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Book Cover for: Midlife: A Philosophical Guide, Kieran Setiya

Midlife: A Philosophical Guide

Kieran Setiya

Paperback
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How can you reconcile yourself with the lives you will never lead, with possibilities foreclosed, and with nostalgia for lost youth? How can you accept the failings of the past, the sense of futility in the tasks that consume the present, and the prospect of death that blights the future? In this self-help book with a difference, Kieran Setiya confronts the inevitable challenges of adulthood and middle age, showing how philosophy can help you thrive. You will learn why missing out might be a good thing, how options are overrated, and when you should be glad you made a mistake. You will be introduced to philosophical consolations for mortality. And you will learn what it would mean to live in the present, how it could solve your midlife crisis, and why meditation helps. Ranging from Aristotle, Schopenhauer, and John Stuart Mill to Virginia Woolf and Simone de Beauvoir, as well as drawing on Setiya's own experience, Midlife combines imaginative ideas, surprising insights, and practical advice. Writing with wisdom and wit, Setiya makes a wry but passionate case for philosophy as a guide to life.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Princeton University Press
  • Publish Date: Sep 18th, 2018
  • Pages: 200
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 7.90in - 5.20in - 0.70in - 0.40lb
  • EAN: 9780691183282
  • Categories: • Ethics & Moral Philosophy• Free Will & Determinism

About the Author

Kieran Setiya is professor of philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

More books by Kieran Setiya

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Book Cover for: Knowing Right from Wrong, Kieran Setiya
Book Cover for: Practical Knowledge: Selected Essays, Kieran Setiya
Book Cover for: Reasons Without Rationalism, Kieran Setiya
Book Cover for: La Vida Es Dura: Filosofía Para Encontrar Nuestro Camino, Kieran Setiya

What people are saying

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Princeton University Press
@PrincetonUPress
1 year

Princeton University Press is a leading independent publisher of trade and scholarly books, inspiring brilliant conversations with bold ideas.

Need a contemplative read for #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth? In Midlife, Kieran Setiya confronts the inevitable challenges of adulthood and middle age, showing how philosophy can help you thrive. https://t.co/sDOedxGIre #FridayReads #WeekendReads https://t.co/NhMVxhqghD

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Russ Roberts
@EconTalker
2 years

Podcaster, author, President, Shalem College, Jerusalem (https://t.co/UANwVRygS3) Research Fellow @hooverinst https://t.co/AYz1OyVbAw https://t.co/r5xGBycMmv

@AgnesCallard Kieran Setiya coming to EconTalk soon to talk about his book Midlife.

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MIT School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
@MIT_SHASS
2 years

Official Twitter account for the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.

@KieranSetiya @MsMeredithBlack @ThisIsBobBaxley @aarron @reconsider_pod An illuminating passage* on human regret from "Navigating Midlife with Kieran Setiya," on the Reconsidering Podcast. Read or listen to the whole conversation at: https://t.co/HmJDT9rsGq. @reconsider_pod @KieranSetiya (* slightly distilled) https://t.co/IyglIDnmJk

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Praise for this book

"A concise, entertaining and humane guide through life's most difficult territory."--Simon Ings, The Spectator
"A delightful amalgam of self-help and intellectual inquiry."--The Economist
"Written with charming simplicity and wry humor, Midlife is a philosophically rich source of what might be called 'the higher life hacks'. . . . . A work of disarming wisdom."--Jim Holt, author of Why Does the World Exist?
"Written with urgency and wit, Midlife has a great mix of philosophy, personal narrative, and practical wisdom. Highly recommended."--Jennifer Michael Hecht, author of Doubt: A History
"As someone who has suffered from a midlife crisis since the age of seven, I found Kieran Setiya's Midlife: A Philosophical Guide both instructive and consoling. If it fails to slim the waistline or stave off death, it nevertheless proves, like a trusted spouse or pet, a very companionable guide on the way to the void. It may even make you, as it did me, see the virtue of being forty-two."--Joshua Ferris, author of To Rise Again at a Decent Hour
"Midlife teaches a lesson about midlife: it's sometimes best to go with the flow."--Joshua Rothman, New Yorker

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