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Analysis Of The Book ' The Stranger '

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The Stranger in Us All:
How Camus’s Classic Connects to Other Philosophical Works
Macy French
Tusculum College

Author’s Note
This paper was prepared for Dr. Harlow’s Quest for Meaning class at Tusculum College Albert Camus once said “Forever I shall be a stranger to myself” (Camus, 1942/2004, p 453). In his classic novel, The Stranger, the main character is the archetypal absurd man who lives only in the realm of his own aesthetic until being faced with his own death (Camus, 1942). The themes of absurdity, the Existentialist term for anything that contradicts reason (Wartenberg, 2008), and the greater themes of Existentialism as a whole are apparent in countless other philosophical works. The Stranger’s common thread appears not only in existential philosophy, but can be traced back to classical thought and built upon from there.
Relevance to Aristotelian Thought Elements of The Stranger’s existential philosophy is noticeable all the way back to the Greeks. The Aristotelian school of thought is especially apparent. According to Richard Tarnas (1991), Aristotle places vital importance on the role of the sensory experience. He disagrees with Plato, who relies on the presence of abstract Forms as the basis for the universe. Instead, Aristotle is the original empiricist. The only thing that Aristotle thinks is for certain is what we can perceive with our senses. This line of thinking greatly influences Meursault, the main character of The Stranger, who

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