Absurdism
Tradition · 1940s, France · Philosophy, stage 2: Map the schools
Absurdism is the position, developed by Albert Camus, that human life is defined by a basic mismatch between our demand for meaning and a universe that provides none. It grew out of the same postwar climate as existentialism, but Camus deliberately kept his distance from that label. Rather than resolving the absurd through religious faith or ending it through suicide, Camus argues for lived defiance: continuing to act, create, and choose while refusing to pretend the universe answers back. The clearest statement of the position is The Myth of Sisyphus, where Camus reads the myth of Sisyphus, condemned to push a boulder up a hill forever, as an image of the human condition, and concludes that one must imagine Sisyphus happy.
What it claims
- The universe has no inherent meaning or purpose.
- Humans nonetheless demand meaning, and this demand produces the absurd.
- Suicide and religious faith are both refusals to face the absurd honestly.
- The honest response is to keep living and acting while accepting the absurd rather than resolving it.
Key ideas
People
Sources
- Albert Camus Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Existentialism Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyExplains how Camus relates to, and differs from, the existentialists.
