Albert Camus and the Consequences of the Absurd

Written in 2018 for an Introduction to Philosophy course, this piece of writing is in response to the following statement: Discuss Camus’s idea of the absurd, and critically evaluate the three consequences of the absurd.

A consequence of the human condition is the inherent need to determine the meaning of life. The conclusions elicited to this question come from a variety of different cultural and ideological backgrounds. For some, the answer lies in religion, by placing hopes in a God, or a force beyond this world. For others, the answer is that life is simply meaningless. For French philosopher Albert Camus, the search to find meaning in a universe which is fundamentally meaningless, is an impossibility. This is, he claims, the absurdity of life - the pairing of man within the world. Camus consequently distinguishes that there are three possibilities for action upon this realisation of the absurd: suicide, philosophical suicide, or embracing the absurd life. Camus discounts the first two possibilities and concludes that embracing and living the absurd life is the most viable option. This essay will argue that this is a sufficient way to live one’s life and this will be done so by examining the three consequences of the absurd: revolt, freedom, and passion.

Camus begins The Myth of Sisyphus by claiming that ‘there is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide,’ (Camus, 1955, p11). So, could Silenus have been right in asserting that it would have been better to have not been born, or to die as soon as possible? (Aronson, 2011, online - paragraph 4). Camus explores this idea of whether life is or is not worth living by contemplating whether death should be the solution. Suicide, he claims, is confessing that living ‘is not worth the trouble’ (Camus, 1955, p13), and ‘the absence of any profound reason for living’ has been recognized in this case. Camus later contends, however, that there would be no more meaning to death than there is in life, and so suicide is not sufficient as a solution to the absurdity of life. Suicide would be extreme acceptance of the absurd, but rather than solving the problem of the absurd, suicide negates it. That is, life may be meaningless, but it can still be worthwhile (O’Dwyer, 2011, p169). The second possibility for action in confronting the absurd according to Camus, is philosophical suicide. This refers to taking a leap of faith, whether that be through religious, abstract, or spiritual belief. However, Camus believes that filling the ‘void’ with an invented meaning is purely an act of avoiding the human condition. This ultimately leads to his third possibility, which is to embrace living the absurd life.

The first consequence to embracing the absurd, Camus argues, is to revolt against the absurd. According to Camus, ‘one of the only coherent philosophical positions is… revolt… [that is,] a constant confrontation between man and his own obscurity... [it] is certainty of a crushing fate, without the resignation which ought to accompany it’ (Camus, 1955, p47-48). The first step in this revolt is for the ‘why’ to arise in one’s thinking – this is an awakening of self that occurs in recognising the monotonous structure of life. After this awareness, one has two options – suicide or recovery. Deeming suicide implausible, recovery means to revolt. That is to say, to revolt against the absurd is to maintain awareness that finding unity and meaning is impossible within this universe. It is to live in rebellion to the predisposed human condition, affirming that the unexamined life is worth living (Francev, 2014, p1). To live with this defiance against the absurd is to live with the affirmation that one is living within a universe that, ultimately, doesn’t care.

Camus subsequently argues that the second consequence to living the absurd life is to live in freedom. Ultimately, he argues that to live in such a way is to abandon the idea that life has any intrinsic meaning or value, and rather than to live committing oneself to any particular goal, one should instead live in the moment – free from any sort of constriction. We live knowing we are free to have our own thoughts and to define ourselves with our actions, so with this notion comes the idea that we are also free to choose our own path and to set our own goals. However, this ultimately sets us up to conformity, and to restricting ourselves to the role we envisioned for ourselves. Having a role to fulfil takes away a certain amount of freedom. Camus did not like labels, and particularly did not like being labelled as an existentialist. In a way, Camus’ dislike for labels represents his very notion of a role defining who one’s self is and inhibiting one’s sense of self and abilities.

Finally, Camus concludes that an absurd man is to embrace the absurdity of life, and to live it with passion. He describes that ‘being aware of one’s life, one’s revolt, one’s freedom, and to the maximum, is living, and to the maximum’ (Camus, 1955, p54). This essentially means that being fully aware of the absurdity of life and its consequences, allows one’s self to truly invest in the vitality of living. This idea is represented by Camus through the story of Sisyphus – the ‘absurd hero’, who was condemned by the gods to eternally roll a rock to the top of a mountain, only for it to roll back down again. Camus, however, informs the reader that we should imagine the man is happy. There really is no more to life than its complete meaninglessness, and the best way to make this fact worthwhile, is to embrace it.

Ultimately, Camus accepts that life is meaningless. He deems that life is absurd in the way that, as humans, we try to create sense in a chaotic, senseless universe. However, this realisation does not authenticate suicide, nor philosophical suicide. Instead, Camus argues a third option: to embrace the absurd. He consequently claims that living with revolt, freedom and passion is the optimum way to live. For many, including myself, it is a consolidating fact that life is meaningless. If I fail this assignment, does it really matter? Living the absurd life as Camus dictates we should, also enables me to live with vivacity, and without worry. It enables me to live in a way that is uncensored, and free. Perhaps the difficult part about Camus’ philosophy is the recovery part of the awareness. To me, it feels as though the realisation is followed by a void – a hyperawareness of the fact that we exist meaninglessly. It is coming to terms, and accepting that fact, that ultimately takes time. After that, life becomes about seizing each day as it comes, as, according to Camus, ‘the point is to live.’