Camus Albert. The Myth Of Sisyphus And Other Essays

Generally, people go through life with some sense of meaning and purpose, finding reason and good in what they do in their lives.But occasionally some people may find that their daily actions and thoughts are dictated by many factors, utterly making the one meaningful life, absurd and pointless.

Generally, people go through life with some sense of meaning and purpose, finding reason and good in what they do in their lives.But occasionally some people may find that their daily actions and thoughts are dictated by many factors, utterly making the one meaningful life, absurd and pointless.

All the rest — whether or not the world has three dimensions, whether the mind has nine or twelve categories — comes afterwards. Camus held that suicide amounts to a confession that life is after all not worth living.

And this confession is linked to “feeling the absurd”.

Most human beings continue living largely because they have not reached a definitive answer to this question.

There are plenty of contradictions between people’s judgments and their actions.

Can we live without the hope that life is meaningful, but without the despair that leads to suicide?

If the contrast is posed this starkly it seems an alternative appears — we can proceed defiantly forward. My articles are entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this please consider sharing the article and others around, following me on Twitter, pledging to my Patreon or donating any amount of bitcoin to this address: 12GNQUQJwv B9kb Yh VU6SYL4FJZYGj A3PDC.In Camus’ view, our actions are also as meaningless and fruitless just like Sisyphus’ boulder-rolling.Surely this sounds horrifying, a life lived with utter despair, but Camus tells us that we should imagine Sisyphus happy, he writes: I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile.To a large extent, Camus suggests that our instinct for life is much stronger than our reasons for suicide: “We get into the habit of living before acquiring the habit of thinking.” We instinctively avoid facing the full consequences of the meaningless nature of life, through what Camus calls an “act of eluding.” This act of eluding most frequently manifests itself as hope.By hoping for another life, or hoping to find some meaning in this life, we put off facing the consequences of the absurd, of the meaninglessness of life.Each day millions of people ask themselves, is this life worth living? There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide.Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.In this essay, Camus wants us to face the consequences of the absurd. Still, we can revolt against the absurdity, and find some happiness in its midst.Essentially Camus asks if there is a third alternative between acceptance of life’s absurdity or its denial by embracing dubious metaphysical propositions.The central essay revolves around a portrait of the mythological figure of Sisyphus.Sisyphus, the king of Corinth, was infamous for his trickery, ultimately cheating death twice, which ultimately led Zeus to sentence him to an eternal punishment of rolling a boulder up a hill in the depth of Hades, only for the boulder to roll back down again.