Albert Camus | The Myth of Sisyphus (part 3) | Existentialist Philosophy & Literature
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In this third of three videos devoted to Albert Camus' essay "The Myth of Sisyphus," we finish our study of Camus' early Existentialist philosophy of the absurd. We look in particular at his' own ethics, focused on "quantity of experience". We also discuss the story of Sisyphus and his role as a symbol of the "absurd man," and finish by looking briefly at Camus' reading of Kafka
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third and final video discussing Camus' famous essay The Myth of Sisyphus
It’s not just the quantity of shared experiences. It’s that the unexamined life isn’t worth living.
It's the number of trite quotes one trots out, I'm afraid
Thanks for taking the time to make these. We appreciate it!
You're very welcome!
Great series, helped me through a bummer time in my life.
I recall another video mentioning that Sisyphus is rolling the boulder to spite Zeus. Sentenced to torment for all of eternity, the one variable Sisyphus can control is whether he actually feels that torment. If he realizes that and puts his efforts into "having a good time to spite Zeus" he's finding meaning in a seemingly hopeless situation.
Probably a good analog would be Captain Ahab. The crew, Ishmael, and Ahab himself realizes the situation's probable outcome but Ahab doesn't care, he just want to end Moby Dick. His hate is what motivates him, he's not even thinking about what comes after killing Moby Dick. If Ahab succeeded, would be even know how to carry on with himself?
I love your channel! thanks for uploading!
You're welcome!
You're welcome -- glad you enjoyed it!
Yes, he would say he starts where what he terms "existentialism" -- by that meaning Shestov, Kierkegaard, Jaspers, etc. for the most part -- leaves off.
And yet, his stance is in the broader sense that we use the term now, well within the existentialist spectrum
Once again, cheers to these wonderful lectures. Thank you for all your work sir!
You're welcome!
Glad you found it useful
This was wonderfully informative!
I enjoyed your lectures on The Myth. Thumbs up!
Great work, keep it up man. Thanks to these lectures I understand his essay better. Cheers from Belgium
Will do - glad the videos are useful for you
Thank you for those very lucid lectures on this particular work of camus'. As someone just getting started learning about his work I'm very interested to see how he develops. Even then, I already feel his philosophy somewhat eerily aligns and informs my own though of course expressed much more articulately or again lucidly. I certainly relate to his thoughts about the absurd artist/creator.
+Jonathan Walmsley You're very welcome. That's a good feeling -- finding that some writer gave articulation to what one would like to say
Screen-shot at 26:22: Priceless.
Great video, and I'm glad to hear you finally pronounce "Sisyphus" correctly in the beginning
Yes, it's a tough word for me
Hello Dr. Sadler, I am so glad that you upload these videos on philosophy.I understand so much better the core concepts of Camus' philosophy, from the notion of the Absurd to his ethics of quantity. Do you think that the character Alice in the novel Alice's Adventures in the Wonderland by Lewis Carroll has Revolted against the absurd condition of man in this world?
Hello Dr. Sadler, I am so glad I stumbled upon your channel! I understand so much better the core concepts of Camus' philosophy, from the notion of the Absurd to his ethics of quantity, (which I was having difficulty understanding by reading his books on my own). Aburdism in general seems to make a lot of sense to me.
The only one of his ideas which I'm still struggling with is why does he conceive of Sisyphus being happy in the midst of that pointless and endless task? What exactly makes him happy?
His choice to be so in the situation he finds himself in. Notice that Camus does not actually say he IS happy, though. He says that we must imagine him happy
Thanks a lot! This is just great!
great job! thanks!
I watched these lectures about 2 years ago but I've only just now gotten to reading the 'Myth of Sisyphus' myself and it has resonated with me all over again - 'Obeying the flame is both the easiest and the hardest thing to do'. This I can attest to from personal experience, in terms of the struggles of an artist/creator! I'm about to start 'The Stranger' but do you have any recommendations what I should read of Camus' after that? Thank you once again.
Yep. The rest of his novels, essays, and his book, The Rebel
Very helpful for my existentialism class.
Glad to read it
Thanks very much -- and that's something I'll pass on to my wife and partner (in ReasonIO), who does all of the editing and processing for these videos!
The man assuming himself as a being who constantly asks unanswerable question, and not let himself be reduced to anything, is the CAMUS revolte. IL FAUT IMAGINER SISYPHE HEUREUX...
I just finished a close-reading after abandoning this essay many times, I finally stuck to it and...."One must imagine Sisyphus happy." is quite the leap. Was this meant to be a comedic close? I nearly fell out of my chair.
*late edit (when I fell out of my chair, I must've hit my head): THANK YOU, not just for this series but for many others that have been so helpful over the years; I'd have given up a long time ago, that I even continue--even look forward to reading Philosophical texts--is because of you, so again thank you so much!
