I’m an absurdity – get me out of here! Absurdism and Albert Camus

Overview

What is the meaning of existence? The famous French-Algerian author and philosopher Albert Camus (1913-60) believed that life had no meaning. His philosophical view was called existentialist absurdism. And who has not at some point thought that life is absurd?

We each span a few decades between two oblivions on a speck of a planet in an inconceivably vast purposeless cosmos.  The omnipotent God who once granted purpose to human life is now gone from most Western people’s beliefs.  And we each get thrown into this situation … no-one asked to be born.

Is this not all an absurdity with no ultimate meaning? Albert Camus bravely faced up to this head on. Yes – existence was ultimately meaningless.  But despite this, can we still gain any meaning in our lives? Is there a possibility of hope? Let’s explore that together.

Good to know: We take pride in putting the fun back into serious philosophy through our friendly and respectful discussions involving different levels of experience of philosophy.  The Lit & Phil Philosophy Forum is all about collectively exploring interesting and exciting ideas from different viewpoints … not winning arguments!

Bobby Mears’ focus paper I’m an absurdity – get me out of here!  should be read before the Forum to enrich and guide our discussions.

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