A short overview of the Absurdist philosophy.
Life is pretty absurd. In it besets a significant discrepancy between what we desire from the universe and what we find. As humans, we ache in the search for reasons, meaning, and order, but all that we can discover is chaos. Thus, the contradictory nature of the universe and the human mind is where the Absurd lies.
For most of us, we wake up everyday and go about our daily procedure, accepting the monotonous routine that we’ve embedded into our lives. We hardly stop to think: what is the real purpose of this drudgery? We work to earn money, we earn money to afford the costs of living, and we live on, pursuing our journey through existence — but what is the purpose of all this if life is meaningless?
Albert Camus’s philosophical essay, The Myth of Sisyphus, tells the tale of Sisyphus, a sinner who was condemned to the harsh labor of rolling a boulder up a mountain for eternity. Sisyphus pushes the boulder uphill with painful struggle just to watch it roll back down the hill again and again.
Camus’s essay was written as an analogy of the life of someone who finally realizes the Absurdity that the universe, and life itself, holds. The Myth of Sisyphus concludes as Sisyphus recognizes the Absurdity of life:
I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain! One always finds one’s burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.
Knowing that there is nothing he can do to change his fate, Sisyphus finally accepts it. This acceptance allows him to appreciate the struggles that he faces, and he reaches contentment.
Sisyphus performing futile and hopeless labor symbolizes the challenges in everyday life. He repeats his task of rolling a rock up a hill, and by doing this, he achieves nothing. Some see life as a constant struggle without a sliver of hope. But to avoid the struggles and hopelessness of life is an attempt to escape the Absurdity of it. Being Absurd means recognizing the absurd position that one is in — whether it be pushing a boulder up a steep slope without real purpose, or, simply, struggling in day-to-day life.
Awareness of endless struggle does not change our fate. A fate like Sisyphus’s is only horrible if one continues to hope for a better fate. Setting one’s fate in contrast with a more preferable one is what leads us to dread our own and hope for the better. But this adherence to hope cannot make us happy. We will continue to believe in the oppressive nature of our existence.
If we can accept that our fate cannot be changed because nothing better will come to us, we can accept it without fear and loathing. This acceptance of our fate is what can allow us to fully appreciate life. By abandoning hope for a better life, we can find genuine happiness.
Hope, however, shouldn’t be abandoned in all matters. Sisyphus, at the bottom of a treacherous mountain, still hopes that he will reach the top. Pride and satisfaction with oneself is beheld at the top of this mountain: Happiness can be achieved.
Without facing the absurdity of our condition, we cannot achieve happiness, but it is not necessary for happiness to follow absurdity. We may adhere to the hope we contain, but we should not convince ourselves that happiness is assured from our faith in it.
There is a sense of fulfillment in searching for the purpose of life. Although one of the main tenets of Absurdism states that life has no meaning, individuals should embrace the absurd condition of human existence while defiantly continuing to explore and search for meaning. Humans should find their own purpose in life — whether it be investing themselves in a musical pursuit, contributing their discoveries to the world of science, or saving lives. By searching for our own purpose, we won’t feel as insignificant in this vast universe. We live for ourselves.
All in all, humans should live in the moment and embrace the beauty and pleasures of existence. There is nothing we can do to prepare us for all aspects of life except for accepting that: life is absurd, suffering is inevitable, and death is certain.