The Myth of Sisyphus, by Albert Camus

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In Nichomeachean Ethics, Aristotle attempts to define happiness, which brings forth many other questions that lead to the ultimate question: What is the meaning of life? While all of Aristotle’s ideas are both interesting and important, I’ll only mention those that are relevant to the character analysis. Similar to flow; optimal experience, Aristotle draws a fine line between activities or goals that are either means, ends, or both means and ends while claiming that the ultimate end is that which is the means is an end in itself. In addition, Aristotle evaluates pleasure, and concludes that pleasures in themselves are activities. There are several types of pleasures, but for the purpose of this paper, only two pleasures are worth mentioning: conditional and unconditional.
A conditional pleasure is a sensory pleasure, meaning it is something that appeases our senses. This can be activities such as sex, eating a steak, or enjoying a refreshing alcoholic beverage. While all of these pleasures can be enjoyable, they are only enjoyable for a limited time, meaning they are pleasures that are only enjoyed to a certain extent. I couldn’t smoke several cigarettes in a day, but, I often enjoy a cigarette after a meal. An unconditional pleasure is one which can be consumed or carried out repeatedly without losing the sense of enjoyment. This type of pleasure includes activities where pain my also coincide with the act. To the die-hard runner, the marathon may serve as an unconditional pleasure (Aristotle, 1999). Next, I will explain another concept proposed by Albert Camus in The Myth of Sisyphus.
In The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus covers an existentialist perspective to the meaning of life and claims that the absurd; the inability ...

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...pent most of it trying to survive. Comparatively, someone like Mr. Hosokawa can continue to build up reserves of the necessities of life, whereas the slavish person can barely make ends meet. Therefore, in the case of Carmen, who chooses to study on her spare time, Aristotle would consider her act as one that deserves merit. Nevertheless, she currently has the basic necessities and is choosing to spend her leisure time acquiring knowledge for her own sake, an end in itself.

Works Cited
Aristotle. (1999). Nicomachean Ethics (2nd ed.). (T. Irwin, Trans.) Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Camus, A. (1955). The Myth of Sisyphus. New York: Vintage Books.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: HarperCollins.
Epictetus. (1991). Enchiridion. Amherst: Prometheus Books.
Patchett, A. (2001). Bel Canto. HarperCollins.

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