Albert Camus and Love

    “You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.” This quote fully encapsulates what Albert Camus lived and breathed. Camus believed the one serious problem present in philosophy was whether or not one should kill themselves. As he says in his great essay "The Myth of Sisyphus" every other quandary comes after this problem. He engaged with the issue of suicide on a level in which he compared life's utter absurdity to the cost of suicide in the face of it. Suicide is a failure to accept life for what it is and what it could it be. Life has no meaning, yes. We, as people have  especially no purpose, no essence, but we can find meaning in the struggle. Camus imagines life as Sisyphus lives it--the constant, mind numbingly endless search for meaning is just as meaningful and important as a perceived "meaning". This description of ideology may seem fruitless, perhaps even like insanity, to you, but Camus sees this as a victory. Yes, any meaning gained from the life you lead MUST hold up to the ever present absurdity of life and ultimately we are all destined to die rendering us meaningless yet again, however it is the meaning we give ourselves through the embrace of these realities that makes life worth living. That is why suicide is a failure. 

   

 This outlook differs from some of his contemporaries, such as Emil Cioran, the nihilist I presented on earlier this semester, who believed that suicide was ultimately a failure but that would be because life is misery and seeking to escape from it is nothing but failed optimism. Camus' view of life was optimistic in of itself. He was a fierce advocate in his lifetime and fought against injustices anywhere he saw them and especially in his birth country of Algeria. Camus saw any system or idea that suppressed the experience of the human condition is morally wrong. 

The point I would like to leave you with is Camus' view on love. Camus found purpose in rebelling, he found purpose in the struggle of living, but his greatest purpose and the purpose that he extolled in his writings was simply: love. Other people were Camus' greatest purpose and he sought to bring love into the world no matter what. His love for others is what motivated his fight against those who would suppress the human condition, love is what lead his life above all things. "I recognize only one duty, and that is to love."

    Even in the face of great absurdity we can find meaning, whether that's meaning in creation or meaning in people. Meaning is attainable. Camus saw this and saw that while life is absurd, you can take it by the horns and build something meaningful for yourself. Love and live, no one else will do it for you. 

P.S.

    this little tune is lovely and i hope you listen:)Albert Camus by Tom Rosenthal