Name: Ghanshyam Katariya
Paper 110A : History of English Literature -From 1900 to 2000
Subject Code: 22403
Topic Name: Exploring the Absurd: The Philosophy of Albert Camus
Batch: M.A. Sem-2 (2022-24)
Roll No: 7
Enrolment No: 4069206420220017
Email Address: gkatariya67@gmail.com
Submitted to: Smt. S. B. Gardi, Department of English, MKBU
Exploring the Absurd: The Philosophy of Albert Camus
Introduction
Albert Camus was born on 7 November 1913, he was a French writer, journalist, and intellectual who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957 primarily for his novels. Although he is often classified as an existentialist philosopher, his work and beliefs are multifaceted and cannot be defined by one label alone. Camus had a deep suspicion of reason as it operates within the Enlightenment and believed that reason alone could not explain the totality of the human experience. He also rejected Sartre's version of existentialism because he felt that it deified history and was incompatible with the affirmation of personal freedom.
Existentialism movement
As an intellectual movement that exploded on the scene in mid-twentieth-century France, “existentialism” is often viewed as a historically situated event that emerged against the backdrop of the Second World War, the Nazi death camps, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, all of which created the circumstances for what has been called “the existentialist moment” (Baert 2015), where an entire generation was forced to confront the human condition and the anxiety-provoking givens of death, freedom, and meaninglessness.
Often, Existentialism as a movement is used to describe those who refuse to belong to any school of thought, repudiating the adequacy of any body of beliefs or systems, claiming them to be superficial, academic and remote from life. Although it has much in common with Nihilism, Existentialism is more a reaction against traditional philosophies, such as Rationalism, Empiricism and Positivism, that seek to discover an ultimate order and universal meaning in metaphysical principles or in the structure of the observed world. It asserts that people actually make decisions based on what has meaning to them, rather than what is rational.
According to Camus, when an individual's longing for order collides with the real world's lack of order, the result is absurdity. Human beings are therefore subjects in an indifferent, ambiguous and absurd universe, in which meaning is not provided by the natural order, but rather can be created (however provisionally and unstable) by human actions and interpretations.
Albert Camus as an Existentialist Philosopher
As an existentialist philosopher and writer, Albert Camus occupies a unique position in the history of philosophy. While he shares some fundamental tenets with other existentialists such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Martin Heidegger, Camus' work is distinguished by his emphasis on the absurdity of the human condition and his rejection of traditional philosophical systems as means of escaping this fundamental reality. Unlike Sartre, who famously argued that existence precedes essence, Camus did not believe that humans could create their own meaning through their actions. Instead, he argued that the universe is inherently meaningless and that any attempt to impose meaning on it is an act of philosophical suicide.
Another way in which Camus differs from other existentialists is in his rejection of violence and revolution as means of achieving social and political change. While Sartre and others saw violence as a legitimate response to oppression and injustice, Camus believed that violence only perpetuated the cycle of oppression and was ultimately self-defeating. Instead, he argued for a non-violent rebellion against the absurdity of existence and the injustices of society. This rebellion, for Camus, was a deeply personal and individualistic act, which required individuals to embrace their own freedom and create their own meaning in a meaningless world.
“I am not a philosopher, because I don’t believe in reason enough to believe in a system. What interests me is knowing how we must behave, and more precisely, how to behave when one does not believe in God or reason”
Albert Camus and his concept of the absurd
Philosophically, Camus is known for his concept of the absurd. The absurd signifies the space between man's need for intelligibility and the unreasonable silence of the world in a world devoid of God, eternal truths, or any other guiding principle. Camus believed that the absurd does not lead to nihilism or inertia, but rather to action and participation. The problem of suicide, in which man is faced with the question of whether life is worth living, manifests the exigency of a meaning-giving response. Camus believed that suicide is a confirmation that the absurd has taken over man's inner life and that man has become a passive recipient of the muteness of the world. Rejecting suicide means rejecting the living death of inertia and inaction and striving to keep the absurd alive.
In his exploration of the human experience, Albert Camus presents the idea that reason is insufficient for explaining the entirety of that experience. Instead, moments of confusion or despair, such as a fall, cannot be fully explained through reason alone. This is exemplified in Camus' novel "The Fall", in which the protagonist's life of routine is overtaken by the irrational and dark forces of human nature. Camus' rejection of existentialism, as he famously stated in an interview with Les Nouvelles Littéraires in 1945, was not a dismissal of the problems faced by existential thinkers but rather a criticism of Jean-Paul Sartre's version of it. Specifically, Camus believed that Sartre's emphasis on history and Marxism would conflict with the affirmation of personal freedom. By deifying history, Camus claimed, Sartre and other thinkers such as Hegel and Marx reduced man to the status of an object in history, denying individuals the ability to create their own history and affirm their freedom.
