Camus: The Absurd

Dr. Ellie Anderson introduces some ideas from Albert Camus' 1942 The Myth of Sisyphus, a key text for absurdism that is also often considered existentialist (though Camus, like many thinkers associated with this tradition, rejected the label 'existentialist'!). She touches on the absurd, the three consequences of the absurd, and more.

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[TwelveDeck]

My left ear found this really interesting.

[space_eko]

One day the "why" arrived for me in the form of cancer. I was 23, taking existentialism at university, and reading The Myth of Sisyphus. I had been ill for a long time at that point. There were good days and bad days. Enough good days for me to remain ignorant of the pattern of death growing inside me. On my last day in school before I received the diagnosis (stage 4 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) we finished the essay TMOS. My last memory of the class was my professor finishing with the line "we must imagine Sisyphus as happy". I completed six months of chemotherapy and eventually returned to university. I finished one semester. In my second semester, I again took existentialism, this time hoping to finish. I also worked as a supplementary instructor teaching PHI 101 students. On my last day on campus, the day before I found out my cancer had returned, I read Camus with my 101 students. Camus was there with me when I discovered the absurd. He helped me to see what is actually meaningful, in the subjective and immediate sense.

Anyway, great video. Awesome content in general.

[crozzleberrymusic]

Fantastic summary. I read this essay the day after I graduated from high school, and there began my education. Listening to this 43 years later I am struck by how seminal reading The Myth of Sisyphus has been for my life, the revolt, the freedom, the passion... I'm reminded, and this is a tangent, of something I read by a Buddhist about the liberation of hopelessness. In a society that clings to hope, in this Christmas season where I've heard over and over that "everything happens for a reason, " I'm struck by how the absurd has contributed, not to angst or malaise or existential vacuum, but to my sense of motivated acceptance, active compassion, amazed engagement. Thanks.

[bbanahh]

The fourth consequence of the absurd is quiet quitting.

[molylepke]

9:53 was that your stomach? 11:48 too, then your next example is about the next meal. Yeah, you're certainly hungry.

[tyleryoast]

Camus was like my best friend growing up. I read the Myth of Sisyphus when I was 17 and felt like I was glowing the entire time. I'm looking forward to reading it again now entering into adulthood. My favorite thing about Camus is that it doesn't feel like he places himself above you like a lot of philosophical writers, he just feels like a friend walking beside you, trying to appease your loneliness by sharing his.

[MsSmee]

Well done. As a therapist, your presentation reminded me of something I think about a lot, the idea that we live in a bubble of limited perception, and that we need to learn to be more comfortable with uncertainty. If there is a "purpose" to all of this, there is little chance that I can figure it out from here. My brain is intelligent enough to know that I will die, but not intelligent enough to know the why, or if there is a why, especially because my ablity to sense my environment is limited. I take comfort in the idea that whatever it is, it's not my fault. My lack of perception limits my responsibility. Philosophers still go after that closure, because that is what people want. Maybe we should just encourage people to see that closure is not necessary.

[thatchinaboi]

If you commit suicide because you think there is no reason for anything, you are actually giving meaning to death, suicide, and life, ironically.

[dangtuandung]

Is it just me or the video actually lost the sound on of the sides of headphone ? :3 The content's still great as always tho.
Edit: while I don't like Camus, I respect him. He had tried his best to solve some of the hardest problems of existentialism in general.

[EckheartTurtolle]

If none of us really know what is going on and we have no real control over anything, what is the point? Screw it. I suppose if you have children or are caretaking for someone, there is a sense of obligated responsibility. Otherwise just enjoy the ride. Destination unknown. If someone knows how to actually do this, please message. Seriously, I am having trouble seeing the point.

[kipponi]

Life is absurd. We are prisons on this planet. I have one most absurd dream and memory when I was about 4years old. I saw alien who took me or just left me in this planet!? And there was some kind of round spaceship. U.F.O. 😁. Of course it was only dream but how the hell I can remember it now 56years old? It is bizarre memory. I can call this memory any time.

