Life is Hard (chapter 7) Hope-Kendal Johnson H03

Hope

Life is Hard

Life is Hard is a book written by author Kieran Setiya that takes a look at some of life's many challenges such as loneliness, grief, failure, and hope through the lens of philosophy.  

The purpose of his book is not to give you advice on how to fix the problems in a person's life but to provide a way to grapple with them. To understand more about his book Setiya goes more into depth with this video. 

The Jar

In chapter seven of Setiya's book "Life is Hard" he talks about the feeling of hope. The idea of hope is always seen as this empowering feeling of a better future or as a way to power through the obstacles in a person's life. Setiya explains how this was not always the case by sharing the story of Pandora's Box. The story starts with Prometheus a human who stole fire from the gods. Zeus wanting revenge on humankind demands Hephaestus to make a beautiful woman named Pandora that will unleash a jar of "gifts" upon humans. The gifts in the box were the upsets of life such as grief, greed, and violence. However, hope was also in the box and Pandora closed the 

box before it could escape. The jar being full of the plagues makes it seem like hope is a plague but hope staying locked in the jar unveils the possibility of different meanings of hope. The question was why was hope left in the jar? Does being free from hope keep humankind from worse fates? Or does it make us damned if we have a life without hope? The meaning of hope leading Setiya to ask these types of questions makes what it is sound like an intangible idea. Hope seems to be something indescribable. 

What is hope

Setiya says that he never thinks about hope and the few times that he did he was suspicious of it. He has chronic pain and believes hoping for it to be gone would make him dishonest towards himself. To him, if there is something that you want then you should do what it takes to make it happen. Hope is not needed for that. To put it clearly hope is not important to him. Setiya's therapist disagrees with him because his being resistant to hope is what places it in his life. His problem is not that hope is not important to him but that he is scared to hope and needs courage. Setiya's problems with hope do not end with him many people have trouble with it. His problems stem from not hoping enough others have trouble with hoping too much. Their hope turns into delusion which leads to pain. Considering the varying reactions to hope maybe it is best that it stays an ambivalent feeling. 

Attachment

Ambivalent or not people especially philosophers are going to want to know what hope is. Throughout these debates, they have mostly settled on hope being a mixture of desire and belief. When a person hopes they are in a way wishing for it to happen. People hope for the things they want and they do not hope for the things that are impossible or that they already know can happen. When a person is hoping they are thinking that the end result does not fall on them. As Setiya says, "It doesn't make sense to hope for what you can simply bring about. Hope is a concession to what you cannot control" (138). Desire and belief being the two sides of hope make way for the idea that hope is emotional attachment. To hope for something, it needs to be taken seriously. A plan must be in place for the feeling of hope to set in. If the possibility of something is lowered in a person's head, then their "attitude toward it is despair. When attachment fade, you are resigned" (138). Resignation is a bad feeling Setiya does not deny it but what good is to hope if it can lead to agony? The knowledge of this makes hope feel more daunting than despair. 

Action

The negative aspects of hope were defended by author and activist Rebecca Solnit said, "Hope is not like a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky...hope should shove you out the door, because it will take everything you have to steer the future away from endless war, from the annihilation of the earth's treasures and the grinding down of the poor and marginal. Hope just means another world might be possible, not promised, not guaranteed. Hope calls for action; action is impossible without hope" (139). Setiya thinks that hope can be like betting on the lottery. Hope is needed for someone to take action because the probability of success lowers without the hope of success. If someone is actively fighting against any of the hardships in their life they are living a life of hope.

Hope is...

Hope is not something that can be summed up in one word. Hope has a multitude of meanings all interpreted differently from person to person. Setiya wants his readers to understand that to hope for something a true understanding is needed. People should not hope for the impossible because it will only hurt them. They also should not be indifferent to what they are hoping for because, without belief or action, the chances of their hopes being true are weakened. Hope is whatever we wish for it to be and if your desires are unclear Setiya believes a person should hope to learn. However, a person should not hope for the best life possible. Wishing away grief and pain or trying to fast-track love is all unnecessary. A person's life is not and should not be about getting everything done as fast as possible. To further prove his point Setiya explains the play "The Cure at Troy". The play speaks on "infirmity, loneliness, grief, failure, injustice, absurdity, and hope" (144) which are a lot of the same topics Setiya covers. Even with all of these hardships, the play shows how hope can peak through even the hardest times and action will not be that far behind.