Scan barcode
A review by bobbo49
The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt by Albert Camus
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
There is so much in this book that I would have to read it multiple times to begin to understand it all. Essentially, it is a philosophical exploration of the concept of rebellion, particularly the social and political implications as experienced in the 18th, 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. Analyzing the writings - and actions - of some of the great political philosophers of these times, Camus presents a dissection of life and politics, people and nations, focused on the importance of the rebel in preserving the notion of freedom in the modern state - and of how wrong this can all go, as it has repeatedly throughout history.
A challenging read; here are just a few of the salient ideas expressed:
"Apart from a few explanations that are not the subject of this essay, the strange and terrifying growth of the modern State can be considered as the logical conclusion of the inordinate technical and philosophical ambitions, foreign to the true spirit of rebellion, but which nevertheless give birth to the revolutionary spirit of our time. The prophetic dream of Marx, and the over-inspired predictions of Hegel or of Neitsche, ended up by conjuring, after the city of God had been razed to the ground, a rational or irrational State, which in both cases, however, was founded on terror." (p.176)
"These two demands [justice and freedom] are already to be found at the beginning of the movement of rebellion and are to be found again in the first impetus of revolution. The history of revolutions demonstrates, however, that they almost always conflict as though their mutual demands were irreconcilable. Absolute freedom is the right of the strongest to dominate." (p. 287)
"Finally, there is a justice, though a very different kind of justice, in restoring freedom, which is the only imperishable value of history." (p. 289)
A challenging read; here are just a few of the salient ideas expressed:
"Apart from a few explanations that are not the subject of this essay, the strange and terrifying growth of the modern State can be considered as the logical conclusion of the inordinate technical and philosophical ambitions, foreign to the true spirit of rebellion, but which nevertheless give birth to the revolutionary spirit of our time. The prophetic dream of Marx, and the over-inspired predictions of Hegel or of Neitsche, ended up by conjuring, after the city of God had been razed to the ground, a rational or irrational State, which in both cases, however, was founded on terror." (p.176)
"These two demands [justice and freedom] are already to be found at the beginning of the movement of rebellion and are to be found again in the first impetus of revolution. The history of revolutions demonstrates, however, that they almost always conflict as though their mutual demands were irreconcilable. Absolute freedom is the right of the strongest to dominate." (p. 287)
"Finally, there is a justice, though a very different kind of justice, in restoring freedom, which is the only imperishable value of history." (p. 289)