Life is Hard - Keiran Setiya

Absurdity and Hope: What Kieran Setiya Says about Life's Meaning

 Koathar Alasadi - 007

Philosophy professor at MIT, Kieran Setiya, published his book Life is Hard, where he has two chapters on absurdity and hope which tackle emotional questions that many ponder like what the meaning of life is, especially during tougher times. 

Setiya doesn’t pretend to give final answers. Instead, he offers reflections that feel painfully human and refreshingly honest. His writing doesn’t try to remove life’s difficulties. It sits with them and asks what we’re supposed to do next.

Chapter 6 - Absurdity

Setiya starts off by clarifying that absurdity isn't about a lack of explanation, but rather, a lack of meaning. Life can be explained through science, biology, physics, etc., but that doesn’t automatically give it meaning. And that gap between explanation and purpose, is where absurdity lives.

The image of Earth as a tiny, insignificant dot in the vastness of the universe is a classic metaphor for absurdity that he brings up. Despite how cliche it seems, many people still ponder this and struggle to find the significance in our lives. So the question is, what is the meaning of life?

Setiya argues that philosophers have shifted the question from "What is the meaning of life?" to "How do we live a meaningful life?" It’s more practical, less obscure. But the threat of nihilism still looms, this idea that life has no inherent meaning can be deeply unsettling to many. He calls it a philosophical threat. Nihilism is the idea that life has no intrinsic meaning, and therefore nothing we do truly matters. For many, this idea feels more like a void than a worldview. It’s easy to fall into despair when meaning seems unreachable.

Here Setiya reminds us that our quest for meaning often arises during life’s hardest moments. times of dullness, suffering, injustice, or grief. People often look for a reason because they need one. They need the reassurance for themselves that all this pain must mean something or have a purpose. That it’s not for nothing.

The question traces back to 1834 where Diogenes Teufelsdröckh, a fictional character in Sartor Resartus by Thomas Carlyle, points out that these questions are typically asked when life feels dull, painful, or unjust. 

To answer this question, some turn to religion which offers an explanation and comfort for the suffering and injustice to life. For many, faith provides a moral framework, a cosmic narrative, and a sense of belonging in the universe. Even religions that don’t center a god often offer emotional tools for coping with suffering and making sense of injustice. 

But for those who don't believe in a God, the question still remains unanswered. 

Setiya doesn’t dismiss religious meaning, but instead, focuses on something more inclusive, a secular meaning. Specifically, he argues that we don’t need a divine purpose to respond meaningfully to life. Instead, we can create meaning by how we live, what we fight for, and how we respond to injustice.

He emphasizes that even without divine meaning, we can still create meaning by working toward justice and progress. For him, our response to the absurdity of life is what matters most. And the right response, he says, is to fight for a better world.

Chapter 7 - Hope

In the next chapter, Setiya turns to hope, another complicated emotional experience. He begins with a powerful moment from the life of Diogenes the Cynic, an ancient Greek philosopher known for rejecting social norms and living a radically minimalist life. When asked what the most valuable thing in life is, Diogenes replied: hope.

At first, this seems almost ironic coming from a man who was famously cynical. But as Setiya explores, hope is both comforting and dangerous. To understand its double nature, he dives into the myth of Pandora’s box.

The story of Pandora’s box, is where all the world’s evils are unleashed except for one thing that reminds locked inside, hope. He explains that this could either imply that hope is a blessing, or, a cruel trick that keeps people wishing for something that can never be achieved.

The ancient poet Hesiod, who first wrote the Pandora myth, warned against hope, calling it idle and deceitful. According to him, hope can be a curse if it leads to passivity or false expectations.

Building on this perspective, Setiya explaining that hope can be dangerous when it turns into wishful thinking. If you place your hope in something you can’t control, it can lead to deeper despair. In fact, he argues that this kind of hope is sometimes more painful than despair itself.

He illustrates this with modern movements. For example, Greta Thunberg, the climate activist, once said, “I don’t want your hope. I want you to panic.” She wasn’t asking people to feel better. She wanted people to act.

Setiya also points to the Black Lives Matter movement. These activists weren’t motivated by cheerful optimism. They were driven by grief, anger, fear, and a deep sense of urgency. Those emotions, Setiya argues, are the true sources of courage. Hope might accompany them, but it’s not what fuels the fire.

Hope is not something about sitting back and wishing for things to get better. Instead, it means to take action. Furthermore, courage does not come from hope. Instead, it comes from grief, rage, and fear. Hope still has a role to play in it, but it is not blind optimism. It's about holding on to the possibility of change while putting in the effort and work to make it happen.  

Conclusion 

Setiya’s chapters on absurdity and hope show that even if life doesn’t have a clear meaning, what matters most is how we respond. He believes that fighting for justice and taking action, even without certainty, is what gives life its value. Hope isn’t about blind optimism, but about the courage to change what we can.

Discussion Questions

• When thinking about how small Earth is compared to the universe, does it make life feel more meaningless, or more precious?
• Does hope tend to motivate people to act, or does it cause people to wait for change instead of creating it?