What we’re about
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.
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 are currently 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.
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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Let's 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 for free here (check the player settings to adjust quality) or rent it on Criterion or other streaming platforms for best quality.
Check out other movie discussions in the group every Friday and occasionally other days.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Fitzgerald's "The Crack-Up": Event, Line of Flight and the LiminalLink visible for attendees
We continue with our exploration of the Deleuzian line of flight, contrasting it with Bataille's logic of transgression. The reading for this week is a Fitzgerald text much beloved by Deleuze plus a brief secondary reading:
F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Crack-Up"
Fredrika Spindler, "Event, Crack-up and Line of Flight – Deleuze Reading Fitzgerald"You can find all texts in the Google folder linked at the VERY BOTTOM of this description. The Zoom link is also posted there.
👇 scroll all the way down for the links 👇Some discussion questions:
- How does the Deleuzian line of flight differ from the Bataillean logic of transgression? Is one to be preferred over the other?
- What exactly is the Deleuzian event? Must an event necessarily be accompanied by an experience of personal trial or breakdown?
- Is Deleuze's argument for the superiority of Anglo-American literature (over the French or German, say) convincing?
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ABOUT THIS READING GROUP
This is a comprehensive reading group focusing on the works of French writer Georges Bataille. We are reading key texts from Bataille himself, as well as tracing his relationship with other major thinkers such as Hegel, Nietzsche, André Breton/Surrealism, Blanchot, Lacan, Foucault, Deleuze, Derrida, etc.Some familiarity with Bataille's mode and style of thought is helpful but not necessary. You're welcome to join the group in medias res at any time. See, however, the group rules below.
Please take the time to read and reflect on the reading prior to each meeting. Everyone is welcome to attend, but speaking priority will be given to people who have read the text.
Topics to be discussed in the future:
- Bataillean transgression and Deleuzian line of flight
- Erotism and the 'logic' of transgression
- Foucault's "A Preface to Transgression"
- Bataille's critique of Hegel: the negative and general economy
- Derrida's reading of Bataille in "From Restricted to General Economy"
Past topics included:
- Bataille's aesthetics: the rift with Surrealism
- Susan Sontag on avant-guarde literature
- Bataille's novel Blue of Noon
- Inner Experience and a-theological mysticism
- Bataille's reading of Nietzsche and his critique of fascism
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MORE ABOUT BATAILLE
Georges Bataille stands out as an eclectic, fascinating and controversial figure in the world of French letters. A contemporary of Sartre and Lacan, he combined ideas from diverse disciplines to create a unique position that he called 'base materialism'. In the early 20s, Bataille abandoned Catholicism, embraced psychoanalysis and Marxism and initiated an unorthodox search for the sacred in late modernity. His obsessive pursuit of ecstatic liminal experiences took him across the boundaries of philosophy, sociology, political economy, mythology, poetry, literature and mystical theology. His works develop a libidinal economy of unconditioned expenditure, offer a critique of fascism and embrace marginal experiences in the style of the French poets. Though he remained largely outside the academic mainstream and worked as a librarian, Bataille is a formative precursor to the post-structuralist philosophers of the '60s -- and may well be more relevant to our time than ever.In this group we look at a significant cross-section of Bataille's texts. Our aim is to understand his thought on its own terms as well as place him in the context of his predecessors and the French thinkers who followed his lead. In view of Bataille's early relationship with Surrealism, the referenced artworks will spotlight this movement.
Note: Bataille's texts, while philosophically important, discuss difficult themes such as mortality, violence, the unconscious, eroticism, rituals of sacrifice, etc. Discretion is advised as you approach him, especially if this is your first experience with French philosophy.
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GROUP RULES
- Please spend 1-2 hours per week reading and preparing for the discussion.
- Keep your comments concise and relevant to the text.
- Please limit each comment to a maximum of 2-3 minutes. You're welcome to speak as many times as you wish.
- Virtual meeting courtesy: let's not interrupt each other and keep mics muted when not speaking.
- We'll focus the discussion with key passages and discussion questions. Be sure to bring your favorite passages, questions, comments, criticisms, etc.
