There are no events scheduled at this time.

• Thu, 05 Mar 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Botanicals and Drugs
  Back during the peak of the AIDS epidemic the use of drug cocktails saved many people’s lives. Many also supplemented their treatments with natural remedies, such as garlic pills, St. John’s wort, etc. Some of these natural supplements interacted with ill effects. What should our expectations be for educating the public on these matters?
• Thu, 05 Mar 2015 8:00 PM
  The Writer's Studio Reading Series in Vancouver
• Mon, 09 Mar 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Immigrants
  How are immigrants in Canada perceived, stereotyped, or (un)accepted? Can immigrants be “real” Canadians?
• Tue, 10 Mar 2015 6:00 PM
  Bike Café | What Are the Links Between Transportation Choice, Affordability and Happiness?
  Studies show us that transportation mode makes a difference in how people feel and where they live. Are there links between how you get around, how it makes you feel, and how it impacts costs of living? We'll discuss the broader social conversation and public awareness of options and implications, as well as possible improvements.
• Wed, 11 Mar 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Why Be Moral?
  Bad people seem to do as well or better in life than the virtuous. So why not lie, cheat and steal whenever we can do so without getting caught?
• Fri, 13 Mar 2015 12:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Individual/Collective
  Who is the individual without the collective? Where is the collective without the individual? How can the individual and the collective be integrated?
• Tue, 17 Mar 2015 10:00 AM
  Philosophers' Café | Search for Intelligent Life
  If an alien being from another galaxy was initially looking to find and report on intelligent life on earth, what activities could he/she/it best discover and analyse?
• Wed, 18 Mar 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | The Story of Pain
  The ways we respond to what is painful and our changing attitudes to pain.
• Thu, 19 Mar 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Is Canada’s Economic Future as Promising as its Past?
• Thu, 19 Mar 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Is Consciousness a Result of Brain Activity?
  Guest Speaker: Elena Bounina
• Fri, 20 Mar 2015 10:30 AM
  Philosophers' Café | What Are Your Thoughts and Gut Feelings About Intuition?
  How can you assess the validity and relevance of intuitive "insights" and urges? Is it possible to consider intuitions rationally?
• Fri, 20 Mar 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Relationship(s) of Boomers and Millennials
  What does each generation owe, expect or learn from the other? The Baby Boomers are the generation that was born from the end of WWII up to the early 1960s. Millennials were born from the early 1980s to the early 2000s.

  Guest Speaker: Gordon Price - Gordon Price is Director of the City Program at SFU and has been a Vancouver City Councilor for 15 years.

• Thu, 26 Mar 2015 6:00 PM
  Bike Café | Bridging the (Cycling) Gender Gap
  It's no secret more men cycle in North America than women. Many believe that with safer conditions the gap will close. But a new UCLA study suggests deeper societal issues are at play, such as the division of labour (child-serving trips, groceries, chores, etc). What policy changes are needed to address this and close the gender gap for good?
• Thu, 26 Mar 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Take All You Can Get While You Can Get it?
  How should one behave at a "banquet"? Criticism of corporate feels pervasive—except among newly promoted executives (and shareholders). Every aspiring politician promises "change" but nothing ever seems to. Sentiment about appropriate taxation and benefits appears to vary with age/earning power. Is greed good (for you)?

  Meet in the craft studio.

• Fri, 27 Mar 2015 12:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Alienation/Belonging
  Where do you belong? What do you find alienating? Will the Other ever belong with us?
• Fri, 27 Mar 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | What Should We Do When Our Peers Disagree With Us?
  Your epistemic peer in a specific field or topic is someone who is as smart as you and has access to all the same evidences. How should you react when he/she disagrees with you on something? Should you persist in your belief or should you lower your confidence in your belief? What are the relevant factors?
• Mon, 30 Mar 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Conspiracy Theories: Science and Politics
  From 9/11 to vaccines to climate change, the notion that we are subject to innumerable conspiracies is widespread. Let’s talk about which conspiracy claims are credible, if any, and how they affect our political and scientific understanding.
• Tue, 31 Mar 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Perspectives on Winter
  Reflections on the role of winter in Canadian leisure society.
• Tue, 31 Mar 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | A Composite Picture of Morality
  Studies have shown that our "moral decisions" are influenced by many factors, including working on math problems before making decisions. Some ideas on right and wrong seem to be almost universal and others seem to depend on culture, religion and history. How can these understandings affect our dialogue in collective decision-making?

