Cheers to living an absurd life!
What is the meaning of life?
To those unfamiliar, absurdism is a philosophical concept that explores the inherent conflict between seeking meaning or purpose in life and the inability to find any.
A summary of the philosophy of absurdism is a list of steps on how one’s outlook on life should be and how one should go about living life.
According to Albert Camus (pronounced al-BEHR ka-MOO), the first step is recognizing the absurd. This is the base concept on which absurdism is built, and the first paragraph you read.
After realizing this paradox of life, which he generally refers to as the absurd, the next step is dissolving the ultimate question of why: why is the universe as it is, why do we exist, why is the world absurd, and any other question that plagues the human mind.
The only sensible answer to some questions, is to stop asking — Ludwig Wittgenstein
Extreme liberation is achieved through this absolution from the question of why. Camus suggests that once a person realizes the total meaninglessness of life and has come to terms with it, he/she soon realizes that nothing matters and one’s life is to be lived as one wishes.
Extreme liberation from societal norms, others' views on you, values, religion, and so forth. This is the point of absurdism that makes it all the more radical. It’s extreme, to say the least, to give up on any objective or subjective metric on what should and should not be done. Rather, he just says: “Who cares?”.
However, there is still a lesson to be learned from Camus's philosophy. A simple way to look at this is: if you draw a circle around an ant, the ant would move around in this circle, and upon getting to the edge, it finds itself unable to move beyond the borders of this circle. But once you forcefully move the ant across the circle, it suddenly traverses the circle freely.
We can take it upon ourselves to be the knowing ant. The circle is some values, societal norms, or whatever we believe in. But we should be aware that this cage we have made ourselves is but an illusion and be free to cross over to fulfill our goals while not being too bothered by this self-imposed shackle.
It is not things in themselves that hurt you but your judgements of them — Stoics
Stoics say that what befalls us can only hurt us if we assign them significance, so we must be wise about what we assign significance to. Camus just says, “What does it matter what happens to you?” What would happen if we just got rid of significance altogether? We would be free from all types of suffering except our basic physical ones.
Freedom from suffering leads to more freedom in action. After all, what normally deters us from action is the negative consequence of that action, perceived or real. And what better way is there to ward off these consequences than to refuse to value anything, and settle into a state of calm indifference?
“We must ask: Is it possible to live without appeal?” — Albert Camus
Camus’s philosophy doesn’t give us a guide on how to live life, or a step-by-step guide at least. It only provides a suggestion on the possibilities of a life beyond the meaninglessness of it all. He makes an analogy of the life of Sisyphus, an ancient Greek king who for his crimes in life is forced to push a boulder up a hill, only for him to watch it roll back down as soon as he finished. Meaning, that he would have to push it back up again.
“Imagine Sisyphus happy.” — Albert Camus
Camus says it would be possible over time for Sisyphus to find meaning in the pushing itself, to stop aiming for the boulder to stay at the top of the hill, but to make his struggle self-justifying. He is not pushing in service to anything, he’s just…pushing, and that is enough.
Just as it’s nonsensical to ask what is north of the North Pole, it’s nonsensical to ask what gives our lives meaning, life itself is the whole point, and the pushing is all there is to it.
If you’re interested in these kinds of content, read up on my other stories. And leave a comment, I would love to hear everyone's opinions and suggestions on the subject matter.
