Essay About Albert Camus And Political Philosophy Of The Absurd

Albert Camus and the Political Philosophy of the Absurd
Albert Camus and the Political Philosophy of the Absurd
Compared to the unmistakable impact of absurd theatre, literature, and art on
contemporary European and American cultures, the philosophy, morality, and politics
of the absurd have remained relatively obscure. Few interpretations of Albert Camus
philosophical contribution have successfully defined the meaning of absurdity, its
components and dynamics, or its moral and political consequences. This dissertation
attempts to clarify these areas of absurd thought by applying the logic of ambivalence
to Camus philosophy of the absurd, revealing its compelling diagnosis of extremism
and indifference, its experiential grounding for post-traditional values, and its unique
appeal for moral and political maturity.
After reviewing the recent history of the concept of absurdity in Nietzsche,
Kierkegaard, Sartre, Nagel, and elsewhere (Chapter 2), I offer detailed analyses of
Camus absurd and the contributions of his scholarly critics (Chapter 3). I introduce
the concept of ambivalence in the work of Eugen Bleuler, Sigmund Freud, Melanie
Klein, Otto Kernberg, and relevant sociological and political researchers (Chapter 4)
to argue that the absurd is best understood not in skeptical or existential terms, but as
an ambivalent ‘position with respect to countervailing desires, primarily a desire for
unity and a kind of principium individuationis (Chapter 5). These ambivalent desires