Author: Guanfu · Juntian

  At the opening of The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus declares that suicide is the only serious philosophical problem, because judging whether life is worth living is itself an answer to a philosophical question. This shows that Camus’s philosophy centers on individual life rather than merely discussing the external world.

  A clarification is necessary here: when Camus says that “suicide is the only serious philosophical problem,” he is absolutely not encouraging anyone to take their own life. He once wrote: “The absence of hope is not the same as despair; lucidity does not lead to submission. A person should recognize that life is their only wealth: it must inevitably pass away, yet it can also be developed to the fullest possible extent. A person should, and can, find the courage to live in this world—even happiness.” Camus offered these words to people who were considering giving up their lives. He raised the question of suicide to make people think about the meaning of life and about how to face the absurd—the world’s impenetrability and strangeness.

  The subtitle of The Myth of Sisyphus is “An Essay on the Absurd.” What, then, is the absurd?

  In the second chapter of The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus calls the absurd “a wall.” He writes: “Rising, streetcar, four hours in the office or the factory, meal, streetcar, four hours of work, meal, sleep; Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, according to the same rhythm—this path is easily followed most of the time. But one day the ‘why’ arises, and everything begins in that weariness tinged with amazement.”

  “Why?” I believe many people have asked themselves that question. The absurd often lies in the conflict between the human desire for meaning and the world’s inability to satisfy it. A person who can still ask “why” has encountered the absurd, but has also opened a door through which to resist it.

  Unfortunately, more of the people around us usually do not ask “why.” The Stranger begins with a famous line: “Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday.” Many people spend their whole lives as outsiders to everything they do, including their own lives.

  I often hear people around me say that even a wretched life is better than a good death. Camus would answer that even while living wretchedly, a person will still ask questions. The question no one can escape is: Why am I alive? “The world’s impenetrability and strangeness—this is the absurd.”

Three Possible Responses to the Absurd

  Camus believes that a person facing the absurd has three possible responses:

  The first is straightforward: suicide, bringing one’s life to an end. If someone believes that their life has no meaning or value, they can choose suicide. In Camus’s view, however, suicide does not resolve the absurd. It makes the person disappear and thereby evades the problem. This is the way of a coward, not an act of genuine revolt.

  The second is to seek a transcendent world in religion. For Camus, responding to the absurd with a transcendent explanation means abandoning the courage to confront it; this is “philosophical suicide.” He regards this approach as another form of self-destruction. Overcoming the absurd through religion is not a viable course.

  The third possibility is to accept the absurd. For Camus, this is the only authentic and effective solution. Here, “acceptance” does not mean passive submission. It means embracing the absurd with open eyes and creating one’s own meaning and value within meaninglessness. Camus wrote: “There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.” This maxim captures the heart of Sisyphus’s attitude: even if fate is fixed, a person can still rise above it through their stance toward it. As Sisyphus walks back down the mountain, he knows that the stone will roll down again, yet he still chooses to climb once more. It is precisely where resistance appears impossible that a person can still resist. Put another way, Sisyphus’s actions embody humanity’s ultimate revolt against fate.