Doing Philosophy
Discover how philosophy is not "idle speculation" but a path to living well.
Meeting Needs
Explore the difference between "ameliorative" and "existential" value.
Missing Out
"Embrace your losses as fair payment for the surplus of being alive."
Facing Regret
Notice the difference between mistakes and failures—and regret itself.
Feeling Lonely
See how deep friendship begins with "the simple act of paying attention."
Grieving Well
Understand how to grapple with real loss.
Filling the Void
Explore the midlife crisis—and learn how to "live in the halo of the present."
Confronting Injustice
Confront the scope of human misery with compassion and steadfastness.
Finding Hope
Discover how hope can give us "the courage to conceive alternatives."
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Philosophy for Troubled Times
In this series, MIT philosopher Kieran Setiya brings incisive, and practical, thinking to bear on the challenges of everyday life. “Philosophy cannot promise perfect happiness,” he says, “but being happy is not the same as living well.”
Across nine sessions, Setiya shows us that to live well is to value difficult truth over pleasing illusion. We must “live in the world as it is,” he argues, “not the world as we wish it would be.”
This series includes excerpts from the book by Kieran Setiya titled, “Midlife: A Philosophical Guide,” published by Princeton University Press. Copyright ©2017 by Kieran Setiya.
This series also includes excerpts from the book by Kieran Setiya titled, “Life Is Hard,” published by RiverheadBooks, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright ©2022 by Kieran Setiya.
to listen to all 9 sessions in this series.
Artwork by Liam Warr