The Illumination of Albert Camus and the History of Absurdism

Making sense of a random world that makes no sense

Albert Camus was a French author, philosopher, political activist, journalist, author, dramatist and He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His works include The Plague, The Stranger, The Myth of Sisyphus, The Rebel, and The Fall. A member of the French Resistance during World War II, he became a celebrity after the war, giving many lectures around the world.

As for his political activism, Camus was part of the left that opposed the Soviet Union, and Joseph Stalin, because of their totalitarianism.

A moralist, Camus was a non-dogmatic supporter of the anarcho-syndicalism philosophy. A visionary, he was a member of many organizations seeking European integration.

Philosophically, Camus’s views expanded and contributed to the popularity in many circles of the philosophy of Absurdism. Many also consider Camus’s writings to be existential in nature, in spite of the fact that he himself rejected the label throughout his lifetime.

Camus considers absurdity as a confrontation, an opposition, a conflict, or a “divorce” between two ideals. Specifically, he defines the human condition as absurd, as the confrontation between man’s desire for significance, meaning, and clarity on the one hand — and the silent, cold universe on the other. He continues that there are specific human experiences evoking notions of absurdity.

Such a realization or encounter with the absurd leaves the individual with one of three choices:

1. suicide,

2. a leap of faith,

3. recognition.

Camus was not in favor of suicide as a solution to anything!

He concludes that recognition is the only defensible option.

For Camus, suicide is a “confession” that life is not worth living; it is a choice that implicitly declares that life is “too much.” Suicide offers the most basic “way out” of absurdity: the immediate termination of the self and its place in the universe. Be clear that one cannot be both suicidal and an absurdist.

Lastly, a person can choose to embrace their own absurd condition. According to Camus, one’s freedom — and the opportunity to give life meaning — lies in the recognition of absurdity. If the absurd experience is truly the realization that the universe is fundamentally devoid of absolutes, then we as individuals are truly free. “To live without appeal,” as he puts it, is a philosophical move to define absolutes and universals subjectively, rather than objectively. The freedom of humans is thus established in a human being's natural ability and opportunity to create their own meaning and purpose; to decide (or think) for him or herself. Here, the individual becomes the most precious unit of existence, representing a set of unique ideals that can be characterized as an entire universe in its own right. In acknowledging the absurdity of seeking any inherent meaning, but continuing this search regardless, one can be happy, gradually developing meaning from the search alone.

Camus states in The Myth of Sisyphus:

“Thus I draw from the absurd three consequences, which are my revolt, my freedom, and my passion. By the mere activity of consciousness I transform into a rule of life what was an invitation to death, and I refuse suicide.”

“Revolt” here refers to the refusal of suicide and search for meaning despite the revelation of the Absurd; “Freedom” refers to the lack of imprisonment by religious devotion or others’ moral codes; “Passion” refers to the most wholehearted experiencing of life, since hope has been rejected, and so he concludes that every moment must be lived fully.

The Absurdity of Absurd Absurdism

According to absurdism, humans will usually attempt to find meaning in their lives. Traditionally, this search results in one of two conclusions: either that life is meaningless, or life contains a purpose set forth by a higher power — a belief in God, or adherence to some religion or other abstract concepts.

Camus perceives filling the void with some invented belief or meaning as a mere “act of eluding” — that is, avoiding or escaping rather than acknowledging and embracing the Absurd. To Camus, elusion is a fundamental flaw in religion, existentialism, and various other schools of thought. If we elude the Absurd, we can never confront it.

The Takeaway

Even with a spiritual power as the answer to meaning, another question arises: What is the purpose of a belief in God? Kierkegaard believed that there is no human-comprehensible purpose of God, making faith in God absurd itself. Camus, on the other hand, states that to believe in God is to “deny one of the terms of the contradiction” between humanity and the universe (and is therefore not absurd but what he calls “philosophical suicide”). Camus (as well as Kierkegaard), though, suggests that while absurdity does not lead to belief in God, neither does it lead to the denial of God. Camus notes, “I did not say ‘excludes God.”

Here is an interesting story @thomas-oppong

https://readmedium.com/how-to-transcend-the-absurdity-of-life-7487d8c9dbc1

Author: Lewis Harrison is a futurist and professional forecaster. He is the Executive Director of the International Association of Healing Professionals, a philanthropic and educational organization that distributes free life lesson classes, mental health awareness vlogs, prepper guides, and self-improvement programs around the world.

Lewis is also a best-selling author and former host of a radio show on an NPR-affiliated station.

Here is a humorous promo for that show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGEPvdi9YZs

Lewis created a game theory-based Life Strategies Playbook and Mentoring Method which he offers at no charge. He has used this system to move individuals and organizations to the next level. His work in Applied Gamer-Thinking is revolutionary. (Game Theory, the source of his work has won numerous Nobel Prizes).

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