Resumo de Absurdity & Suicide

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Absurdity & Suicide in Albert Camus

The Algerian French philosopher, Albert Camus was well

known for his concept of the absurd which he defined as

a ?confrontation between our demands for rationality
and

justice and the indifferent universe?. He explored the

questions of responsibility, innocence and guilt of man
in

the face of overwhelming tragedy.

Camus in ?Absurdity & Suicide? is concerned with what
he

calls a ?truly serious philosophical problem? of
suicide.

The condition of suicide amounts to confronting the

question whether or not life is worth living.

Camus tries to shift the focus of suicide from a social

phenomenon to an individual one. His contention is that
the

act of committing suicide has its inception in man?s
heart

and society has little bearing in it. Camus argues

that ?killing yourself amounts to confessing that life
is

unbearable and that there is no serious reason for
staying

alive?. Camus also emphasizes the point that the ?daily

agitation? and ?monotony of life? can render life

meaningless. Voluntary death is the recognition of the
fact

of ?uselessness of suffering?. Camus describes the idea
of

absurdity as the ?divorce between man and his life?.
The

absurd is also described as that which one might think
to

be amenable to reason, but which turns out to be beyond
the

ambit of rationality. Camus tries to establish a

relationship between the absurd and suicide, where
suicide

can be seen as a solution to the absurd.

Camus then points out the irony involved in the
situation

of absurdity- where saying ?no? to suicide could mean
yes

and that those who committed suicide were assured of
the

meaning of life? Camus then cites the instance of

philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer who ?advocated the
practice

of suicide as a solution to absurdity? without
practising

it. According to Schopenhauer, the only lasting
solution to

our misery comes when people become so aware of the

drudgery of existence, the wretchedness of life, of the

misery of existing as ?futile manifestations of the
cosmic

will to live?, that they lose all will for existence.

Further, Camus writes that our existence is something
which

is given to us before, the idea and habit of thinking
has

come to us. This idea was to become later on the motto
of

Existentialist philosophy, where ?existence precedes

essence?. It also described the basic inevitability &

absurdity of our existence. Life for him becomes
a ?daily

hastening towards death? which in effect is an
acceptance

of the absurdity of our existence. Camus? The Stranger

depicts a protagonist who has accepted the absurdity of

existence, ?opening up his heart to the benign
indifference

of the universe?. But Camus, like Sartre, also displays
a

deep appreciation of what can be called ?original
guilt?,

guilt that is inherent in our existence as human
beings.

However, Camus argues that it is because of some hope
in

life that man tries to elude or escape form suicide.
Hope

gives life some meaning and man is content enough to
evade

suicide. Camus then argues that absurdity of life is

something which is given to us and the way to confront
it

is either through hope or through suicide!

By citing German philosopher Karl Jaspers, one of the

pillars of existentialism, Camus furthers his

argument, ?that the self exists having no fixed nature
and

acting not only within the routine of everyday life,
but

sometimes unconditionally with the freedom amounting to
the

choice of itself?. Its condition is starkly revealed

in ?limit-situations? of conflict, suffering, guilt etc

requiring decisions perplexed by uncertainty &
antimony. It

is this point where many have committed suicide!

Camus is eager to point out the fact that it is theconsciousness of the tragic condition which ultimately

constitutes tragedy. The myth of the Greek mythological

hero Sisyphus is tragic because he is conscious of his

torment and suffering. Camus assures us that ?Sisyphus
is

happy in this condition of torment?, for he accepts his

futile fate. This knowledge, that man has to accept his

fate and ultimately death is essential to him for his

existence!

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