Book Summary | The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus

Concept of the Book

Camus claims that there is a fundamental conflict between what we want from the universe(be it meaning, order or reason) and what we find in it(formless chaos). On this, he bases his philosophy of absurdism. He says that man's inherent need for meaning in a meaningless, purposeless and an outright irrational world sparks a contradiction from which the absurd arises. Absurdism vs Nihilism

Camus does not claim that the world is devoid of meaning, which is a nihilistic point of view that life is meaningless and there is no god to give purpose to it. Rather, he believes that it is impossible for one to know whether existence is purposeless or not because man can only know what he has experience of and he only has experience of this absurd world. Moreover, no one has experienced god neither does anyone has any physical proof of him. So, Camus asserts that one must act as if god does not exist.

" I don’t know whether this world has a meaning that transcends it. But I know that I do not know that meaning and that it is impossible for me just now to know it. " -Albert Camus Portions of the Essay

The essay is divided into four portions

i) An Absurd Reasoning ii) The Absurd Man iii) Absurd Creation iv) The Myth of Sisyphus An Absurd Reasoning

When confronted by the reality that the world is meaningless and life is purposeless there are two ways in which one might proceed

a) Accepting that a life without meaning is not worth the trouble and committing suicide

b) Giving life a meaning through faith and keep on living or the philosophical suicide Suicide

But suicide is a truly philosophical problem. Not everyone kills himself just because he believes in a certain thing. For instance, Galileo believed in the scientific truth that earth revolves around the Sun but adjured it with the greatest ease as soon as it endangered his life. Meanwhile Schopenhauer, who praised suicide, never killed himself. Although there are only two philosophical answers to the question of suicide { YES or NO } However, an allowance must be made for people who without concluding, keep questioning. Philosophical Suicide

If a man does not commit suicide and takes up the existential attitude that is he creates his own meaning of life through his faith, Camus asserts that, then this leap of faith is a philosophical suicide for that individual.

" I am taking the liberty at this point of calling the existential attitude philosophical suicide. " -Albert Camus The Absurd Man

Camus characterizes the absurd man by

i) revolt

ii) freedom

iii) passion.

" Thus I draw from the absurd three consequences, which are my revolt, my freedom, and my passion. " -Albert Camus

Revolt

The aforementioned reactions are not justifiable for an absurd man. One who realizes the absurd reality of human existence revolts against these two instincts as both are an attempt to escape the absurd reality. He accepts the contradiction and lives with it. He understands that it is his basic instinct to desire meaning and that he can never know for sure what that meaning actually is. Freedom

The second facet of the absurd man is freedom. He accepts his freedom because he knows that there is no greater purpose or destiny neither does he create a purpose that he must fulfill. He embraces freedom. For him, there is no past or future, he lives in the present. Passion

An absurd man understands that morals are man made and have no fundamental basis. So there is no reason for him to prioritize certain things over others. So his passion is to find pleasure and fill life with as many great moments as he can. Camus exemplifies the absurd man as the lover, the actor and the conqueror.

" The lover, the actor, or the adventurer plays the absurd. "

-Albert Camus Absurd Creation

In the discussion of absurd art, Camus recommends that writers confine themselves to description and not attempt to explain the world as explanation is an attempt to impose some order on experience, to make sense of the world, and thus tries to go beyond a mere acceptance and awareness of the unreasonableness of the universe. The Myth of Sisyphus

Camus uses the analogy of Sisyphus and calls him the absurdist hero. The myth goes that Sisyphus cheated death twice and was condemned by the gods to push a heavy rock to the top of a hill for eternity. And when it reached the top the rock would fall back down and Sisyphus would have to push it back up repeating the process for eternity. Camus calls Sisyphus the absurdist hero because of his scorn for the gods, hatred for death and passion for life. Life is a constant struggle. Everyone is pushing a rock up the hill and even though it will fall down, we keep on doing it. We push it back up and carry on. There is no purpose or meaning just a futile struggle. But for Sisyphus for the brief moment in which he is coming down to get the rock, he is free from his struggle.

the myth of sisyphus by albert camus summary

This myth is tragic only if one hopes for or believes in the existence of a better alternative. So Camus, concludes by saying that "One must imagine Sisyphus happy."

Youtube Video