The Myth of Sisyphus

Existentialism is a branch of philosophy that deals with the essential problems of existence, especially the dilemma of living in a universe devoid of meaning and arbitrary in its outcomes. The seeds of existentialism were planted by Kierkegaard, who struggled with these issues and resolved them with a “leap of faith” into the arms of Christianity. Nietzsche later delved deeply into the nature of belief and decided that modern life reveals the bankruptcy of most creeds and myths, which forces the thoughtful individual to find a way to reckon with meaninglessness. Other 19th- and 20th-century philosophers—Schopenhauer, Jaspers, Husserl—contributed further ideas on how to resolve these issues. Camus opted for what he called absurdism, a defiant stance that accepts life’s emptiness while refusing to give in to hopelessness or run away toward some reassuring creed.

Camus finds that humans are imprisoned by their need for arbitrary beliefs; as well, people become prisoners of the absurd fates handed out by an uncaring universe. Shackled to the prison cell of life, people must first free their hearts; at that point, there is “freedom of thought and action” (56), the ability to choose a path in the face of the meaninglessness and emptiness of all decisions.

Nostalgia, as Camus uses it, means a longing for old, comforting beliefs about God, eternity, and a reassuring afterlife. He writes of “nostalgia for unity, that appetite for the absolute” (17). Camus believes nostalgia lures existentialists away from their arid insights about absurdity and meaninglessness and back into the comforting arms of false certainties.