What we’re about
Welcome to the Toronto Philosophy Meetup! This is a community 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, 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!
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: https://www.meetup.com/The-Toronto-Philosophy-Meetup/pages/30522966/Other_Philosophy_Groups_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.
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This week, we will be exploring the moral concept of call of conscience and the psychological concept of self-love. Specifically, we want to understand how these two are connected to each other and to our mental health. Our discussion will be based on two short texts by two giants in the field of psychotherapy:
Readings (Click to Download):
- Abraham Maslow – Towards a Psychology of Being (3 pages): Maslow first compares Freud's idea of the superego as the authoritarian conscience and Fromm's idea of conscience within a humanistic ethics. He goes on to question whether mental health equals absence of symptoms, for sometimes distress owing to moral demand may be "healthier" than numbness.
- Irvin D. Yalom – Existential Psychotherapy (8 pages): Existential guilt is good for you! For it is how you can find your way back to your conscience. These pages include actual examples of clinical cases from which you can learn the healing journey from self-hate to self-love.
You are encouraged to read them before the meeting for more fulfilling engagement, but you are not required to do a textual analysis like an academic.
Guiding Questions:
- How do you understand the call of conscience? What are some related concepts you can think of?
- Have you had instances where you have listened or failed to listen to your conscience? What did you feel afterwards?
- What insights did you gain from Bruce's story?
- How may you change your outlook to improve your mental health according the readings (so far)?
- (questions circling back to session 1 and 2)
Following Up:
This meeting is the third part of a three-part series, with each session building on the last:
(1) Self-alienation as Original Sin (completed)
(2) Resentment and Forgiveness (completed)
(3) Call of Conscience and Self-Love (this session)
Therefore, we’ll be referring to the key points from our previous session and explore how they are related to this week's topic. If you attended the previous session, we encourage you to continue the journey with us. If you didn’t attend, don’t worry! We will provide a brief recap at the start to ensure everyone is on the same page.
#integrity #authenticity #humanpotential #selfactualization #selfesteem #selfworth #selfrespect #selfcontempt #selfhate #existentialguilt
Support the Group:
Even though I am keen to hold this space, it demands time and platform fees. If you find value in this space, please consider a monthly donation of $5-20. One-time donation is also welcome! (Donate via e-transfer: info@artofhumaning.co or via PayPal)
Stay in Touch:
Feel free to contact me if you want to suggest or request a topic for group discussion. You are also welcome to send me a DM for personal opinions or questions you don't feel comfortable sharing in the group.
This event is brought to you by Leanna of Wiser Mental Health, another meetup group in Toronto. Leanna is a philosophical counsellor in training for spiritually integrated psychotherapy. She has a Master’s degree in philosophy and is a meditator in the Theravada Buddhist/Vipassana tradition. Check out her Group for philosophically and spiritually integrated mental health support.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Kierkegaard: Works of Love (Live Read)Link visible for attendees
We'll resume reading from 191 (Danish 182).
Works of Love; Some Christian Deliberations in the Form of Discourses (1847) is a collection of reflections and discourses that reflect on love from various perspectives and with respect to various occasions.
The theme of love is a frequent topic in Kierkegaard's work, so this should provide us an occasion to reflect on much of Kierkegaard's earlier works.
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/Works-Love-Kierkegaards-Writings-Vol/dp/0691059160/
PDF: https://annas-archive.org/md5/93afa222d5c3cd524e68739aef47d444
On the Friday Meetings:
The Friday meetings started on January 1st, 2016 with an initial goal of reading through the first half of Kierkegaard's works. Due to continued interest, we have decided to return to previous works for review, study more background texts, and continue beyond the first half of Kierkegaard's writing.
Works read so far in the series:
- The Concept of Irony, With Continual Reference to Socrates (Kierkegaard)
- Notes of Schelling's Berlin Lectures (Kierkegaard)
- Either/Or (Victor Eremita, et al.)
- Two Upbuilding Discourses (Kierkegaard)
- Fear and Trembling (Johannes de Silentio)
- Repetition (Constantin Constantius)
- Three Upbuilding Discourses (Kierkegaard)
- Four Upbuilding Discourses (Kierkegaard)
- Two Upbuilding Discourses (Kierkegaard)
- Three Upbuilding Discourses (Kierkegaard)
- Philosophical Fragments (Johannes Climacus)
- Johannes Climacus or De Omnibus Dubitandum Est (Johannes Climacus)
- Concept of Anxiety (Vigilius Haufniensis)
- Prefaces (Nicolaus Notabene)
- Writing Sampler (A.B.C.D.E.F. Godthaab)
- Four Upbuilding Discourses (Kierkegaard)
- Three Discourses on Imagined Occasions (Kierkegaard)
- Stages on Life's Way (Hilarious Bookbinder)
- Concluding Unscientific Postscript to the Philosophical Fragments (Johannes Climacus)
- The Sickness Unto Death (Anti-Climacus)
Works read for background:
- The First Love (Scribe)
- The Berlin Lectures (Schelling)
- Clavigo (Goethe)
- Faust Part I (Goethe)
- Antigone (Sophocles)
- Axioms (Lessing)
- The Little Mermaid (Anderson)
Works read inspired (at least in part) by Kierkegaard
- The Escape from God (Tillich)
- You Are Accepted (Tillich)
Some background on Soren Kierkegaard in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
https://iep.utm.edu/kierkega/