Glad the videos have been helpful for you
I think you missed on one of the most interesting points about the Actor, regarding how he finds safety in the play while he is acting because during those hours the universe is safe, predetermined, and without surprises. This allows the actor to have a temporary religion, to know that he is pretending to have a meaning and yet somehow, absurdly, experiencing a true meaning at the same time. Just like the Lover knows ultimately his endeavors are absurd, the Actor knows his meaning exists only because of momentary absurdity. This makes him want to be the Actor as frequently as possible, yet somehow (unlike Camus) he could never admit that his whole life is an act, because he couldn't admit that life is absurd. He takes his poison in small doses.
Well, most interesting to you, at least. . . . Can't cover everything, I'm afraid. . .
I was really struggling at first with this book, I have now just made it to the Philososophy and Fiction chapter and cannot put it down. I find myself highlighting paragraphs and just reading it again and again. There is such an incredible poetry to this book I only now feel like I am starting to see. The Actor is amazing. I will have to pause the lecture and return once I finish more of the book.
I'm glad that you're enjoying the work
@@GregoryBSadler Would you have a recommendations of where to go next reading wise ? I have the last days of Socrates on my desk, just not sure what to pick up next as my amazon wish list has so many names my head spins (Sartre, Kant, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Dostoyevsky, Marcus Aurelius). Maybe even some names to add to that list ? Thanks.
@@MicksMasterMike The Rebel
Thank you so much for this recommendation. I just got my copy 2 days ago and have started reading. Wow is all I can say so far, just wow ! I am going to run out of highlighters with this book, every page has some new mind blowing articulation of thought that I have to highlight and meditate on for a few minutes. This book is incredible.@@GregoryBSadler
You're welcome!
Well, that's good -- that you can grapple with the absurd without, as you put it "flinching".
I'm not myself sold on Camus' insistence that it is all absurd -- but even for one who thinks there is meaning, there will still be the problem of absurdity, particularly if one finds oneself on the wrong side of meaning
FYI: Prof Sadler is a bona fide *really good* teacher. Thanks, Gregory.
You’re welcome - and thanks!
Hey Gregory, thank you for these lectures, they are really helpful. By my own fault, I have to ask, why exactly the ethics of quantity? How is the ethics of quantity the way of absurd living? Do I understand it correctly that the idea is to recognize the absurd, stay with this understanding, take no leap to the supernatural, embrace the futility of life, experience the madness, and joy as much as we can until death ruins everything? Am I on the right track? Thank you!
+Chris van Dijk There is no "why exactly". As Camus discusses it in his work, that's one set of possibilities in the face of the absurd, and it's one that at least some sort of consistency working for it -- but it's not binding upon everyone. It's what Camus chooses to discuss in the work -- so you'll want to look at that section of the text
Thanks for the videos! I understand his philosophy better now. I've been bumping into what Camus calls the Absurd since high school, it's difficult to think about it, and I like Camus' approach of directly addressing it and not settling with known answers, but I either don't fully understand his conclusion or it's not satisfying to me. Thanks again.
+Xeno You're very welcome!
Thanks for the response. Your lectures on existentialism have been a great help but I have asked that this third part miss the captions as they are in first two parts. Captions are great help though they add nothing to the contents or substance.
Thanks again.
I don't do captions because that would require far too much work on my part to make sure they were accurate.
yes, I know but they are there on first two parts. I mean probably auto captions. Some how thanks, great job you have done. Big thank.
Sure. . . there's a connection between Camus' texts. Not surprising, given that he's a philosopher.
And, yes, he ends by saying we have to imagine Sisyphus happy. Imagine. . . . and Happy in a sense
Will you ever do lectures on Camus' "The Rebel"?
When I can find and devote the time
Thanks for the response. Your lectures on existentialism have been a great help!
It certainly is a new phase in Camus' thought
Hi Gregory. I'm really enjoying your lectures, thank you! I used to be a born-again Christian, but over the years made the complete slide to atheism. This was a 25-year cycle of losing and renewing faith. Along the way, I called myself a Christian existentialist for a couple of years. What I meant by the term was that I "experienced" God in a Christian context but didn't use this to validate the truth of Christianity in that I thought our apologetics failed and our endless internal theological debates meant we couldn't know our doctrines were true with any certainty. I was aiming for authentic personal experience over the ability to contextualize it so my faith was a subjective testimony rather than something I could ground and demonstrate to others as being true. What are your personal beliefs and do you think the term Christian existentialist can have meaning?
Sure, "Christian existentialist" has meaning -- I'd say we have multiple examples of that, not least of which would be Soren Kierkegaard and Gabriel Marcel.
I do encounter a tendency on the part of many to see apologetics (both theist and atheist -- they do their own apologetics) as aimed at producing some sort of absolute certainty, usually by trying to find some grounds, arguments, etc. that everyone would accept. If that's what it's supposed to be, then I've got little interest in it, since it seems a non-starter. . . .
There's also a tendency to try to give priority to that sort of activity and goal in one's religious practice and life -- which also seems off to me. . .
