La vida es dura

Throughout the history of philosophy, the tendency has been to believe that life is and should be good, that suffering should be avoided, that suffering is a sign that life has gone wrong. From Aristotle to new readings of Stoicism, philosophers have formulated theories of "the good life." Interpretations vary, but they always maintain the same conviction: that we should strive for the best in life. Kieran Setiya sees things differently. For him, much of philosophy ignores the ways in which life is inherently difficult. With rare exceptions, philosophers focus on pleasure and not pain, friendship and not loneliness, love and not pain, success and not failure, justice and not justice. injustice, in reason and not in the absurd. In this book, the author takes a different approach, arguing that only by paying attention to adversity can we begin to explore how to live. Life is Hard confronts the ways we suffer and discusses how philosophy can help us make sense of these experiences.