Paste your essay in here..Humans have always chased this idea that there is meaning and a purpose in this infinite reality called the universe. They seek some inherent value and meaning in life. They believe that there has to be a reason behind their existence. That they don’t simply exist to just exist. But what if there isn’t any meaning behind the universe. What if in reality, people were to live in a meaningless, purposeless and chaotic and irrational universe?
Absurdism refers to “A philosophy based on the belief that the universe is irrational and meaningless and that the search for order brings the individual into conflict with the universe” (Merriam Webster). In short, this means that the human tendency to seek value and meaning in life is absurd due to the fact that it does not exist. It’s not “logically impossible”, but humanly impossible to obtain. Absurdism is something tragic and rises hindrance out of the paradox that is the human kind’s yearning for some significance in life and its unattainability.
Absurdism is interrelated to nihilism and existentialism. It’s a common subject among numerous existentialists works particularly with Albert Camus, who is considered one of the “fathers” of the concept. Absurdism’s start can be traced back to the nineteenth century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard and also the German philosopher most notable for being a representative of the atheistic philosophy, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche. He was known as the father of existentialism. The concept of the Absurd was born out of the existentialist movement in which philosophers started to view the universe as unfathomable. Though, in reality, Absurdism was born out of the existentialist movement and its true father, Albert Camus broke out of that philosophical line.
Kierkegaard wrote about absurd the world was dealt with significantly. In one of his journals he wrote, “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…. The Absurd, or to act by virtue of the absurd, is to act upon faith … I must act, but reflection has closed the road, so I take one of the possibilities and say: This is what I do, I cannot do otherwise because I am brought to a standstill by my powers of reflection”. In his works Kierkegaard also mentions absurdism. this is most notable in his work, “The Sickness Unto Death”. Kierkegaard (under pseudonym Anti-Climacus) examines the many forms of despair that can be found. One of these types is despair known as defiance. He explains how a person “would endure such a defiance.” (newworldencylopedia). He then split the defiance into the three traits of the Absurd Man, which is then discussed by Albert Camus He described the three traits: “Rejection of escaping Existence (suicide), Rejection from a higher power, and lastly acceptance of his absurd and desolate condition.
Albert Camus is considered true “father” and the most well know philosopher of Absurdism. He was an Algerian-French writer who, with his story titled “The Myth of Sisyphus” (Post World war II), gave society something to allow them to let their absurdist views grow and for people to develop, mostly in the devasted country of France. He see’s absurdity as a conflict, or an opposition between two principles. He describes the human condition as absurd, due to the human yearn for significance in life and the universe’s response to be cold and silent response. He also, entails that human experiences induce concepts of absurdity. When a person comes to a realization or have an encounter with the absurd, this leaves them with three choices; suicide, leap of faith, or acceptance. Camus, then explains that acceptance is the one justifiable option. He feels that suicide is a sort of “confession “to life not being worth living. It’s a choice, and it means life is “too much” too bade. It’s a “basic way” to escape absurdity.
An encounter with the absurd can also stimulate a “leap of faith”. With this choice, a person understands that there is more than the rational life. Taking a “leap of faith” means that a person must act with the virtue of the absurd where a postponement of the ethical may need to occur. (As Kierkegaard put it himself under the pseudonym, Johannes de Silentio.). This is not the dogmatic faith that people have come to recognize. This is instead what Silentio would refer to as a cheap, false, imitation of faith. The faith comes without any expectations and is flexible and propelled by absurdity. “Leap of Faith” is considered by Camus as a “philosophical suicide”.
On the other hand, a person can simply embrace the absurd they have been conditioned too. Camus explains that freedom and the chance to give meaning to life, lies in the recognition and acknowledgment of the absurd. He states in the “The myth of Sisyphus”, "Thus I draw from the absurd three consequences, which are my revolt, my freedom, and my passion. By the mere activity of consciousness, I transform into a rule of life what was an invitation to death, and I refuse suicide.".