Thanks, Gregory. For me it was that Jesus made such absolute claims about himself (as portrayed John) with this black and white sort of Light/Darkness. Truth/Lie, God/Satan, for-me-or-against-me attitude. There was this idea of having and knowing the truth, being ready to have an answer for anyone who disagrees, and Jesus wasn't too happy about doubt, lukewarmness, and those not zealously at work in his kingdom. I tried to match that level of "feeling certain" with evidence that justifies it and just couldn't do it.
There was a short movement the past decade called the emergent church which was a kind of postmodern Christianity that allowed space to doubt by rejecting foundationalism, but it was a bit of a bust because they couldn't say anything that meant anything besides "we are no longer certain, let's talk about it."
Yes, I think Christians do quite a bit better when they realize that foundationalism and anti-foundationalism are eminently modern ways of approaching what was long offered to us through pre-modern (and still ongoing) traditions, which for the most part didn't get themselves stuck in that paradigm-opposition.
Great 3 parts video lecture. Thanks.
So, we don´t have to commit suicide (not philosophically). Life it worth living, why?
Because there´s no meaning and there´s no tomorrow, so is there´s none we are free from determinism, and that´s why life´s worth resides?
Thanks, again.
You're very welcome - glad you enjoyed it
What does camus means by the absurd is the metaphysical state of the conscious man?
The conscious person will become aware of absurdity
Could you enable subtitles on the video, please?
That's up to UA-cam
I want to understand what does Camus means by :
It (I think returns to reason) is an instrument of thought and not thought itself. The thought of a man is above all his nostalgia.
The absurd, it is the lucid reason that notes its limits.
Here's my page for tutorial sessions - reasonio.wordpress.com/tutorials/
Camus is pretty clear that he is not attempting to provide an Ethics that would be binding upon everyone in this work -- it doesn't unfold from some sort of logical necessity that wouldn't involve a choice on one's part.
This is, in my view, one of the weaker points to Camus' thought -- but then, I'm not an atheist existentialist myself
why Camus goes to depend on luck. 15:16?
+parag ghate I think it's pretty clear there. We have just a small measure of control
Yeahs he's good innee
It is said that Albert Camus was politically an Anarcho-Syndicalist (the same position taken by Chomsky). I am still at odds as to how he came to terms with Anarcho-Syndicalism with his ethic of "quantity" that emphasizes individual experience.
ua-cam.com/video/xgf2jztjaF4/v-deo.html
👍
Okey so if I get it right; He thinks that we should be in contact with the absurd by help of these ethical relations which in themselves can produce the irrational character of life?
By this way, we don't reject lifes illogical structure
We're already in contact with the absurd, for Camus. The question is what we decide to do in relation to it
Hmm okey.. So is he talking about the world being always being an error to human existence by not responding to what is correct in our minds? :)
Peez Sanches There's always a disconnect, yes. The absurd is actually a triadic relation in Camus' view - there's a core concept video specifically on that, which you can search for
I never study philosophy but I read books in philosophy I want to know, why do people run to God when they can't face the absurdity of life? I refuse to return to religion when I fell the non sens of life, why do we think that God is the answer? Why do people have this blind faith in delusion rather than facing and standing to be Übermensch. I think it's a weakness to run to God when the absurdity of life challenge you, is it our condition?
That might be a good question for you to ask them. You'll probably get a number of different answers
top !!!
IL FAUT IMAGINER SISYPHE HEUREUX... Suicide is not an answer to the absurd. Much to the contrary, IT BEGS THE QUESTION that the absurd is... We are man by virtue of constantly ASKING AN UNANSWERABLE QUESTION. Suicide begs it, it does not answer it. You do not answer a question by a question. He would say that he starts where existentialism leaves off...
Well, that's the absurd man, for whom the mythical Sisyphus is a symbol.
The wholly human bit goes all the way back to the discussion of the triadic structure of the absurd -- human beings bring meaning to a universe in which there is none. "Blindman eager to see" -- we still do desire there to be meaning in the universe. . . and so on
... the Don Juan
23:10 the actor
28:10 the conqueror
30:30 ethics of quantity
30:50 absurd creation
- ethics, revolt...
40:20 words, the novel, the novelist
- examples of novelists...
45:05 Dostoevsky
48:30 ephemeral creation
50:40 myth of Sisyphus
I see that many of the delusions we believe in them are revealed in this work, like that of God. When everything makes non-sens we are told now it's time to turn to God. I think that this idea is a step to suicide. I don't want to kill myself by this idea and I don't want to do the opposite of what I'm saying.
I think God is just the remedy for this truth of the absurdity of life. We'd created Gods and I don't think that human being can be a God, because God represents an imaginary perfect being. He's this image of the perfection that doesn't exist in us.
Every philosopher creates his own God, the abstract god and the flourishing god. A turning towards irrational thought to solve the problem that has a name known to everyone is life.
For me these thoughts embrace death by an intellectual suicide.
el-mehdi Benchaib that was nice