Philosophical Skills Workshop

We will be hosting our next Philosophical Skills Workshop on Saturday, July 27th from 1:00-3:00 pm at the Toronto Public Library (Davenport Branch, Davenport Meeting Room, 1246 Shaw St.).*

Check in and get settled from 12:50-1:00. Class will run from 1:00-3:00 with a 10 minute break in the middle. Please get a ticket here (e.g. not from Meetup)

*This event is not hosted by or sponsored by the Toronto Public Library.

The topic of our next Workshop is: Thought Experiments and Counterexamples

Suppose that, one day, you encounter a child drowning in a pond. Or, here's another scenario: a runaway trolley is racing down a track toward you. Finally, imagine a world in which red and green are inverted on the colour-spectrum: what would you do?

What all of these supposings and scenarios have in common is that they are each the set-up for (famous!) imaginary cases that philosophers call "thought experiments." The purpose of a thought experiment is to create a well-defined situation or example, free from variables, that tests our philosophical intuitions. Thought experiments are immensely popular among philosophers; so much so that some thought experiments have even become infamous—like the ones above by Peter Singer, Phillipa Foot, and John Locke, respectively.

But how do you craft a well-formed thought experiment? And how do you argue against one, if you think that it delivers the wrong result?

The answer to this second question is through what philosophers call "counterexamples" (or counter examples, or counter-examples—philosophers aren't picky). And the answer to the first question is: by coming to this workshop!

Together we will:

• Investigate (in)famous thought experiments, such as Singer's "drowning child," Foot's "trolley problem," and Locke's "inverted spectrum"
• Practice crafting original, well-formed thought experiments of our own
• Gain hands-on experience identifying counterexamples that undermine the conclusions of arguments that rely on thought experiments

To celebrate the end of our summer series, use code Philosophy50 to receive 50% off!

We have 10 subsidized tickets available for our attendees. These tickets are first come, first served, no questions asked!

Sign up for our Discord server (link in your ticket confirmation email) for reading recommendations, pre- and post-class chat, and more!

Curiosity in Session is Being and Becoming’s new educational initiative. It seeks to facilitate public access to philosophy while increasing public philosophical literacy through alternating bi-weekly (on alternate weeks to Cafés) Curiosity Classes and Philosophical Skills Workshops.

Philosophical Skills Workshops (SW) are interactive, activity-based sessions designed to help you expand your philosophical toolkit. They require no prior experience or preparation. Led primarily by our Being and Becoming’s Director of Educational Programming Dr. Alexandra Gustafson (PhD), community members will gain hands-on experience practicing essential philosophical skills like:

• Reconstructing a philosophical argument for greater clarity and understanding
• Evaluating a philosophical argument for general plausibility
• Evaluating a philosophical argument for validity and soundness
• Identifying argumentative fallacies

Some accessibility-related information* about our event and the venue:

• This event involves a verbal discussion, with a whiteboard, projected slides, and/or a handout to guide the discussion
• If slides and/or a handout are utilized, there will be a large-print version of the slides and/or handout available
• To learn more about accessibility at the Toronto Public Library, including branch-specific accessibility information, please visit the Toronto Public Library’s Accessibility page at: https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/accessibility/
• The Davenport Branch is wheelchair accessible
• Should you be accompanied by a support person, please contact us in advance so that we can add them to our guest list. Their ticket will be included, for free, as part of your ticket

*We recognize that this list provides a far-from comprehensive picture of accessibility-related concerns you might have. Please feel free to contact our Director of Education Programming at YWxleGFuZHJhIHwgYmVpbmduYmVjb21pbmcgISBvcmc=, or the Toronto Public Library (416-393-7099 or YWNjZXNzaWJsZXNlcnZpY2VzIHwgdHBsICEgY2E=) with any other questions or concerns you might have. (Please note, however, that this event is not hosted by or sponsored by the Toronto Public Library.)

Also check out other Workshops in Toronto, Meetups in Toronto, Music events in Toronto.