“The absurd … is simultaneously awareness and rejection of death”
Camus is known for his philosophical conception of the absurd, which is often misunderstood as nihilism. However, for Camus, the acceptance of the absurd does not lead to nihilism or inertia, but rather to action and participation. The absurd represents the gap between man's desire for intelligibility and the unreasonable silence of the world. In a world without God or eternal truths, how can man bear the responsibility of giving meaning to his existence? The absurd man questions whether any philosophical, religious, or political system can provide the answers, or if they are all merely superficial distractions from his ultimate sadness. Camus famously stated that the only truly serious philosophical problem is suicide, as it raises the fundamental question of whether life is worth living. Suicide is the ultimate acceptance of the absurd, a passive resignation to the silence of the world. To reject suicide, one must strive for answers and reject inertia and inaction. Ultimately, one must keep the absurd alive by continuing to question and seek meaning in a world that offers none.
Existentialism and Rebellion in the works of Albert Camus
“One does not discover the absurd without being tempted to write a manual of happiness”
Camus in his work "The Myth of Sisyphus," published in 1942, recounts the tale of Sisyphus, who was punished by the gods to roll a boulder up a mountain, only to watch it fall back down again, repeating the task for eternity. Despite the futility of his actions, Sisyphus realises the extent of his plight and finds victory in his own lucidity. According to Camus, one can overcome the absurdity of life through a joyful contempt, which he calls "scorn." This scorn can be expressed through artistic creation, a moment of exhilarated madness that reveals profound truths. Camus suggests that madness, like that of Shakespeare's Fool in King Lear, can help overcome the absurd without negating it entirely. In fact, Camus argues that one cannot fully understand the absurd without feeling the urge to create a manual of happiness.
“The slave starts by begging for justice and ends by wanting to wear a crown. He too wants to dominate”
Camus' second major philosophical work, ‘The Rebel’ published in 1951, delves further into the problem of how to respond to the absurdity of existence. While in The Myth of Sisyphus he had proposed revolt or creation as necessary responses, The Rebel explores the nature of rebellion and its historical manifestations. However, Camus is wary of the potential pitfalls of revolution. He notes that while people may genuinely rebel against unjust social conditions and even against the whole of creation, they can also become power-hungry and deny the humanity of others in their pursuit of individuality. Camus examines the case of the Marquis de Sade, who desired a community ruled by desire but ultimately consumed itself and all who opposed it. Camus reminds us that any rebellion must take into account the importance of respecting the humanity of others and not becoming consumed by individual desire for power.
Camus's critique of revolutions and the Marxist view of history is rooted in his belief that any attempt to establish an absolute value or a fixed idea of the future necessarily leads to the negation of individual freedom and the humanity of others. Camus advocates for a relative conception of values that acknowledges the complexities and contradictions of human existence and recognizes the importance of individual freedom and human solidarity. For Camus, rebellion is not a means to an end but an ongoing process of creating meaning and purpose in a world that is inherently absurd. By rejecting the idea of an ultimate goal or end-point, Camus argues that individuals can maintain their autonomy and resist the tyranny of any fixed idea or absolute value. Ultimately, Camus's philosophy of rebellion is a call to embrace the complexity and ambiguity of life and to create meaning and value through our own actions and choices.
Camus and his concept of suicide
For Camus, suicide was the rejection of freedom. He thought that fleeing from the absurdity of reality into illusions, religion, or death is not the way out. Instead of fleeing the absurd meaninglessness of life, we should embrace life passionately.
Camus' concept of "philosophical suicide" refers to the act of accepting a ready-made system of values or belief, which serves as a way of avoiding the existential absurdity of life. While this concept is thought-provoking and highlights the importance of personal responsibility in defining one's own existence, it has been criticised for its oversimplification of the human experience.
One of the main critiques of Camus' idea of philosophical suicide is that it assumes that all individuals have the same level of agency and freedom to create their own values. In reality, social and cultural factors can significantly limit one's ability to define their existence and choose their own values. Furthermore, Camus' emphasis on rejecting all forms of transcendent meaning and purpose can be seen as limiting, as many individuals find comfort and purpose in spiritual or religious beliefs.
Conclusion
While often classified as an existentialist philosopher, Camus' work and beliefs cannot be defined by one label alone. He rejected reason as a means of explaining the totality of the human experience, and he believed that the universe is inherently meaningless. Camus is known for his concept of the absurd, which represents the gap between man's need for intelligibility and the unreasonable silence of the world. Despite the futility of life's actions, Camus believed that one can overcome the absurdity of life through personal freedom, non-violent rebellion, and the affirmation of one's own existence. Rejecting suicide means rejecting the living death of inertia and inaction and striving to keep the absurd alive. Camus' philosophy reminds us of the importance of questioning and seeking meaning in a world that often offers none.
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Works Cited
“Existentialism - By Branch / Doctrine.” The Basics of Philosophy, https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_existentialism.html Accessed 31 March 2023.
Fell, Joseph P. “Existentialism.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 6 January 2023, https://iep.utm.edu/existent/#SH2f Accessed 31 March 2023.
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