Prompt question: Camus insists that existence is fundamentally absurd and meaningless,

then why shouldnt we shoot ourselves in the head and get it over with? Why is
philosophical suicide never justified? What is the figure of Sisyphus meant to illustrate? Do
you agree or disagree with this argument?

Between grief and nothing I will take grief.

-William Faulkner

What is the meaning of life? This is the question that Camus tries to answer in The myth of
Sisyphus and depicts in The Stranger. His answer is a bittersweet one and cannot help but
to leave a feeling of despair to those who read it.

I
There comes a moment in the life of every man when the absurdity of life manifests itself.
In this brief moment the feeling of the triviality of life leaves one stunned: we discover that
life is a pure monotony and there is nothing real to grab on to. The hinge between one act
and the other disappears. Upon the lack of a reason to keep on living we are left with
nothingness.
The moment described above is the moment of conciseness. We become conscious that the
life we have been living up to that moment is a lie based on either hope (in an ideal past or
an ulterior future) or the mere habit of living. Thus Camus says we acquire the habit of

living before we acquire the habit of thinking 1. We discover the absurd under which our
life stands. What are the consequences of this feeling of absurdity? There are two paths that
can be taken: we can either go back to sleep or awake.
To throw oneself in the arms of a sweet dream is the easy option. We forget the disturbing
awakening and go back to the habit of sleeping, embracing once again our long loved hopes
or our eternal truth. Through this option we are enabled to acquire happiness, but the cost is
invaluable: we must live under a lie.
Another option is left before us: to awake. What does this fully mean? It means that we
accept to live in the world as it is and without any chimeras. And the world is a wasteland
that holds a profound contradiction: the world is incomprehensible yet men try to grab hold
of it, decipher and comprehend it. We try to find the ultimate Truth Truth with a capital
T-, but our attempts are sterile, the game is always lost. The goal is impossible yet mens
desire doesnt and never will- die. This is the absurd!
To forget this contradiction -as a whole or either of its parts- is to leave in oblivion the only
certainty that we can posses. This contradiction, i. e., the absurd, is the only certainty we
have. Camus tells us that the absurd exists only in mens universe2. The world is
incomprehensible to men and yet men try to grab hold on to it, moreover, they try to find an
ulterior truth. Let us not forget our only certainty, i. e., the absurd!
I can only understand under human terms, being man is my limit. This limit thwarts my
ability to know if this world has an ulterior meaning, leaving me only with my certainty of
the absurd. One question arises: is this certainty enough for me to live? I dont want to live

1 All the quotes used from The myth of Sisyphus are taken from the Spanish version and translated to English
by me. In the Spanish version it reads: Adquirimos la costumbre de vivir antes que la de pensar. Camus,
1985: 7
2 Cfr. Camus, 1985: 20

under lies, illusions or chimeras. The notion of the absurd snatches away all this, any
meaning beyond those established by human realms is to be rejected. We must hold unto
the only thing we have: the absurd. We must hold on to it even if it gives us a constant
dissatisfaction and a feeling of despair.
Upon the notion of the absurd3 we are left with three paths: we live with it, we die because
of it, or, we take a leap of faith. Camus praises the one who is courageous enough to live
within his own means, this is, to live with the absurd; he respects the one who dies once the
absurd is revealed; he pities those who take the leap of faith.
If we decide to live knowing the absurd one must ask: Why? Why dont we take the leap of
faith? Why dont we just shoot ourselves? To take the leap of faith would mean that we are
choosing to live under a lie. We choose to forget the only certainty of which we can be
certain. To kill ourselves would mean that life has triumphed over us, we are unable to
comprehend it and we give up on the effort. These two paths are easy, the real task is to
grab hold of the absurd and never let go.
The world is incomprehensible and yet I yearn to comprehend it: I must never forget that. I
must rebel to the absurd idea of a fulfilling destiny; I must rebel against the despair that
pushes me towards a premature death. I know I am alive and I know I am to die; I also
know theres no transcendental meaning to life I must live out of rebellion and pride.
Transcendence and meaning are things I can have no more. I must live indifferent towards
the future wanting to consume it all. Experiences are all the same, I just want as much as I
can grab out of them. My will to live, that is my rebellion; that is too the reason why we
should keep on living.

