The Writings of Alebert Camus: The Myth of Sisyphus

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One of the aspects of Camus writings that stand out significantly is his take on the absurd. Most people define absurd by saying something on the lines of it being “illogical, irrational or ridiculous”. On the other hand Camus defines the absurd as the tension between ones search for meaning in a meaningless world. Camus believes that there are three ways to deal with approaching and accepting the absurd. The three ways he promotes are suicide, leap of faith and life without appeal. These three ways are original and stimulating but is he right? Camus believes that the only way to live a good fulfilling life is to confront and accept the absurd. To accomplish this requires two things, man and the world. The man is the part of the absurd that seeks out meaning while in contrast, the world is the part that lacks the meaning. The absurd tends to position itself somewhere in the middle between man and world. This is where the tension is and where all of the problems seem to arise. Absurdity is not just within the person or the world, it is both of them interacting and creating our questions. Human beings live in a world where all we do is try to seek out the meaning on things. We grow up on principles that give us a comfort that things are the way they are for a reason, until somebody or something opposes it, like the absurd. We have expectations of how things are and when our expectations clash and the completely opposite happens, we start questioning our morals and faith of what we believe and know. When we start to compare our expectations with what actually happened is when we start to confront the absurd. Absurdity springs from comparison, it transcends what we expect and makes it absurd. Expectations are necessary when approac... ... middle of paper ... ...into an idea and just go with it and leap. Searching for meaning outside the world will not get you far because what is out there will not satisfy what humans need, to understand the absurd. By taking the leap, you are taking the world out of the absurdity leaving only man left, which does not make sense. Life without appeal is the best way to approach the absurd solely because it does not just stand for man or stand for the world, but both together. Life without appeal is living without asking questions. We choose to accept the absurd and live in spite of it. When we accept it, it is then when we become free and reach our absolute contentment. Camus is correct in saying that this is the best way to approach the absurd. It is up to us to create meaning in our lives. We have to make our own meanings and try even harder to understand, approach the absurd and be free.

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