Complex Numbers

Camus For You

A bit of philosophy, without much in the way of commentary from me. Okay, maybe a little.

The philosopher who resisted despair  
Albert Camus and the search for solace in a cruel age.

I've been seeing quite a bit about Camus recently. I don't believe the universe is trying to tell me something, but perhaps it's time to listen anyway.

The point of the talk was to say that the entire Western world lived in a civilization that elevated abstractions over experience — that ultimately removed people from the reality of human suffering.

The "talk" in question was nearly 80 years ago, and it's possible that these things have only gotten worse since then.

For Camus, nihilism wasn’t so much about belief in nothing; it was about refusing to believe in the world as it is. And killing in service to some idea is just as nihilistic as believing that nothing is true and therefore everything is permitted.

It's hard to wrap my head around this idea, so I can't say if I agree or not.

The immediacy of a war or a natural disaster collapses the barriers between us because it’s so clear what has to be done. And while nothing redeems a tragedy, there’s at least some comfort in the solidarity that emerges from it.

Yeah, that doesn't happen anymore. It happened for about 15 minutes after word of 9/11 spread, but since then, nope. It's all about our differences now.

Camus always said that he was pessimistic about the human condition and optimistic about humankind. Maybe that’s a contradiction.

If so, that's one that I can understand. I simultaneously hold the belief that we're utterly boned, and that we're going to get it together enough to fix some things that really matter. Of course there will always be problems—and how boring a world it would be if that weren't the case?

Camus always returned to the myth of Sisyphus as the model of human defiance. The problem wasn’t that Sisyphus had to roll his boulder up a hill forever; it’s that he had to roll it alone.

And that's the metaphor for what I was just talking about.

The article is much longer and has some interesting points, though, again, I can't say I fully agree. I'll just leave you with one Camus quote that didn't make it into the article, but that always stuck with me:

In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, an invincible calm. In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there's something stronger – something better, pushing right back.

Perhaps I should pick up some of his books. Not ready to tackle the original French, though.