Summary “The Myth of Sisyphus”
The punishment of the gods or the joy of liberated labor
It is difficult to find at least one work by Albert Camus. free from philosophical concepts. This is the analysis of his many critics. At the same time, the writer did not recognize himself as a philosopher in the classical sense of the word. But the “Myth of Sisyphus”, written in 1942, can be considered without exaggeration a purely philosophical treatise.
True, Camus called his work “an essay on the absurd.” This genre was chosen by him not casually, as it assumes a free composition of the work and leaves the author the right at least to remain a writer, and not just a philosopher.
The composition of the essay is such that the very myth of Sisyphus occupies only a small part of the work and is placed in the epilogue. He sums up the research of the problem of the absurdity of the existence of the individual. Sisyphus, according to the writer, is a happy man, because he rejects the gods
The problematics of the essay The Myth of Sisyphus, in fact, is not new. The question of the meaning or meaninglessness of existence has always been a favorite subject of philosophers’ research. Many schools and the greatest minds-singles were engaged in it. Many scientists have come to the conclusion that human life is absurd. Camus takes this conclusion as the starting point of his reasoning.
Studying the human experience, he believes that the eternal truths about himself and the surrounding space man is not isolated through the knowledge of life, but through the senses. The main thing here is a sense of absurdity, which calls into question the existence of God and the rationality of the social order.
But, thus, it is necessary to deny any aesthetic norms and rules. In a state of absurdity, everything is permissible. The
The author himself does not believe in the harmony of man with nature. She, in his opinion, is very hostile to sentient beings. Therefore, each person can understand the other only on an individual, absurd level. What then general laws of perception can we talk about?
Camus conducts a serious analysis of the philosophical views of those thinkers who touched on the question of absurdity before him. Among them: Kierkegaard, Shestov, Dostoevsky, Husserl, Nietzsche and other philosophers. However, it is necessary to recognize that, as a stable doctrine, Camus is indebted to absurdism.
Sisyphus is not alone on the top, where he once again rolled his stone. The plot line of the essay is such that beforehand we meet with many historical and literary characters of the past, which Camus are interested in supporting their conclusions. This is Kirillov from Dostoevsky’s “Demons”; Don Juan. Commander. Alzest of Moliere; Adrienne Lecouvreur and many others.
“I chose only those heroes who set as their goal the exhaustion of life…” – confessed Camus.
In what, of course, it is difficult not to agree with the writer, it is that every person has his own choice: absurd or reasonable.
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