Life Is Hard

How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way

By: Kieran Setiya

Narrated by: Kieran Setiya

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORKER AND THE ECONOMIST

“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

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.

©2022 Kieran Setiya (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“A humane, consoling guide to this vale of tears, with a glimmer of hope.”—The Economist

“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

HERES TO LIFE

In the beginning of Kieran Setiva's book something seems awry. It is written by a PhD graduate of Princeton who is working as a professor at MIT. What does a philosopher who is admittedly happily married (with one child), working as a professor at a prestigious university know about life being hard? Stick with it, and by the end of the book, Setiva's point becomes clear and worth more than one listen. The "Economist" calls Setiva's book one of the best of 2022. Being an acolyte of the magazine, it seems prudent to review "Life is Hard".

Hope is the insight Setiva reveals to one who is faced with hardship in life. Whether one is a university professor, wealthy industrialist, penniless beggar, or cloistered saint, hardship is a part of their life. Hoping to grow old is all that remains, and its value seems circumspect if not useless. Setiva's book may be one of the best of 2022 but like the hope he describes in the last chapter, it's a mixed blessing.

This book delivers the goods!!!

This book delivers on the promise of its title. The author is brilliant and humble in the way that he teaches us to use philosophy to find our way, despite life being hard.

Fantastic listen!

Probably the most relatable and interesting philosophical book I've come across. It's a deep dive into a lot of the perils and conflicts we're going through as a society given the pandemic and other world events

Loved the author’s personal perspective.

Philosophy can be dry, but when applied to someone’s life experience, it becomes an enthralling story.

Solid

Enjoyed it. I think people who make fun of philosophy majors are doing a disservice to life and are ultimately afraid of their own mortality. If not for a life lived well, what are we here for anyway?
Jason Blum
Washington DC

underwhelming

I was extremely disappointed with this book. Very little philosophy here , but if you are left of center politically, you may enjoy this book or at least find more to appreciate here. Part autobiography, part liberal talking points , all disappointing. Don't get me wrong, I usually don't care about peoples personal politics, but this was too much of that and not enough of what I paid for.

Woke Propaganda

This book started off ok and then took a hard left into woke propaganda. Why the author did this is beyond me. Do not recommend.

Not Much Philosophy

The author offered shallow interpretations of ancient and premodern philosophical texts, focusing instead on boring, pop-therapeutic insights. I had high hopes for this but did not enjoy it at all.

Meh Just Ok

Started off relatively strong and interesting. But by midway, for some unknown reason, the author inject his political ideology which I found to be largely irrational. Kind of the exact opposite of what philosophy should mean to humanity. The author comes across as the typical university educated ideologue and pretty much meets all stereotype characteristics. From about chapter 4 to the end of the book, one could consider the words useless. One thing the author gets right, is the immediate need for him to find more courage. I don’t write long critical reviews for fun. This one deserved it unfortunately.

Meandering

I bought this book after listening to the author on the Making Sense podcast with Sam Harris, which was interesting.
This book, on the other hand, is much less so. I was frequently bored while listening, but soldiered on, determined to find a useful or meaningful perspective which had motivated me to purchase the book, originally. By the last chapter, I realized it was a waste of time. There is not a single memorable insight I will take away from this book, other than I should be more willing to leave one unfinished (and early on) when I find it to be this pointless.