The Absurd by Albert Camus

• The past year has disrupted the stable sense of reality people previously held.
• There was a shift from a shared sense of common values to a corrupted sense of reality.
• The monotonous nature of life was once punctuated by dreams of weekend parties and getaways.
• Reality was disrupted by events like breakups, layoffs, pandemics, or realizations that everyone is improvising.
• Common experiences like breakfast or using a toothbrush feel alienating, and decision-making leads to dread.
• This experience is what philosopher Albert Camus termed "the absurd".

The Absurd

• The absurd is the tension between humanity's urge to understand the world through reason and the apparent unreasonableness of the world.
• Camus explores potential solutions to the absurd.
• One solution is denying the unreasonable world by pretending it makes sense.
• This involves creating and following distinct goals to give life meaning.
• Denying the unreasonableness of death is exemplified by the belief in an afterlife where actions in life determine rewards or punishments.
• In secular contexts, financial security can be pursued as a distraction from the lack of inherent meaning.
• Systematic conceptions of the world reduce and avoid the complexity and absurdity of reality.
• While this makes life more comfortable, it limits freedom by tying individuals to specific plans.
• Discovering that the afterlife doesn't exist or failing to achieve retirement plans can be existentially painful.
• Another solution is abandoning reason, with some philosophers like Karl Jaspers arguing for its uselessness.
• Others, such as Kierkegaard, suggest reason exists but is beyond human comprehension, advocating for a leap of faith.
• Denying reason is intellectually destructive and to live fully, one must tackle the incomprehensibility of life.
• The project of applying reason to the world, despite potential failure, provides the potential to truly live.
• The solution of self-obliteration, or suicide, is considered the most extreme acceptance of the absurd.
• Taking one's life is a rejection of freedom and the key to living fully.

Camus' Solution: The Absurd Hero

• Camus proposes living consistently with the absurd, through the concept of the absurd hero.
• Jean-Paul Sartre defines the absurd man as one who lives without hope, illusions, or resignation, staring at death with passionate attention.
• Living consistently with the absurd involves adopting three mindsets.
• Living in constant revolution entails rebelling against unavoidable circumstances, like death to keep the absurd alive.
• Rejecting the idea of eternal freedom involves recognizing freedom in every moment, rather than hoping for future liberation.
• Living with a sense of passion for life itself, which involves living as much as possible rather than as good as possible.
• An absurd human is aware of mortality, limitations of reasoning, and embraces both pleasure and pain.
• Camus values the artist as closest to living authentically.
• The artist creates in the moment, willing to abandon one piece for the next, due to the recognition that nothing is eternal or sacred.
• Camus summarizes his philosophy in "The Myth of Sisyphus."

The Myth of Sisyphus

• Sisyphus is condemned by the gods to roll a boulder up a mountain only for it to fall back down.
• Camus asks to imagine Sisyphus happy.
• Sisyphus has no illusions about the futility of his existence and embracing the present moment and revolts permanently against his circumstances.
• Despite the futility, he embraces the unreasonableness of it all, revolting against nihilism and despair.
• Being aware allows him to be the master of his own fate, and is truly free even in condemnation.

Explanation of 'the absurd' as defined by Albert Camus, which is the tension between humanity's urge to understand the world through reason and the apparent unreasonableness of the world. Camus explores potential solutions to the absurd. One solution is denying the unreasonable world by pretending it makes sense.