The Avid Reader Show

Episode 684: Kieran Setiya - Life Is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way


Listen Later

A philosophical guide to facing life’s inevitable hardships.

There is no cure for the human condition: life is hard. But Kieran Setiya believes philosophy can help. He offers us a map for navigating rough terrain, from personal trauma to the injustice and absurdity of the world. 

In this profound and personal book, Setiya shows how the tools of philosophy can help us find our way. Drawing on ancient and modern philosophy as well as fiction, history, memoir, film, comedy, social science, and stories from Setiya’s own experience, Life Is Hard is a book for this moment—a work of solace and compassion.

Warm, accessible, and good-humored, this book is about making the best of a bad lot. It offers guidance for coping with pain and making new friends, for grieving the lost and failing with grace, for confronting injustice and searching for meaning in life. Countering pop psychologists and online influencers who admonish us to “find our bliss” and “live our best lives,” Setiya acknowledges that the best is often out of reach. Instead, he asks how we can weather life’s adversities, finding hope and living well when life is hard.

Get the book here:
https://wellingtonsquarebooks.indiecommerce.com/book/9780593538210


...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Avid Reader ShowBy Samuel Hankin

  • 3.6
  • 3.6
  • 3.6
  • 3.6
  • 3.6

3.6

43 ratings


More shows like The Avid Reader Show

View all
Stuff You Should Know by iHeartPodcasts

Stuff You Should Know

78,268 Listeners

Talk Bookish To Me by Talk Bookish To Me

Talk Bookish To Me

62 Listeners

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing by Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

780 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

16,085 Listeners

We Can Do Hard Things by Treat Media and Glennon Doyle

We Can Do Hard Things

41,505 Listeners

The Town with Matthew Belloni by The Ringer

The Town with Matthew Belloni

1,089 Listeners

Good Hang with Amy Poehler by The Ringer

Good Hang with Amy Poehler

10,019 Listeners

Welcome to the Party by Treat Media

Welcome to the Party

736 Listeners