Chapter 12 The Absurd

In: Brill's Companion to Camus
Author:
Grace Whistler
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In chapter 13, Grace Whistler presents an account of Camus’ celebrated but often-misrepresented theme of absurdity, rejecting claims about its putative logical inconsistency. As Whistler rightly points out, the absurd was the point of departure for all of Camus’s subsequent deliberation on moral and political concerns. Whistler’s aim is not only to present us the theme of absurdity in dialogue and discussion with a diverse sample of authors, ranging from Blanchot and Sartre to Ayer and Nagel. She also aims to contribute to the debate on the much-discussed issue of the continuity or discontinuity in Camusian thought. Camus, she claims, saw moral perils emanating from the reflection on the absurd and was at pains to avoid them. This does not mean, however, that the feeling of absurdity that Camus considered the starting point for his reflection had to be completely abandoned. This experience indeed continues to inform Camus’ understanding of human limitations, essential for the further progression of his thought.

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