Halfway there: a philosopher’s guide to midlife crises

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Society & Culture, News, Politics, News Commentary, Philosophy

4.6 • 10.8K Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Philosophy often feels like a disconnected discipline, obsessed with tedious and abstract problems. But MIT professor Kieran Setiya believes philosophical inquiry has a practical purpose outside the classroom — to help guide us through life’s most challenging circumstances. He joins Sean to talk about self-help, FOMO, and midlife crises. This episode originally aired in April 2024. Host: Sean Illing (@SeanIlling) Guest: Kieran Setiya, author of Life Is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way and Midlife: A Philosophical Guide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:49.8	Paid for by public investing.
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1:10.9	Why do we do philosophy?
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1:16.7	I can almost hear the water bong bubbling as I ask that question.
	...

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