About us
Welcome to the Toronto Philosophy Meetup! This is a community (online and in-person) for anyone interested in philosophy, including newcomers to the subject. We host discussions, talks, reading groups, pub nights, debates, and other events on an inclusive range of topics and perspectives in philosophy, drawing from an array of materials (e.g. philosophical writings, for the most part, but also movies, literature, history, science, art, podcasts, poetry, current events, ethnographies, and whatever else seems good.)
Anyone is welcomed to host philosophy-related events here. We also welcome speakers and collaborations with other groups.
Join us at an event soon for friendship, cooperative discourse, and mental exercise!
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Bluesky and join our new Discord for discussion and to stay in touch with other members.
(🚨🚨🚨 WARNING: FRADULENT EMAILS are circulating that IMPERSONATE organizers of this group and ask you for money or personal information if you engage. IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED SUCH AN EMAIL OR IF YOU ARE UNCERTAIN about any message claiming to represent this group, PLEASE REPORT IT by contacting the main organizer Darren directly through Meetup's messaging system or email us at philosophyto [at] gmail [dot] com. Be vigilant for scams in general, which are everywhere these days and easier than ever to generate because of A.I. 🚨🚨🚨)
Feel free to propose meetup topics (you can do this on the Message Boards), and please contact us if you would like to be a speaker or host an event.
(Note: Most of our events have moved online because of the pandemic.)
"Philosophy is not a theory but an activity."
— from "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus", Wittgenstein
"Discourse cheers us to companionable
reflection. Such reflection neither
parades polemical opinions nor does it
tolerate complaisant agreement. The sail
of thinking keeps trimmed hard to the
wind of the matter."
— from "On the Experience of Thinking", Heidegger
See here for an extensive list of podcasts and resources on the internet about philosophy.
See here for the standards of conduct that our members are expected to abide by. Members should also familiarize themselves with Meetup's Terms of Service Agreement, especially the section on Usage and Content Policies.
See here for a list of other philosophy-related groups to check out in the Toronto area.
Please note that no advertising of external events, products, businesses, or organizations is allowed on this site without permission from the main organizer.
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Make a Donation
Since 2016, the Toronto Philosophy Meetup has been holding regular events that are free, open to the public, and help to foster community and a culture of philosophy in Toronto and beyond. To help us continue to do so into the future, please consider supporting us with a donation! Any amount is most welcome.
You can make a donation here.
See here for more information and to meet our donors.
Supporters will be listed on our donors page unless they wish to remain anonymous. We thank them for their generosity!
If you would like to help out or support us in other ways (such as with any skills or expertise you may have), please contact us.
Note: You can also use the donation link to tip individual hosts. Let us know who you want to tip in the notes section. You can also contact hosts directly for ways to tip them.
Featured event
Movie Discussion: I Am Cuba (1964) by Mikhail Kalatozov
Both a landmark of radical political cinema and one of the most visually ravishing films ever made, this legendary hymn to revolution shimmers across the screen like a fever dream of rebellion. Mixing Slavic solemnity with Latin sensuality, I Am Cuba’s multiple plots take us from the seductive and decadent world of Batista’s Havana, with its swank nightclubs and glamorous poolside social scene, through the city’s poverty-stricken slums, and on to the first stirrings of revolution with brutally suppressed student protests in the streets and armed revolt in the hills. Tepidly received in both Havana and Moscow for being insufficiently revolutionary, I Am Cuba was shelved and largely forgotten for decades. The film's rediscovery and restoration by Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola in the 1990s was a major cinematic event.
"Immensely entertaining and occasionally inspiring, a delirious combination of Slavic solemnity, Latin exoticism, Communist idealism, and breathtakingly beautiful images." (Rotten Tomatoes)
"Suggests Eisenstein filtered through La Dolce Vita with an Afro-Cuban pulse.” (New York Times)
“Interesting not only for its technical skill, but also because it betrays a certain interest in la dolce vita that is not entirely in keeping with the movie’s revolutionary, agitprop stance.” (Roger Ebert)
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Let's discuss the 1964 cult classic propaganda film I Am Cuba (Spanish: Soy Cuba) by the acclaimed Georgian/Soviet filmmaker Mikhail Kalatozov, recently voted the 106th greatest movie of all time in Sight & Sound's international survey of filmmakers.
