Kieran Setiya is a professor of philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the author of Midlife: A Philosophical Guide. His writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, The New York Times, the Boston Review, the London Review of Books, The Atlantic, and The Yale Review.
Praise for Life is Hard:
“A humane, consoling guide to this vale of tears, with a glimmer of
hope.” —The Economist
"Exceptionally rich and subtle." —Financial Times
“Reflects what philosophy at its most helpful and humane can do. .
. . insightful and empathetic” —Los Angeles Review of Books
“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
“Any attempt by a philosopher to help us live well—not in spite of
human suffering but in full acknowledgment of it—is a welcome
respite from so many too-tidy philosophical theories of human well
being. A more honest and humane treatment is long overdue, and even
if they are not ultimately consoled, readers will surely find
themselves more connected to their own humanity from reading and
reflecting on this book.” —The Wall Street Journal
“Life Is Hard is a humane consolation for challenging times.
Reading it is like speaking with a thoughtful friend who never
tells you to cheer up, but, by offering gentle companionship and a
change of perspective, makes you feel better anyway.” —The New York
Times Book Review
“Kieran Setiya argues that certain bracing challenges—loneliness,
failure, ill health, grief, and so on—are essentially unavoidable.
. . . But it’s good, the book shows, to acknowledge hard
experiences and ask how they’ve helped us grow tougher, kinder, and
wiser.” —The New Yorker
“Kieran Setiya has produced the ultimate handbook of hardship. 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
“Through carefully crafted examples, [Kieran Setiya] makes the case
that philosophy can help us navigate the adversities of human life
… No life worth living is free of suffering and pain. Better to
face it with the clarity to which philosophy, at its best,
aspires.” —The Guardian
“At last a philosopher tackles the meaning of life and comes up
with useful answers.” — Sunday Times (London)
"A meditative antidote to the 'best life' orthodoxy that fuels the
sprawling, insatiable self-help industry. . . . [Setiya] takes
readers on an engaging journey through ancient and contemporary
philosophy, literature and film, and personal experience and
reflection." —Christian Science Monitor
“Insightful. . . . This thought-provoking treatise enlightens.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A lighted path for dark times. . . . pragmatic, compassionate
advice.” —Kirkus Reviews
“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?
“Life may be hard, but Kieran Setiya shows us better ways to think
about it and how, despite everything, that can give us hope.”
—Katherine May, author of Wintering
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