• Thu, 02 Apr 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Drinking Water for Sale
  It is common to see people on the streets carrying water bottles sold under various marketing schemes, including oxygenated water, vitamin water, etc. All of these products are expensive while municipal drinking water is free. Why is this phenomenon so popular? Why do people pay money for drinking water?
• Tue, 07 Apr 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | The Western Front, WWI and WMDs
  One hundred years ago, key colonial troops commanded by French and British officers marched towards a date with destiny on Germany's Western Front. On April 22, 1915, members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, among others, were exposed to the first-ever “gas attack” of WWI. We'll contemplate the events of this time that live on in a strange admixture of fame and infamy. Was this one of history's most important lessons?
• Tue, 07 Apr 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | The Value of Philosophical Intuitions
  Philosophical methodology seems to place a great amount of weight on philosophical intuitions. Thought experiments are centered on eliciting intuitions in order to evaluate various philosophical positions. What is the value of such intuition (if any) and can they help us progress in philosophy?
• Wed, 08 Apr 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | The Enlightened Organization
  Can a company be run successfully without a chain of command? Can workers be trusted unconditionally? What philosophy would be needed to guide such an organization?
• Fri, 10 Apr 2015 12:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Existence/Essence
  Existence precedes essence. So what? What does this mean? What is essence? What does it add to your existence? Is there an essential human nature? Are you your own essence?
• Sat, 11 Apr 2015 2:00 PM
  Boys Will be Boys: Fighting Sexism in Media and Journalism
• Sat, 11 Apr 2015 3:00 PM
  Art Salons | Jeremy Shaw: Medium-Based Time
  For more information about the exhibit, please visit the Contemporary Art Gallery website.
• Mon, 13 Apr 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | To Be or Not to Be—Is This Really the Question?
  What are the challenges of current economic dynamics from the perspective of social expectations, gender roles and stereotypes, and normativity of financial independence?
• Tue, 14 Apr 2015 6:00 PM
  Bike Café | Car Free Streets in Vancouver
  Many cities around the world have car-free streets or even whole areas with limited motor vehicle access. What streets in Vancouver are good candidates? What measures are needed to ensure that car-free streets are successful?
• Wed, 15 Apr 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Untangling the Ethics of Incentives
  How do incentives affect character and institutional culture? In what ways are incentives manipulative or exploitative, even if people are free to refuse them?
• Thu, 16 Apr 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | The Late Joseph Brodsky’s 75th Birthday
  Guest Speaker: Raissa Volkonitskaya
• Thu, 16 Apr 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | What Is Your Name? Are We Our Names?
  Who am I? Who are you? "My name is...." Is the name enough to identify the identity of a person? Why is a name so important?
• Fri, 17 Apr 2015 10:30 AM
  Philosophers' Café | What, if Anything, Are the Limits of Growth?
  Is there a point at which "progress" ceases to be progressive? If so, when?
• Fri, 17 Apr 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | What Is “Story”? What Are Some of Your Stories? Why Do We Tell Stories?
  "Why does anybody tell a story?" asks Madeleine L’Engle. "It does indeed have something to do with faith. Faith that the universe has meaning, that our little human lives are not irrelevant, that what we choose or say or do matters, matters cosmically."
• Tue, 21 Apr 2015 10:00 AM
  Philosophers' Café | Is the Earth Beyond Hope?
  With the litany of maladies on our planet—including Ebola, poison additives in food and global warming—do we have any hope for our grandchildren's lives? What steps might we take as individuals, families and communities to make a difference and demonstrate a model of constructive action?
• Tue, 21 Apr 2015 7:00 PM
  Teen Café | Search for the Self
  Do you ever find yourself unable to see representations of your life or identity in literature, film, online media or other sources? Is the recent surge in dialogue about representation of people of colour, strong females and LGBT people important? And how can we work to make things better for future generations?
• Thu, 23 Apr 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Baby Boomers vs. Generation X vs. Millennials
  Following "The Greatest Generation" have been a "Me Generation," an "MTV Generation" and a "Peter Pan Generation," Are these stereotypes at all accurate and/or what can be learned from their application? What future implications do they portend?

  Meet in the conference room.

