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A philosophical guide to facing life’s inevitable hardships
There is no cure for the human condition: life is hard. But I believe philosophy can help. It offers us a map for navigating rough terrain, from personal trauma to the injustice and absurdity of the world. Drawing on ancient and modern philosophy as well as fiction, comedy, social science, and personal essay, Life Is Hard is a book for this moment – a work of solace and compassion. Order online here. |
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"In Life is Hard, Kieran Setiya shows us the gift that philosophy becomes when it removes its mask of impersonality to reveal its human face. His insights are stunning, his compassion sustaining. Anyone susceptible to life’s hardships must read this book – which means that everyone must read it." – Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of Plato at the Googleplex
"Kieran Setiya has produced the ultimate handbook of hardship. With nimble prose and crisp arguments, he shows why adversity is inevitable – and why facing up to that reality, rather than insisting on simple-minded notions of happiness, offers the only path to living well.” – Daniel H. Pink, author of The Power of Regret, When, and Drive
"Smart, richly sourced, and lucidly reasoned, Life is Hard is a work of resplendent wisdom and humanity – one that has changed the way I think about the periodic upsurges of failure, grief, and loss in my own life." – Jim Holt, author of Why Does the World Exist?
"An eloquent, moving, witty and above all useful demonstration of philosophy's power to help us weather the storms of being human – not with rarefied theories about the best way to live, but by making the best of life as it really is." – Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks
"This is the most important type of book, the kind that sits on a bedside table through the long, dark nights of the soul. Life is Hard served as a very clear, very important reminder: being a philosopher entails a simple obligation, the responsibility to help." – John Kaag, author of Sick Souls, Health Minds
