Mercault and the Apples

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Recommended: Values and morality

Morality, Nihilism, and Absurdism
Albert Camus’ novels, The Stranger and The Fall, compare the philosophical theories of nihilism and absurdism, claiming that even though life may lack meaning, morality is still important and everyone, regardless of their philosophical believes, should value it. In this paper, morality is the code of conducts accepted by an individual for his own behaviour. Nihilists believe that life is entirely meaningless, but absurdists believe that even though life is meaningless, a person will spend his entire life searching for meaning. Camus’ novels suggest that nihilism and absurdism are interconnected ideas with similar effects on an individual’s morality. In The Stranger, Meursault is a nihilist who does not think it is important to be moral or behave in a way that benefits others. Conversely, Clemance is an absurdist, who tries to find meaning through other’s judgements of him. He manipulates people in order to achieve his goals; however, this manipulation proves that he does not value personal morality. A comparison of the novels The Stranger, which explores nihilism, and The Fall, which focuses on absurdism, suggests that morality is the most important aspect of life, even if life has no intrinsic meaning.
In The Stranger, the main character Meursault is a nihilist who believes that life has no meaning. Instead of searching for meaning, Meursault lives detached from the people around him and does not care about his life, family, or friends. Meursault’s relationship with Marie proves that Meursault does not care about other people or value what happens in his life. For example, when Marie asks Meursault if he loves her, he replies that “that sort of question [has] no meaning, really; but I s...

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...f the most important things we have as human beings, and that even if there is no meaning to life, there is still a reason to be moral. We have to fit in to society and be proud of ourselves, and being proud of ourselves does not mean winning the game, or being the best, it simply means doing what we think is good. What we think are good actions just comes from our moral judgement, and although it may not always align with the rest of society, it still important to be moral and be proud of your life. Each person can be their own moral individual. To be moral is to be who you are and who you want to be. TS and TF depict nihilism and absurdity in a way that argues that morality is the most important aspect of life, and because Meursault and Clemance lack morality, they lead unfulfilling lives.

Works Cited

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/morality-definition/

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