Philosophy of Absurdism by Albert Camus

 According to many, the most fundamental philosophical question is what existence means. This is a question that Albert Camus explored in his novels, plays, and essays. His view of life was called absurdism, which held that life had no inherent meaning and that the search for meaning was ultimately futile. Camus even went so far as to suggest that suicide might be the only logical response to this absurdity.

Camus dismissed religion as a source of meaning since it was based on an illusion, and even if God did exist, the amount of pain and suffering in the world made God either an imbecile or a psychopath. Finding Findingships with other people was also dismissed as absurd because everyone we know and love will eventually die, and many will suffer before they do.

Camus did not believe that embracing illusion, as Nietzsche suggested, was a solution to the problem. Instead, Camus believed we should openly acknowledge and embrace life's absurdity. He used the example of Sisyphus, who was condemned to push a boulder up a mountain only to have it roll back down, yet continued to do so for eternity.

While this may not seem like a solution to the problem, Camus believed we needed to confront the truth of life's absurdity and refuse to let it destroy us. He suggested that we "imagine Sisyphus happy," although it may not be comforting.

In conclusion, whether life is absurd is a fundamental philosophical problem, and Camus' view of absurdism suggests that life has no inherent meaning. However, his solution was to confront the truth of this absurdity and embrace it, rather than give in to despair or seek illusory solutions.'

Suicide

Camus unreservedly condemned, strictly criticized, and rejected suicide and existential leap because suicide is a total surrender to absurdity and a full confession that life is too much on the individual. His interest in existentialism is to explain the meaninglessness of life through his explication of the absurd, which is found in human existence, and which continues to torment man until the finality of his existence, which is death. The knowledge that life is absurd is already a step towards conquering the meaninglessness of life. For Camus, therefore, since the absurd has no meaning, man must hold himself apart from it and revolt against it. This is why he suggested philosophical suicide as a solution to reverse the absurdity of life. The question then is, since man believes in the absurdity of existence, then how and where should he direct his conduct? Does suicide solve this problem? The consequences of Camus’ submissions are enormous, but be that as it may, this work attempts a study of the absurdity inherent in human existence to answer the following questions: How far did Camus achieve the idea of the absurdity of life? How realistic is Camus’ attempt to analyze life as meaningless apart from the meaning we give to it? Did Camus actually succeed in his effort to show that life is absurd? Finally, what are the implications of Camus’ absurdity to philosophy and life? This work will adopt expository and analytic methodological approaches. Here we shall, with a detailed and deep reflective inquiry, expose the place of absurdity in Camus’ philosophy to fully understand his understanding of life.