In Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays and Nagel’s The Absurd, Camus and Nagel offer both differentiating and relating thoughts on the absurd. While they both agree that the absurd arises from a clash, they differ in what the clash consists of. For Nagel, the absurd is a clash within us, whereas for Camus the conflict is between the human mind and the world. Furthermore, they have contrasting viewpoints on suicides in regards to an escape of the absurd, and they differ in their thoughts on the implications the absurd has on the human life as we continue to live. The notion of where the absurdity of the human condition arises from is a significant aspect of both Camus and Nagel’s thoughts. In the sense that they both agree that
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The human has certain expectations and conceptions about the world, but in the end the world doesn’t offer the meaning we want. This feeling of the absurd Camus talks about can arise in many different situations. For instance, Camus writes, “ A man is talking on the telephone behind a glass partition; you cannot hear him, but you see his incomprehensible dumb show: you wonder why he is alive”(15). In this moment watching the man behind the glass and his preposterous gestures, one realizes the meaninglessness of his actions and how silly and insignificant they are. Here, in the recognition between the human mind and the meaninglessness of the world, rises the absurd. Thus, as Camus states, “The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world”(28). In this confrontation, the mind seeks to understand the world in a unified experience, though ultimately the mind will never be able to understand the world on a whole, and therefore is met with irrationality and silence to their question. Hence, the absurd forms from the disconnect between the mind and the world, in which the world provides us with silence and without meaning. Unlike Nagel, who believes the absurd arises from a clash within the mind, Camus believes it’s from a clash between the mind and the …show more content…
As previously explored, Camus believes, “There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn”(121). Therefore, Camus is calling for an act of defiance and nobility in order to address the absurdity in life. He feels that happiness and the absurd are directly linked, and thus in order for individuals to be happy in their lives, they must face the absurd. These thoughts contrast significantly with Nagel’s; who argues the absurd doesn’t have to be avoided in order to live. Nagel writes, “Our absurdity warrants neither that much stress nor that much defiance”(22). This is hence why Nagel also believes that suicide isn’t the answer to the absurd, even though it is an escape. The absurd isn’t a monstrous problem that would require one to go to the extent of suicide. Additionally, the absurd need not be a source of pain, or as Camus suggests, one of bravery. Nagel concludes his essay claiming, “If sub specie aeternitatis there is no reason to believe that anything matters, then that does not matter either, and we can approach our absurd lives with irony instead of heroism or despair” (23). Thus, since nothing you do matters now because it won’t matter in a million years, then it doesn’t matter that it won’t matter. According to Nagel, one should not go on with their lives worrying about the absurd since it presents neither a problem nor significance. Thereby,
The human has certain expectations and conceptions about the world, but in the end the world doesn’t offer the meaning we want. This feeling of the absurd Camus talks about can arise in many different situations. For instance, Camus writes, “ A man is talking on the telephone behind a glass partition; you cannot hear him, but you see his incomprehensible dumb show: you wonder why he is alive”(15). In this moment watching the man behind the glass and his preposterous gestures, one realizes the meaninglessness of his actions and how silly and insignificant they are. Here, in the recognition between the human mind and the meaninglessness of the world, rises the absurd. Thus, as Camus states, “The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world”(28). In this confrontation, the mind seeks to understand the world in a unified experience, though ultimately the mind will never be able to understand the world on a whole, and therefore is met with irrationality and silence to their question. Hence, the absurd forms from the disconnect between the mind and the world, in which the world provides us with silence and without meaning. Unlike Nagel, who believes the absurd arises from a clash within the mind, Camus believes it’s from a clash between the mind and the …show more content…
As previously explored, Camus believes, “There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn”(121). Therefore, Camus is calling for an act of defiance and nobility in order to address the absurdity in life. He feels that happiness and the absurd are directly linked, and thus in order for individuals to be happy in their lives, they must face the absurd. These thoughts contrast significantly with Nagel’s; who argues the absurd doesn’t have to be avoided in order to live. Nagel writes, “Our absurdity warrants neither that much stress nor that much defiance”(22). This is hence why Nagel also believes that suicide isn’t the answer to the absurd, even though it is an escape. The absurd isn’t a monstrous problem that would require one to go to the extent of suicide. Additionally, the absurd need not be a source of pain, or as Camus suggests, one of bravery. Nagel concludes his essay claiming, “If sub specie aeternitatis there is no reason to believe that anything matters, then that does not matter either, and we can approach our absurd lives with irony instead of heroism or despair” (23). Thus, since nothing you do matters now because it won’t matter in a million years, then it doesn’t matter that it won’t matter. According to Nagel, one should not go on with their lives worrying about the absurd since it presents neither a problem nor significance. Thereby,