The conception of the absurd according to Albert Camus

Camus is the philosopher of the absurd. An absurdity that would be reconciled with life through acceptance. Today we delve into the philosophy of this original and controversial philosopher.

Normally there is the conception that philosophy is a discipline dedicated to answering questions and issues such as “what is life”, “what meaning does it have” and “why are we here”. But Albert Camus had a clear answer: life is absurd, It has absolutely no meaning and the universe is totally indifferent to our existential questions.

Albert Camus, French philosopher born in French Algeria on November 7, 1913, was one of the most relevant figures in philosophical thought of the 20th century. In 1957, at the age of 44, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and, beyond his recognition as an intellectual, his ideas still resonate deeply in contemporary thought.

Camus is going to call absurd the distance between the search for meaning by human beings and the absolute indifference of the universe towards this question. The absurd is the search for meaning in something that simply does not have it. In other words: human life is inconsequential to the enormous universe that surrounds it.

In fact, if we think about it, Human beings have only been in the universe for a very small fraction of time.: 300,000 years of the 13.7 billion years that the universe has.

All great actions and all great thoughts have ridiculous reasoning. Great works are often born around a corner or at the door of a restaurant. And the same is the absurdity. The absurd world draws its nobility, more than any other, from this miserable birth.

The myth of Sisyphus

The myth of Sisyphus tells that he himself Sisyphus (Prometheus in Greek mythology) was punished by Zeus for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to men. His great cunning brought him an eternal punishment consisting of Sisyphus having to carry a huge stone up a hill to the top of a mountain. Once the stone reached the top, it fell again and Sisyphus began to climb it again, again and again and again with the same result; like this all eternity.

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With this myth, Camus wants to show how futile and empty human life is, it was based on repeating cycles (eat, sleep, work)… In reality, we are all Sisyphus.

Absurdity and suicide

According to Camus, there are different ways to react to the absurdity of life. The first is the one that is surpassed by this vital absurdity that feels like a prison: the path of suicide.

The loss of the supposed individual meaning of life, which for some is their job, for others a loved one or health, is reason enough to end one’s life. If what is our reason for living goes away, it becomes our reason for dying.

The absurdity and existence of religions

Another way of reacting to the absurdity of existence is what Camus calls “philosophical suicide.” From philosophical suicide arises the idea that other metaphysical worlds exist, worlds like the heaven of Christians, worlds in which we are reincarnated, etc. Which, in a way, free us from thinking that this present life is in vain and meaningless. Kill the tension we experience in the present life.

Among the metaphysical ideas he also included utopias such as communism, which he called “religion without God.” Incidentally, Camus was expelled from the communist party in which he was a member after exposing this theory.

“All morals are based on the idea that an act has consequences that justify or erase it. A spirit soaked in absurdity only judges that these consequences must be considered with serenity. He is willing to pay. In other words, although for him there may be those responsible, there are no culprits. At most he will agree to use past experience to base his future actions.”

Camus sees in suicide a successful (consequential), although somewhat cowardly, way of facing the meaninglessness of our existence.

The path of acceptance

For Albert Camus, simply accepting that life is absurd, that it has no meaning in the vast universe where we live and, even so, living with enthusiasm, with passion, generating works of art, enjoying… is the only way to be in this world. world. Absurdity does not have to be an ordeal, but it can also be something redemptive.. Acceptance is the true rebellion against the meaninglessness of our lives.

“I shout that I believe in nothing and that everything is absurd, but I cannot doubt my cry and I have to believe at least in my protest.”

-The myth of Sisyphus-

In any case, for Camus it is It is inconceivable that we can construct a meaning in life before accepting that it does not have one.. An acceptance that, on the other hand, should dissuade us from such an endeavor, which would imply a reconciliation with our own nature. In his words “From the absurd I have obtained three consequences: my rebellion, my freedom and my passion. With the sole play of conscience I transform into a rule of life what was an invitation to death…”