The Absurd

“If the world were clear, art would not exist.” – Albert Camus. While the term commonly refers to a kind of dry, ironic situation, The Absurd has a rich philosophical tradition most closely associated with the writings of Albert Camus. In his essay The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus says that “one must imagine Sisyphus happy,” but this is no simple task. What are we to do with the question of life’s meaning, especially in the face of its endless unanswerability? In modern times, we experience echoes of the loop Sisyphus is stuck in, from the eternal cycle of war, pestilence, and death; how do you find purpose and escape the repetitions of reality where meaning escapes our grasp, and The Absurd is all that remains?