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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
“entre la certidumbre que tengo de mi existencia y el contenido que trato de dar a esta seguridad hay un foso que nunca será colmado. Seré siempre extraño a mí mismo” y a pesar de ello… a veces uno simplemente debe imaginarse a Sísifo siendo feliz …
tqm camus
tqm camus
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Ended up with a deep understanding of absurdism and how to approach the meaningless universe and embrace that freedom.
This left me with a good taste of philosophy so for sure I'm gonna pick up a lot now
This left me with a good taste of philosophy so for sure I'm gonna pick up a lot now
slow-paced
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Currently beyond me at this point so a book I’ll have to revisit at a later point when I can properly sit down and digest the material.
A lot of people come to this book for Absurdism & the Myth of Sisyphus, while you’re here though, if you’re not going to read the whole book, and you’re an artist I highly recommend reading ‘The Artist and his Time’ along with the most popular essays in this collection.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
“the myth of sisyphus” begins in the world of absurdism: the philosophical theory that the universe is irrational and meaningless, culminating to existence as a whole being absurd. the premise, plainly stated in the very beginning as “there is but one truly philosophical problem, and that is suicide,” is further cerebrated in an essay on the absurd and its consequences.
camus’ writing is on the dense side, more often than not, presenting a need for careful parsing. he doesn’t simply impart what he believes to be the answer to this question, but takes the reader on the journey of his understanding. a journey speckled with criticisms, as well as commendations, of the philosophies of his contemporaries and predecessors. it can at times feel like you’re going in redundant circles to end up at the same point.
his philosophy starts where others may see a destination. he does not question the absurd, or scrutinise it too deductively, but accepts it as fact, going on to explore its consequences. he believes that humans are to take their place in time and carry it (rather than be carried by it) and in this acknowledgment of belonging to time, one must stay the course. camus infers that the answer or consequence to a life without appeal is not an escape. to escape, we either revert to the meaning of life posited by religion and a supernatural being (an “irrational” response) or die by our own hand in order to escape the absence of meaning (the result of despair). both an attempt at burying our awareness of the absurd.
therefore, camus’ answer to the only truly philosophical problem is that, “being aware of one’s life, one’s revolt, one’s freedom, [and one’s passion], and to the maximum, is living, and to the maximum.” to him, the meaningless is not full of despair, or in need of hope, but rather an enlightening. “living is keeping the absurd alive,” and “the point is to live.” he thus proclaims that we must live and love and work and create art, and be collectors of experiences, even when —and moreover, because— it amounts to no greater purpose or promised land.
(a more complex analysis or personal study of this essay would consume more time than i care to commit at the present moment. i do not agree nor disagree with camus, this would also need careful deliberation. i will say, this was my first step into the world of philosophy and a rare deviation from fiction. i hope to take on different schools of philosophy, and delve deeper into absurdism, in the future. but for now, my mind needs a break.)
(a more complex analysis or personal study of this essay would consume more time than i care to commit at the present moment. i do not agree nor disagree with camus, this would also need careful deliberation. i will say, this was my first step into the world of philosophy and a rare deviation from fiction. i hope to take on different schools of philosophy, and delve deeper into absurdism, in the future. but for now, my mind needs a break.)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
informative
reflective
medium-paced