Please watch the movie in advance (141 minutes) and bring your thoughts, reactions, and queries to share with us at the meeting. You can stream it here {check the player settings for subtitles and to adjust quality) or rent it through Criterion or other streaming platforms (for best quality).
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Check out other movie discussions in the group, currently happening about 2 or 3 times a month.
This link here is a spreadsheet of the approximately 200 movies we've watched in this group and my ratings for each. You're invited to share your ratings too if you've watched a bunch of these movies with us. (I can add your list here if you send me a link. You can make your own list on sites like Letterboxd or by copying my spreadsheet and filling in your own values. Note that my list doesn't include every movie that Yorgo hosted on cause I didn't watch all of them.)
Upcoming events
414
Egora Academy: writing, publishing, presenting, and implementing your philosophy
·OnlineOnlineAbout Egora Academy:
This event is a continuing series of workshops based around using the Egora networking platform to write, publish, present, improve, and implement your political, economic, social, and existential philosophy. During this event the participants will have the opportunity to present one or more of their ideas previously written and published in Egora. Then we will analyze each idea for its merits and flaws, and against other ideas, possibly leading to the development of new and better ideas. If an idea succeeds in gaining support from enough other philosophers in Egora, it might ultimately become implemented through the world's governing structures (besides Egora being a philosophical learning tool, Egora is also the political organizing platform of the International Logic Party).I most highly recommend that before your first event you take some time to learn about Egora, register for it, and begin developing your Ideological Profile in Egora with at least a few different ideas (original or copied). If you do not have an Ideological Profile in Egora, then this event will mostly be preparation for the next event.
This is my Ideological Profile:
http://egora-ilp.org/philosopher/Cezary_Jurewicz
Everyone is invited to examine it to prepare themself regarding my positions on different issues.Levels of participation:
My preference is to do 1-on-1 events in front of an audience because this allows the two participants to thoroughly develop their positions on very complex topics. This is also to the benefit of the audience because each audience member is encouraged to come back to be the speaking participant next time (everyone is also encouraged to host their own events, and i would love to come to listen). For this reason, you can RSVP to be the main participant for this event through my Calendly, which is available in my Ideological Profile in Egora.If no one RSVPs as the main participant, we will just have a group session.
9 attendeesMovie Discussion: I Am Cuba (1964) by Mikhail Kalatozov
·OnlineOnlineBoth a landmark of radical political cinema and one of the most visually ravishing films ever made, this legendary hymn to revolution shimmers across the screen like a fever dream of rebellion. Mixing Slavic solemnity with Latin sensuality, I Am Cuba’s multiple plots take us from the seductive and decadent world of Batista’s Havana, with its swank nightclubs and glamorous poolside social scene, through the city’s poverty-stricken slums, and on to the first stirrings of revolution with brutally suppressed student protests in the streets and armed revolt in the hills. Tepidly received in both Havana and Moscow for being insufficiently revolutionary, I Am Cuba was shelved and largely forgotten for decades. The film's rediscovery and restoration by Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola in the 1990s was a major cinematic event.
"Immensely entertaining and occasionally inspiring, a delirious combination of Slavic solemnity, Latin exoticism, Communist idealism, and breathtakingly beautiful images." (Rotten Tomatoes)
"Suggests Eisenstein filtered through La Dolce Vita with an Afro-Cuban pulse.” (New York Times)
“Interesting not only for its technical skill, but also because it betrays a certain interest in la dolce vita that is not entirely in keeping with the movie’s revolutionary, agitprop stance.” (Roger Ebert)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's discuss the 1964 cult classic propaganda film I Am Cuba (Spanish: Soy Cuba) by the acclaimed Georgian/Soviet filmmaker Mikhail Kalatozov, recently voted the 106th greatest movie of all time in Sight & Sound's international survey of filmmakers.
Please watch the movie in advance (141 minutes) and bring your thoughts, reactions, and queries to share with us at the meeting. You can stream it here {check the player settings for subtitles and to adjust quality) or rent it through Criterion or other streaming platforms (for best quality).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check out other movie discussions in the group, currently happening about 2 or 3 times a month.
This link here is a spreadsheet of the approximately 200 movies we've watched in this group and my ratings for each. You're invited to share your ratings too if you've watched a bunch of these movies with us. (I can add your list here if you send me a link. You can make your own list on sites like Letterboxd or by copying my spreadsheet and filling in your own values. Note that my list doesn't include every movie that Yorgo hosted on cause I didn't watch all of them.)
33 attendees
Past events
8036