3 The notion of the absurd is different from the feeling of the absurd.

II
Camus depicts the absurd with the myth of Sisyphus: the Greek character insists on rolling
his rock uphill even though he is aware that he will never be able to reach the summit, the
rock will always roll downhill before he achieves his goal. Men, as Sisyphus, insist in the
pursuit of their absurd task. Just as Sisyphus insists on reaching the summit we insist on
finding a meaning towards the task were executing. But theres none. Any meaning found
is a mere chimera.
Sisyphus is aware of his condition, he knows that every pursuit is bound to fail: the rock he
is pushing will never achieve the top. Consciousness fills his heart with despair, there is no
point in the task that he is doing. Why does he keep on executing it? Why doesnt he throw
the rock or refuse to push it uphill once more? Because this would be the equivalent to
death. Why doesnt he forget the absurd of his condition? Because this would force him to
live in a lie, he would believe that his goal could actually be achieved.
Sisyphus is aware of his condition: he knows he will never triumph. Yet he rebels against
the idea of death (both of his mind and of his body). He grabs hold of the idea of the
absurd, this does not please him but it leads him to rebellion. Every time the rock rolls
down he will try again to achieve his goal (he will try knowing beforehand that he will fail).
But Sisyphus is alive! The struggle itself toward the height is enough to fill a mans heart.
One must imagine Sisyphus happy4

III
There is a point where I would like to deepen: the apparent indifference one must hold
towards life. Thus it seems that there are as many meanings in life as the times that
4 Aroson, 2012: 17.

Sisyphus can push uphill his rock. Can one then understand that these meanings are
senseless and futile? Our experiences mean nothing more then the mere act of living? Is
there no transcendence in our acts? Is it the same to live my life then that of any other? Its
complicated to embrace this idea.
We are told that Sisyphus is condemned to do an absurd task for the rest of his days. Still I
find that Sisyphus has a margin of freedom. Sisyphus knows he will never achieve the
summit, knowing this and never forgetting this one certainty- he can be the master of his
destiny (a human destiny not an ulterior one). He can create his own destiny! The rock, the
slope and the action of pushing the rock are his only.
If the conscious man is the maker of his own destiny his life is not an equivalent to
anothers. My life contains my decisions. I cant say that my life is better than others, but
its mine. Its my rock, my slope, my determination and my rebellion! I decide if I push the
rock uphill once more; I also decide how I push the rock uphill.

Camus can take us up to this point. What is he lacking? For me he is lacking the idea of
transcendence. I believe that we can find the infinite in the finite without betraying what
has been said up to now: Nietzsche will help me explain.

Nietzsche sees life under what he calls brief habits. He understands that there is no
ultimate Truth, and yet, is able to depict a meaningful life. Nietzsche comes to show that
truth is no more credible, that God is dead, that the belief in the infinite and necessary truth
can no longer stand. Nietzsche and Camus are found in the same spot: withdrawing Truth
there can be no ultimate ground beneath our lives that will give an infinite meaning to our
finite existences.

Nietzsches answer to the question of how to live our life is a bold response; [] the
secret for harvesting from existence the great fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment is to
live dangerously!5 What this means is that we must step away from the safe but wrong idea
that life has a defining infinite meaning and instead we must live embracing the finitude of
our existence; [] here is something that will give me lasting satisfaction- brief habits,
too, have this faith of passion, this faith in eternity-6.
We pour meaning into our lives by creating brief habits that uncover the infinite meaning in
life. We must thus live cheerfully, gay and passionately every moment for the infinite is not
something found outside in the realm of reason but is rather that special moment that we
keep and treasure out of any experience in life. That life and everything in it is finite and
bound to disappear is true, but we rescue from oblivion a moment, a touch, a feeling, a
thought. That which we rescue from the finite will live in us forever and in this will become
an infinite source that will fill our lives with meaning. That which survives (by the power
of our will) becomes immortal; it is life that returns eternally to make us stronger, for it is
that which does not die, what lives forever.

5 Nietzsche, 1974: 228.

6 Nietzsche, 1974: 237.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

CAMUS, Albert, The Stranger. Translated by Mathew Ward. New York: Vintage
International, 1989. (Kindle Version).

CAMUS, Alberto, El mito de Ssifo. Translated by Luis Echverri. Madrid: Alianza Editorial,
1985. (PDF version)

NIETZSCHE, Friedrich, The Gay Science. New York: Vintage books, 1974.

ELECTRONIC SOURCES:

AROSON, Ronald, "Albert Camus", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2012
Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL:
http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2012/entries/camus/