Absurdity and Camus

Paper Summary:

Albert Camus, a political activist and intellectual often expressed his philosophical attitudes through fiction and short essays. Camus is primarily known for philosophical position; a form of existentialism, that he portrays in his essays "The Absurd" and "The Myth of Sisyphus". The absurd is a set of beliefs to be adopted towards life in a universe that is devoid of a true or higher meaning when the only outcome will be death. This paper shows how, in the two previously mentioned essays, Camus explores the way in which absurdity appears in life and the consequences of making this discovery. Camus identifies the Absurd not as a source for despair but describes a way to defy meaninglessness and live life through experience.

From the Paper:

"The theater of the Absurd is a display of modern life in a universe that is devoid of a true or higher meaning. This existential philosophy illustrated through plays relates a brutal world freed from any notion of divinity. In a world where the only outcome is certain death, there is no moral code, no god and no ultimate purpose. A person is left with a feeling of unease and dislocation, such is the beginning of Absurdity. Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot are two plays, which explore concepts such as these. Modernist theater features the notion of the absurd; a concept reflective of global attitude at the time in the wake of World War Two and the decline of religious faith."

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• Term Paper # 100047 : "Happiness and the Absurd"

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