[navidkhan]

Why does your videos only play in the left ear?

[snugglyduck]

So a lot of people aren't aware of the Age we live in which is Pisces which is all about the twelfth house - a house of mystery, conspiracy, fears, desire, fantasy and rest to name a few things you should all relate to. And the nothingness presented externally with the meaning presented internally: absurd derives from a root that means out of tune, disharmony, the harmony of the spheres. Just saying we live on a sphere that created itself once upon a time out of nothingness is a glimpse into this absurd idea, yet everyone can easily adopt this because it delivers their current state which is to live wild and untamed, this longing for freedom (over kingdom - self rule/being ruled). So we're also at the precipice of a new age, the Age of Aquarius (ever heard the term "New Age" religion - that's what they mean by it) which is all about 11th house about a concern for the future (global warming) and justice (drain the swamp). The reason things are reversed here from what our minds expect, absurd, is this is Life in Death, a metaphorical experience and a chance to grow and learn and reveal. But due to the current age, that is why this discovery is so urgent for many, the revealing, why mystery is loved, true crime, conspiracy theories, what ifs, and on and on. But what a lot of philosophers in the past never reasoned is that how we cope with living in death is we build up our societies around meaning and hide within their construct for a sense of normalcy so we can escape the absurd position we find ourselves in or we'd all be a lot more bleak. For example, your name was put upon you to give you meaning so it's like hey Ellie and I'm Ellie which you're not but it makes you feel better and like someone when really you're not Ellie and you know it. Same with our cities, it's like I live in New York City and I'm like nah you don't, there's so such place, you just hide there from the absurdity we call life. But I know everyone hates the notion that the Bible is true, but consider the state of revolt - we rebel against God, we rebel against life by design, creation by design, service by design, therefore we live in death without meaning by design since God provides us life and meaning. And again, we're in a metaphorical experience, so think that as an example instead of demanding it be presented in "reality" since anything placed in this reality is just symbolic like our names, cities, art, et al - none of it is real so to speak, it is realized. And in the end it really is about faith/trust, and that's what we lost when we took the knowledge and decided to play god, or our ancestors did, going our own way - we're not good at it clearly - we're quite absurd actually - so can you really trust your Steve Jobs or Bill Gates or Elon Musk or Joe Biden or Donald Trump - they're all quite f'ing absurd little men yet they want to build a metaverse for you or fly you to Mars to build and on and on. Trust your senses again, trust your intent. Your body is a blade, pour your soul into it and cut through the bullsh*t. Edit: And since I see you're a doctor, I'll add that's the running joke in Dr Who, people will ask Who are you? and He/She will reply, we'll I'm the Doctor, Who? The Doctor is in - nice vid btw.

[UtopiaForMore]

No sound on one side, headphones/speakers :/

[kyujinch]

Thanks for the Absurd to consider. Sound recording was totally one sided (mono), not in center.

[DjTahoun]

Thank you so much 😇
But the sound is coming out of one side of the speakers ☝🏻☝🏻☝🏻

[frankshifreen]

Great video- I HAVE HAD SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES WHICH SEEMED VERY REAL- which were not asked for and even now I do not understand- so I believe ir was not an appeal(as Camus says) but a gift

[williamkraemer]

Such a cogent presentation. Thanks once again. Shortly before Camus died, he asked a Methodist minister for Baptism...and meaning. The minister said Camus should wait and think it over. Then Camus died in a car crash.

[MrOccamRazor]

It's okay that Dr. Anderson uploaded a video with only a mono signal audio which only plays on the left channel. Perhaps her camera, or audio device, only recorded in mono, or how the video was rendered… sh*t happens. Which, of course, makes it wonderfully absurd as it follows the three consequences of the absurd. As it should. Great content, as usual.

[DrewtheJit]

Everyone else has in-depth responses covered, so I'll make a short aesthetic one: the pictures of the excerpts are a wonderful addition. They're very simple yet very helpful.