Albert Camus
The Absurd
• Nonsense of Life
A. Fundamental question of philosophy – Is
life worth living?
1. Living is not easy.
2. Man is a creature of habit.
3. Committing suicide happens when man
decides that. . .
a. Daily habits are ridiculous.
b. There is no profound reason to live.
c. Daily agitation is insane.
d. Suffering is useless.
B. The Feeling of Absurdity
1. Comes from the nausea of mechanical daily
existence
a. Same routine, day after day
b. Lassitude leads to the question, Why?
c. In a world without sparkle, man is a “stranger”.
2. Is a result of the divorce between man and his life.
3. Is revealed by the certainty of death.
4. Comes from believing that each day is subject
to tomorrow. Therefore, time is an enemy.
5. Comes when intelligence recognizes that it
cannot understand the world.
The world is irrational.
C. Definition of the absurd
1. The absurd is neither in the world , nor
in man, but in their common presence. It
is born of their apparent contradiction.
• The Absurd Man
A. Camus refuses to condone acts of
avoidance like suicide which suppress
man’s conscience and doctrines.
B. Camus decides to live only with that
which is known.
C. Camas assigns three consequences to the
absurd.
1. Revolt
a. A perpetual confrontation between man
and his own obscurity.
b. It is not an aspiration, but rather, it is the
absence of hope.
c. It gives man a sense of nobility.
d. It is the certainty of a crushing fate.
2. Freedom
a. The absurd man sets aside the
problem of personal liberty within,
because it relates to the belief in
God.
b. The absurd allows man to see things
from a new perspective.
(Man knows that his condition is without hope)
3. Passion
a. Living in an absurd universe consists
of multiplying intelligible experiences
with passion.
b. Camus insists on the quantity rather
than the quality.
c. Man must be ready to pay for his
actions.
d. Man is his one and only end.
• The Stranger
According to Germaine Brée Camus was
unable to accept traditional religious
interpretations of man’s universal
condemnation. Life itself is the cause of
this tragic problem.
Meursault tells the story himself in the first
person but objectively with a kind of flat,
impersonal precision as if he is a
“stranger” to the events.
• What do you think of Meursault?
- Unresponsive.
- Puzzling.
- Some what repellent.
As we advance in the story, he appears to
be sincere and honest. He says what he
understands and feels. He does not wish
to hurt others. It is only by his lack of
sensitivity to the social conventions that
Camus makes us realize Meursault’s
inability to feel shame and his indifference
to social conformity.
• Is Meursault a rebel?
He is not a man who looks at himself as
different from other men.
Although, he does not know what interests
him, he knows what does not interest him.
• Is Meursault proud, arrogant, or dejected?
He enjoys the simple pleasure of everyday
life.
Underneath his apparent indifference, he
slowly changes until he is filled with
passion and bitterness.
• What is the unique value of life?
Meursault’s life must be lived with a
passionate enjoyment to the fullest.