In the eponymous essay at the end, The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus uses a relatively unknown figure from Greek mythology, Sisyphus, to elaborate on his idea of the absurd. Yet, Camus does not simply say that life has no meaning and therefore we are caught in a web of absurdities never to know any purpose or aim in life. Hence his much maligned and misunderstood and dramatic opening! So does life have meaning then? Or are we all consigned to a meaningless world and a life that drives us to suicide?įor what else could be the most legitimate action other than suicide, if we find ourselves in the throes of meaninglessness? Well it may not be, but it immediately forces you to contemplate on the meaning of life as that opening lingers on in your mind.Īs Camus himself mentions in the Preface to Justin O’ Brien’s translation of The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays, “it is legitimate and necessary to wonder whether life has a meaning.”
“There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide.”
Albert Camus, the celebrated French writer and pioneer of the absurd thought, began The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays with this dramatic opening:
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