• Fri, 24 Apr 2015 12:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Wisdom/Folly
  What need have we for sages? What need have we for fools? Do the wise or do only fools distinguish the two?
• Fri, 24 Apr 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | The Role of Humanities in Contemporary Society
  Graduate education in humanities has been in crisis for more than 40 years now in North America. What are the career trajectories of graduate students in humanities? What is the purpose of training PhDs in humanities? What are the consequences of this crisis - for individuals and societies in general?
• Mon, 27 Apr 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Beyond Sexual Identity: Are We Ready to Be Pomosexual?
  Does attraction still need to be understood through identity categories like gay/straight and male/female? How would we navigate intimacy in a social world that is beyond sexual identity? What does it mean to be pomosexual and are we ready to be so?
• Tue, 28 Apr 2015 6:30 PM
  Teen Café | Religious Relevance
  What is the role of religion in our current Canadian context? Do churches, synagogues, mosques and other religious institutions have a purpose in an increasingly secular world? Where does religious freedom begin and end when it comes to education?
• Tue, 28 Apr 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Community: Lost and Found
  Community: where has it gone? How can we get it back? The loss of community or its lack in Vancouver is often mentioned. What can we do about it? Is the problem money, time, architecture or our political structure? How can we promote community?
• Tue, 28 Apr 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Cloning: Promises and Perils
  It has been almost twenty years since Dolly the sheep became the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell. Questions arise about the potential uses of cloning. For example, if it’s technically possible to clone a human, then the technique might also be applied to resurrect extinct species. Should such experiments ever be done?
• Thu, 30 Apr 2015 6:00 PM
  Bike Café | Biking and Walking—How They Work Together to Make Our Cities More Wonderful
  People who bike and walk in a city tend to know it more intimately - we're moving at a pace conducive to connections and without a heavy metal barrier around us. Making cities better for people to bike in typically makes cities better to walk in and vice versa. Let's explore these connections.

• Mon, 04 May 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Should Canada Stamp Passports When Citizens Leave the Country?
  Passengers leaving Canada do not have their passport stamped (unless going to the U.S.). They can claim they have been out of Canada for less than three months when returning to Canada. By doing this, they can use the medical system, collect Old Age Security, GST rebate, etc. Every other country records departures, should Canada?
• Tue, 05 May 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | The Problem of Evil: Can We Make Divine Attributes Consistent?
  The problem of evil is prevalent in philosophical literature. This is the idea that if God were all-powerful, all knowing and wholly good, then evil would not exist. This apparent inconsistency in God's perfections is very mysterious. Is this actually an inconsistency or not? If it is, how should we conceive of God?
• Thu, 07 May 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | This Changes Everything: Climate Change and Capitalism
  Naomi Klein’s recent book on climate changes proposes the interesting premise that capitalism needs to be drastically changed, and that change should be driven by our common need, perceived or otherwise, to save future generations from the imminent collapse of our economic systems due to impact of global warming.
• Fri, 08 May 2015 12:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Space/Time
  What does it mean that we exist historically and in time? What gives you a sense of place? Why does “where” matter?
• Mon, 11 May 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Homegrown Terrorists
  The West, for a while, has been dealing with the issue of young people who grow up in western societies and then turn their backs on western norms, join radical groups and pick up arms. In our media, these people are referred to as “home grown terrorists”. Why does this happen? How could it be avoided?
• Wed, 13 May 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Separation of Church and State
  This is considered a first principle of liberal democracies, but is it mistaken? Is separation possible? How much separation is compatible with freedom of religious expression?
• Fri, 15 May 2015 10:30 AM
  Philosophers' Café | Adequacy and Accuracy of Economic Indicators
  What do current standard economic indicators tell us? What do they not tell us? Are important externalities considered? Does Gross Domestic Happiness provide useful additional information?
• Fri, 15 May 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Human Acts—Essentially or Primarily Selfish?
  Do people generally do what best meets their own needs? Is self interest necessarily "enlightened"? If so, how should we view and respond to care givers, heroes and martyrs?
• Tue, 19 May 2015 10:00 AM
  Philosophers' Café | What Is the Relationship Between Money, Success and Happiness?
  Are the rich generally happier? Is a big lottery win a blessing or a curse? What minimum level of income is necessary to meet important and basic needs? What is the "economics of happiness"?
• Wed, 20 May 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | What it Means to Be Human
  What does it mean to be human rather than animal? How are people excluded from political personhood?
• Thu, 21 May 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Design in Architecture: Yesterday and Today
  Guest Speaker: Alexander Elchinko
• Thu, 21 May 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Can I Ask a Question? How Our Thoughts Become Questions
  Starting from a pre-text—an image, a text, an object of art—we will investigate the flow of thought to question. The questions will be written on an "agenda" and after that the discussion will start.
• Tue, 26 May 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Free Will, Genetics and Neuroscience
  Are we really just our genes? Is reductive neuroscience going to completely change the way we understand ourselves? Or is science's inability to explain consciousness proof that science and determinism cannot explain human behavior?
• Wed, 27 May 2015 2:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | “...There Ain’t No Journey What Don’t Change You Some” —David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas
  What is travel? What is tourism? What’s the difference? Why do you travel? With which perspectives do you agree: “I travel not to go anywhere, but to go…” (R.L. Stevenson); “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” (Marcel Proust); “Travel far enough, you meet yourself.” (David Mitchell)?
• Thu, 28 May 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Sex
  In notable contrast to other "human needs," sex is (relatively) ignored, scandalized, worshipped and demonized. Given diminishing religious doctrine, public sex education, women's liberation, the pill, obvious marketing manipulation, Internet porn and social lifestyle tolerance, is a new perspective due?

