According
to absurdists, human suffering is the result of vain attempts by individuals to
find reason or meaning in the absurd stream of existence. Absurdism as a theme
of thought first appears in the writings of Søren Kierkegaard and
Friedrich Nietzsche, and its main proponent is Albert Camus.
Meaning of Absurdism for Kierkegaard
For Søren Kierkegaard the absurd (which appears
for example in his Fear and Trembling) is the fact that we can never
really know what we are to chose in life. The term for him is closely
associated with Paradox. Kierkegaard writes in his Journals:
"What is the
Absurd? It is, as may quite easily be seen, that I, a rational being, must act
in a case where my reason, my powers of reflection, tell me: you can just as
well do the one thing as the other, that is to say where my reason and
reflection say: you cannot act and yet here is where I have to act.
For
an extended explanation see Kierkegaard's concept of absurd.
Absurdism in Camus' Sisyphus
For Albert
Camus absurdism was exemplified by The Myth of Sisyphus who continues to
push his rock up the hill even though it is bound to fall back again. The
absurd of his action is what gives their lack of meaning over to human freedom.
Camus does not want to argue that life is pointless. What he wishes is to
be at peace with the idea that life has no real meaning and to live through it,
pushing the rock up the hill.
