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Camus Absurdity And Rebellion

Decent Essays

Absurdity and Rebellion In the beginning of The Rebel Camus links the ideas born in The Myth of Sisyphus with his project in The Rebel. He now rejects the ethics of the Absurd due to contradictions caused when it comes to murder. It is now an issue for Camus that a lack of values caused by confronting absurdity would apparently not condemn murder. Camus wants to say that human life is worth living, as previously explored in the character of Sisyphus we should relish our experience with the Absurd, and it is life that makes this experience possible. For Camus murder is comparable to suicide, just as suicide denies one’s own experience with the absurd and one’s source of value, so in turn murder denies it for another. Camus rejects suicide for it is not possible for one to say that life has no worth without making an appeal to a value that life is lacking in. Value can only come from the self, and killing oneself eliminates that value. Killing others eliminates other sources, as such murder is rejected by Camus as well. This creates somewhat of an issue for …show more content…

At the end of 1.4 we raised the problem that if we are all left to choose value for ourselves, could this not result in a scenario where the strong eat the weak and subjugate them to their values? This is exactly what resulted from the rise of Nazism in Europe. This life lesson demonstrated to Camus that indeed, values that can be held true for all were a definitive necessity. Where is one to find such a value then? The answer? Solidarity. It is not the case that we encounter the Absurd individually and alone. It may be the case that the world offers no inherent purpose for us, but we need to realise that we all share in this confrontation with the world. It is through rebellion, Camus suggests, that we bring forth this

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