  Meet in the lobby.

• Fri, 29 May 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Paradox of Fiction
  How can people experience strong emotions from purely fictional things such as art, literature and imagination, given that we know that they are not real?

• Mon, 01 Jun 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Stop Making Sense
  One approach to understanding the world around us is through our rational faculty. However, what is the “quality” of the knowledge that we, as humans, are accumulating this way? Are we just talking heads, without any connection to our hearts? What is our relation to nature? These are difficult questions about what we can know of the world and how we may go about doing this.
• Thu, 04 Jun 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Whose Music Is It?: Associating Styles of Music
  Music, like many human endeavours, feeds and evolves from the ideas, musical or otherwise, present at the time of its development. There is a common thread, at least in Western music, from, for example, classical, jazz, rock-and-roll and metal to hip-hop. Discussion of the links between music styles will be encouraged through listening to examples.
• Sat, 06 Jun 2015 3:00 PM
  Art Salons | Julia Dault
  For more information about the exhibit, please visit the Contemporary Art Gallery website.
• Mon, 08 Jun 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Food Security
  Industrial farming poses a threat to small scale farming, has reduced varieties of food grown and has produced new strains of fruits and vegetable that are resistant to drought, pesticides, and herbicides. Their long-term impact on human health is not fully known. All these pose a threat to food security.
• Wed, 10 Jun 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Art and Science
  These two great domains of human activity seem very different from one another. How, if at all, are art and science related?
• Fri, 12 Jun 2015 12:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Love/Fear
  Can love and fear co-exist? Or does perfect love cast out all fear? Is there more in the world to be loved or to be feared? Is love scary?
• Tue, 16 Jun 2015 10:00 AM
  Philosophers' Café | Should Canada’s Foreign and Military Policy Stress Peace Keeping or Peace Making?
  As a middle power with a close relationship to the United States, and history with the United Nations, how can Canada best play a positive role and address its economic and international values and objectives?
• Wed, 17 Jun 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Rethinking the Architecture of Choice
  Exploring ways the smart part of us nudges the not-so-smart part to automatically do what we ought to be doing.
• Thu, 18 Jun 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Purpose of Art
  What does it mean for art to be “alive”? What is the spiritual in art? Let's discuss what art does for us or what it is supposed to do for us. Why does music affect us so deeply compared to other art forms? What role does rationality (logic) play in the creation of art? Why is art often ambiguous?
• Thu, 18 Jun 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Mysterious Woman of the Silver Age in Russia: Ida Rubinstein
  Guest Speaker: Lidia Muriel
• Fri, 19 Jun 2015 10:30 AM
  Philosophers' Café | Catch of the Month: Top Stories in the Media Now!
  What event, story or media message since our May Café do you posit is most significant? What features make it so? What impact could it have on future events or messages?
• Thu, 25 Jun 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | The Future of Religion?
  Most religions (divinely inspired or not) explained natural phenomena and provided spiritual guidance. Yet (arguably) science and social networks now better address these concerns. As the Pope now acknowledges the Big Bang theory and "radical Islam" recruits disaffected westerners to jihad/sharia law (but two examples), what does "our" future hold?

  Meet in the lobby.

• Tue, 30 Jun 2015 7:00 PM
  Philosophers' Café | Thinking About Medical Tourism: What Are the Ethical and Equity Impacts?
  When Canadians travel abroad for surgery or other medical care, they are engaging in medical tourism. What impacts could this have in Canada and abroad? Who has responsibility for the impacts of medical tourism?

There are no events scheduled at this time.