (September 7): Chapters 52-Epilogue
Wisdom and Woe is a philosophy and literature discussion group dedicated to exploring the world, work, life, and times of Herman Melville and the 19th century Romantic movement. The group is free and open to anybody with an interest in learning and growing by "diving deeper" into "time and eternity, things of this world and of the next, and books, and publishers, and all possible and impossible matters."
- Movie Discussion: Days of Heaven (1978) by Terrence MalickLink visible for attendees
Terrence Malick, American cinema’s great philosopher-poet, confirmed his place in the pantheon with this ravishing masterwork, his follow-up to debut Badlands (1973). Set in the 1910s, it stars Richard Gere as Bill, a Chicago steelworker who accidentally kills his foreman then goes on the lam with his sweetheart Abby (Brooke Adams) and teenage sister (Linda Manz), the film’s narrator. Finding refuge in the Elysian wheat fields of the Texas Panhandle, they are hired as seasonal harvesters by an ailing farmer (Sam Shepard), who falls in love with Abby, believing her to be Bill’s sister. Malick motifs abound: hushed, dreamy voiceover; endless magic hour; the indivisibility of man, nature, and God. Néstor Almendros’s impressionistic, Oscar-winning cinematography remains a benchmark of the art form. Malick’s visionary prowess won him Best Director at Cannes.
"One of the most mesmerisingly beautiful evocations of the past ever laid on celluloid." (The Guardian)
"The closest to poetry in motion that I have ever seen." (Salon)
"This is the towering, unconventional power of a true artist." (Empire)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Join the Toronto Philosophy Meetup to discuss the 1978 movie Days of Heaven written and directed by the American filmmaker Terrence Malick, recently voted the 152nd greatest movie of all time in Sight & Sound's international survey of film critics and scholars. The movie won for Best Director at Cannes and Best Cinematography at the Oscars. In 2007, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"
Please watch the movie in advance (95 minutes) and bring your thoughts, reactions, and queries to share with us at the meeting. You can stream it with a viewing link to be posted on the main event listing here.
We'll be joined by many other participants from the Toronto Philosophy Meetup at this meeting — https://www.meetup.com/the-toronto-philosophy-meetup/events/310784876/
Check out other film discussions in the group every Friday and occasionally other days.
- Designing The Perfect Society – 1on1 philosophical & political WORKSHOP (COH)Link visible for attendees
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
To be the speaking participant you must RSVP via Calendly.
The link to my Calendly calendar is available in my Egora profile:
Egora-ILP.org/philosopher/Cezary_JurewiczAll others are welcome to join to listen, use the chat, use the breakout rooms, and comment at the end.
About Citizen Office Hours:
If the Citizen is to be the highest authority in democracy, should we not have office hours to make ourselves available and accountable to our fellow citizens? The answer is YES – yes, we should.Also, in a democracy, there is no power without responsibility. If the citizens do not accept the responsibility of being citizens, then we do not really have any power – the power we might think we have is illusory. Therefore, all responsible citizens should make themselves available at their own "Citizen Office Hours".
This event is a publication of my Citizen Office Hours. I am making myself available to discuss any of my or your ideas published in Egora. Please be already registered for Egora before our meeting and at least somewhat familiar with my Ideological Profile so we can have a proper and thorough discussion. If you share your Ideological Profile in the comments in advance, i will take some time to study it before our meeting (ideally, the audience will do so too).