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Join the Facebook group for more resources and discussion:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/755460079505498
If you have attended previous meetings, please fill out a brief survey at this link: https://forms.gle/tEMJ4tw2yVgnTsQD6All readings can be found in this Google folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VPRdvZYmUKBY3cSxD8xC8sTYtSEKBXDs
Zoom link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81251109319?pwd=R3hVQ2RqcVBvaHJwYnoxMFJ5OXJldz09Art: Crack is Wack (1986) by Keith Haring
- International Relations: Theories, Applications, and Current EventsLink visible for attendees
This will mostly be a discussion around major recent and ongoing events in international relations, while applying as much IR concepts and frameworks as possible.
[Placeholder for references]
- Middle East
- Ukraine
- NATO / Transatlantic
- China / BRICS
- Other
Links from previous event on Israel-Iran:
John Mearsheimer & Yoram Hazony on Israel vs. Iran
BLACK PILL: Majority Americans Support Iran War
Ted Postol on Physics of the Air Strike, Jeffrey Sachs, John Mearsheimer, Douglas MacGregor, Chaz Freeman
Iran War Debate: Nuclear Weapons, Trump, Peace, Power & the Middle East | Lex Fridman Podcast
Bilahari Kausikan: U.S. Role in World is Undergoing ‘Fundamental Shift’Links from prior/ongoing series on basic IR Theories:
Theory
- Quick Overview of Structural Realism, Liberalism, etc.; Another
- Offensive vs. Defensive Realism; 2
- Constructivism
- Diplomacy: Stapleton Roy, George Schultz, Bilahari Kausikan
- Power: Joseph Nye, Jack Matlock
Talks, applications, and discussions
- Rise and Fall of Liberal Intl Order
- John Mearsheimer discusses his book "The Great Delusion"
- Why is Ukraine the West's Fault? Featuring John Mearsheimer (2015)
- Why John Mearsheimer is wrong about realism, great power politics and history
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AjiSqp5Ddw
Additional Info and References
- [Placeholder]
- Kant's Doctrine of Transcendental Illusion by Michelle GrierLink visible for attendees
Welcome everyone to the next meetup series hosted by Jen and Philip! (Please scroll to the bottom for the reading schedule and materials! 👇👇👇👇👇)
We are lucky at the Toronto Philosophy Meetup to have a lot of excellent meetups on Immanuel Kant. In this blurb I (Philip) will try to give you a sense of what our Kant meetup is (and what it isn't) so you can make an informed decision about which Kant meetup is right for you. Honestly, you cannot go wrong. Erik and Gerry both do excellent Kant meetups and several other people do as well.
But that being said, this meetup Jen and I will be doing will also have its merits and this blurb will, I hope, help you understand what those merits are.
First, the basics:
This will be a 3 hour meetup. For the first 2 hours we will be talking about:
- Michelle Grier's wonderful book Kant's Doctrine of Transcendental Illusion**.
- For the 3rd and final hour we will be talking about Manfred Kuehn's book Kant: A Biography.
In both portions of the meetup, the format will be our usual "accelerated live read". What this means is that each participant will be expected to read roughly 15 pages from Grier and roughly 20 pages from Keuhn before each session. Each participant will have the option of picking a few paragraphs they especially want to focus on. We will then do a live read on the paragraphs that the participants found most interesting when they did the assigned reading.
People who have not done the reading are welcome to attend this meetup. However if you want to TALK during the meetup it is essential that you do the reading. We mean it! It is essential that the direction of the conversation be influenced only by people who have actually done the reading. This is KANT after all — arguably the most important western philosopher of all time! So do yourself a favour and do the reading. You will get so much more out of this meetup if you do. You may think you are so brilliant and wonderful that you can come up with great points even if you do not do the reading. I'm sure you are brilliant and wonderful — no argument there. But you still have to do the reading if you want to talk in this meetup. REALLY.
Please note that this is a "raise hands" meetup and has a highly structured format, not an anarchy-based one. This is partly for philosophical reasons: We want to discourage a simple-minded rapid fire "gotcha!" approach to philosophy. But our highly structured format is also for disability related reasons that Philip can explain if required.
