On Albert Camus: the Absurd
"In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer."
"There is only one really serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide."
I previously mentioned my favourite author is Albert Camus, the French-Algerian absurdist novelist.
Camus is an author whose work, I both enjoy to read and find valuable in my own life; and might provide you some value.
Camus's writing grapples with the concept of nihilism, a belief that denies the existence of genuine moral truths and asserts the ultimate meaninglessness of life or the universe. Typically, this is communicated to mean that all held values and life itself are meaningless. Camus's work is a way to make sense of that absence of meaning.
Camus's dissection of the meaning of life comes through in the philosophy of Absurdism (an offshoot of existentialism).
For Camus, humans have an inherent desire to understand the fundamental meaning of life. This is evident through the number of religions or worldviews that seek to define what the purpose of life is. Whether this is through God, philosophy, or science, humans have a burning desire to distil a chaotic and unpredictable physical existence into a rationalised purpose.
His other assertion is that the world is fundamentally irrational; therefore, it isn't possible for a human to attain the meaning of life through rational argumentation as practised in philosophy.
"This world in itself is not reasonable, that is all that can be said."
The result of which is an unresolvable relationship between the driving human desire to understand the meaning of life and the cold, irrational universe. This conflict is at the heart of Absurdism.
"I said that the world is absurd, but I was too hasty. This world in itself is not reasonable, that is all that can be said. But what is absurd is the confrontation of this irrational and the wild longing for clarity whose call echoes in the human heart."
Once you have accepted that premise, you are left with three options: suicide, a leap of faith, or an existence of revolt. For Camus, the only option is revolt.
To commit suicide is to confess that life is too much for you or you don't understand it.
To take a leap of faith, in Camus's eyes, is to commit philosophical suicide.
Therefore, for Camus, you must accept the absurdity of life. And by living life with revolt (refusing suicide), you give life its value.
"Men must live and create. Live to the point of tears."
I could go on, but I think I will leave the philosophy section there and speak more to why Camus matters so much to me.
I first read Camus’s "The Plague" during the pandemic; a fitting time to read it. The book is set in the town of Oran, Algeria, and follows the city during a breakout of the bubonic plague.
The book is an allegory for the Nazi occupation of Paris and stresses the idea of collective suffering of humanity and the relationships we have with others in the face of absurdity. It also stresses that who we are in life is how we react in the face of suffering. Do we give up, or do we care for others?
This is exemplified by the main character, Dr. Rieux, who in the face of death does his duty to his community in rejection of the absurdity of the universe.
I then quickly moved on to his classic "The Stranger", a beautifully written novel with one of the most famous opening lines in all of literature—"Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday; I can't be sure."
If The Plague is about the collective response to absurdity, The Stranger is an individual's response. The main character, Meursault, lives life with the passive acceptance of the absurdity of the universe, in contrast to the rebellion of Dr. Rieux.
At that point, I was hooked and read all of his other works. In particular, his book "The Myth of Sisyphus" stuck with me. In its final chapter, Camus introduces Sisyphus.
Sisyphus was a Greek king who cheated death twice. So he was punished by the gods to push a boulder up a hill, only for it to roll down, for the rest of eternity. For Camus, that brief moment in which Sisyphus has to follow the boulder down the hill provides a moment of lucidity.
And in that moment of lucidity Sisyphus realises the hopelessness of his task. He has but one option to scorn the gods by embracing his punishment as the task and the rock are his own. He therefore finds joy in his fate of pushing his boulder up a hill.
"There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn."
Camus is suggesting that, as there is no solution to living an absurd, meaningless life, the only way to live is to fully embrace this absurdity and lose yourself in the joy of your struggle.
This is significant to me as someone who struggles with belief and the meaning of life. It is so very easy for someone to become nihilistic about life, if there is no meaning, no purpose, no afterlife. What is the point of it all?
But of course the point of it all is to live, to embrace this lack of fate. To find your purpose, which you value, as that gives it meaning. You are the master of your destiny.
The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”
