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  • The Christian Science Monitor

    Beyond ‘positive thinking’: How a philosophy professor sustains hope

    by Martin Kuz Dec 06, 2022 4 minutes

    Defining what entails a meaningful life has preoccupied philosophers from Plato and Aristotle to Simone de Beauvoir and Iris Murdoch. Surveying centuries of thoughtful chin-tugging about the human condition, Kieran Setiya identifies a broad trend: “an affinity with ‘the power of positive thinking’ that implores us not to dwell on trials and tribulations but to dream of the life we want.”

    He offers that critical appraisal early in “Life Is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way,” his latest book and a meditative antidote to the “best life” orthodoxy that fuels the sprawling, insatiable self-help industry.

    Tacking away from both magical thinking and soothing rationalizations, Professor Setiya, who teaches philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, urges

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