After we have spent a few sessions reading and talking about the Michelle Grier book, we may feel the need to focus on a few select passages from Kant himself. When we do this we will be using the Guyer and Wood translation of the Critique of Pure Reason. We also may feel the need to situate Grier's claims within a broader interpretive context and, if we do, we may spend some time dipping into Graham Bird's magisterial book The Revolutionary Kant. If you are new to Kant I urge you to start at the beginning of the Guyer/Wood translation of the Critique of Pure Reason and read it (slowly!) all the way through; either on your own or with a group. If you do this, the Graham Bird book can function as a helpful guide. I know the Critique of Pure Reason is not an easy book, but even if you just do 2 pages per day it will help you enormously (in all of your studies in Philosophy).
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Here is a bit about the guiding ethos of this meetup:
This meetup will be guided by the idea that to study Kant seriously it is essential to have a sense of the bewilderingly wide range of ways there are of interpreting Kant. The different ways of interpreting Kant do not present slightly different versions of the same basic Kantian themes. Not at all! The different interpretations are so different that it is sometimes hard to believe that everyone is reading the same German guy named Kant! And there is no indication that the various interpretations are converging. Again, not at all.
This frustrating situation is just the way things are in Kant Studies and we have to be realistic about it.
I (Philip) will always do my best to contrast Michell's Grier's claims with the different (sometimes wildly different) claims made by other Kant scholars. When we read passages from the Critique of Pure Reason I will do my best to alert you to the bewilderingly wide range of ways there are of interpreting every line Kant writes. This is what serious Kant scholars do (and serious people who are new to Kant do) and it is what we will do too.
This interpretive technique (of comparing your way of interpreting Kant with all the other ways of interpreting Kant) is, if anything, even MORE important if you are new to Kant. There is an alarming tendency in the history of Kant scholarship for people to (as it were) get "locked in" to whatever interpretation of Kant they encounter first, or whichever way of interpreting Kant has the most grip on their particular intellectual community.
It would be nice if we could just start reading Kant, one sentence at a time and formulate an interpretation of Kant as we went. Even though that way of reading works really well for some philosophers, centuries of hard-won experience has taught Kant scholars that it does not work at all well in the case of Kant. Or such, at least, is the guiding ethos of this meetup. New readers tend to see in the text whatever interpretation of Kant is prevalent in their particular intellectual community. In this meetup we will make sure that does not happen by constantly referring to the full range of ways there are of interpreting Kant.
Instead of reading Kant just one sentence at a time, the community of serious Kant scholars has learned (often they had to learn the hard way) that Kant must be read holistically. Each sentence must be read in the context of Kant's overall project, and in the context of all the myriad ways there are of interpreting Kant and (indeed) even of all the myriad ways there are of interpreting what exactly his overall project even is.
Don't worry, it is not as difficult as it sounds! And it is more profound, more illuminating and ultimately much more satisfying than supposedly "easier" ways of engaging with Kant — even for (especially for!) beginners.
I will do my best to be your guide to reading Kant holistically. And don't worry, we'll make it fun too. Whether you are new to Kant or have been reading him for decades, this meetup is for you!
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READING SCHEDULE
For the first get together (September 7), please read:
- In Michelle Grier: Read the Introduction, 1-13 (pdf here)
- In Manfred Keuhn: Read the Prologue, pages 1-23 (pdf here)
For the second get together, please read:
- In Michelle Grier: Read pages 17-32
- In Manfred Keuhn: Read the first half of chapter 1, pages 24-42
(A pdf of Grier's Kant's Doctrine of Transcendental Illusion is available here. A pdf of Keuhn's Kant: A Biography is available here.)
After that we will post the readings as we go (once we get a better sense of what pace works best for our group and the particular people in it). And don't forget that sometimes we will take a break from Grier and instead read from the Guyer/Wood translation of the Critique of Pure Reason.
Jen and Philip have a very clear division of labour. If you have issues or concerns about the choice of texts, or the pace of the reading (or other "content" concerns) please contact Philip. If you have technology related questions please contact Jen. If you have complaints please direct them only to Philip.
