Report by Christine Price
April’s topic was ‘ABSURDISM’, a philosophy largely attributed to ALBERT CAMUS (1913-1960), a French Algerian writer and his book ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’ (1942)
When Sisyphus, King of Corinth died, because he had angered and incurred the wrath of Zeus, he was condemned to roll a boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down every time it neared the top, repeating this meaningless action for eternity.
In the context of WWII, Camus suggests there was no God to give meaning to our lives and posed a question: If, like Sisyphus’ task, human existence has no meaning, is life worth living?
Absurdism focuses on the search for personal meaning, order and purpose in a universe which is indifferent, chaotic, and ultimately meaningless.
The ABSURD condition is the relationship between human beings and the world.
Responses to the Absurd:
DESPAIR/FALSE HOPE: reject life, surrendering to ‘physical suicide’
‘LEAP OF FAITH’: adopt comforting beliefs, e.g. religion, surrendering to ‘philosophical suicide’
OR
ACKNOWLEDGE/EMBRACE the Absurd: accept the world is devoid of meaning or purpose without escape (no religion, suicide, false hope).
Some differences and similarities between Absurdism and other philosophies were considered.
STOICSISM, acknowledges a ‘cosmic order’ but warns that the universe doesn’t always make sense and we can’t control what happens. Life brings both good and bad but rather than being upset by things we can’t change, we should stay calm, wise, and kind.
Absurdist belief is that there is no order but, like Stoicism, encourages acceptance of what you cannot change.
PLATO and ARISTOTLE both saw the universe as ordered, rational, purposeful and knowable through reason or discovery.
Enlightenment thinkers believed reason could explain the world and for DESCARTES, the universe is deterministic, set in motion by God. All events ultimately determined by causes external to human will.
HUME’s view was that humans tend to act as though the world is orderly despite realising reason can’t justify it.
Absurdism also finds that humans search for meaning despite recognising it can’t be found and because for Absurdism, there is no order to the universe, the search fails. To avoid conflict and distress, Absurdism advocates acceptance.
The C20th ‘Theatre of the Absurd’ movement reflected Absurdist characteristics in plays with unconventional and sparse plots, language and characters. Samuel Beckett’s ‘Waiting for Godot’ is a classic example and a group member reminded us that poetry by Beckett and notably Spike Milligan also had these characteristics. .
Absurdism was considered in relation to Existentialism and Nihilism.
For NIHILISM, life can feel meaningless and lead to a sense of detachment. EXISTENTIALISM encourages us to express and make our own meanings but this requires us to take responsibility for our choices, potentially resulting in anxiety.
Absurdism encourages us to embrace life despite meaninglessness.
The meaning of life, the universe and everything is, of course 42! (Douglas Adams,1978) ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy’)