Absurdism
The hint is in the name. (The Bus 8.48)
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ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED (4.50) 14 March 2024
The Stop
Absurdism is a philosophical thesis that maintains the universe is fundamentally irrational and meaningless. Though inspired by existentialism, absurdism ‘occupies a unique position within existentialist thought.’ Recognising the inevitable conflict that arises when ‘humanity’s inherent desire for meaning’ is forced to confront the universe’s ‘apparent indifference’ to this search, absurdism seeks to provide a reason for the insistent human need for meaning from a world which lacks any.1
Though references to the absurd can be found in the works of writers such as Kant and - especially - Kierkegaard,2 absurdism is perhaps best expressed by Albert Camus’s The Myth of Sysiphus (1942). Camus launches his essay boldly: ‘There is only one really serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Deciding whether or not life is worth living is to answer the fundamental question in philosophy. All other questions follow from that.’3 For Camus, the essential philosophical question is not asking ‘what does it mean to ask whether life is worth living,’4 but rather asking ‘should I kill myself?’ And if the answer is ‘no,’ there must be a reason why.
For Camus, philosophy is about ‘action, not comprehension’, and this question is not purely theoretical, but rather a genuine interrogation of the ‘life and death problem of whether and how to live.’ Since existence itself has no meaning, humans are forced to ‘bear an irresolvable emptiness,’ which creates a paradoxical tension between our ‘impulse to ask ultimate questions and the impossibility of achieving any adequate answer’. This tension is what Camus calls the absurd: it is absurd to ‘continually seek meaning in life when there is none’ and it is absurd to ‘hope for some form of continued existence after death, which results in our extinction.’
Camus believed that a confrontation with this absurdity should result in a positive answer to the question of suicide - and yet it doesn’t. According to Camus, people commit suicide ‘because they judge life is not worth living’,5 and yet the overwhelming majority of people do not kill themselves, despite the absurdity of life. Furthermore, they continue to ask fundamental questions to which the ‘natural world, the universe, and the human enterprise’ all remain silent, and do so over and over despite the absence of answers.
This absurd determination by humans to seek answers despite there being none to be found is best summarised with a ‘striking image of the human fate: Sisyphus endlessly pushing his rock up the mountain only to see it roll back down each time he gains the top’. Pushing it up, watching it roll down, descending after the rock so he can start over again before repeating it in an endless cycle … this, for Camus, is human life. Like Sisyphus, we must continue to ask about the meaning of life, only to see our answers tumble down again before we ask them another way and watch those fall as well. It’s utterly absurd, and yet still we say no when confronted with Camus’s essential philosophical question.
The Detour
Today’s Detour is to Helter Skelter: The Wild Anomalies in the Most Controversial Beatles Song. A fascinating documentary (21:22), it is a very deep dive into the recording history of one of the band’s most controversial - and sonically explorative - tracks.6 If you’re a Beatles fan, it’s worth a watch. However, a word of warning: as noted by the filmmaker, you can’t unhear this.
The Recommendation
Today’s Recommendation is Albert Camus’s The Stranger (1942). From the ambiguity of its opening lines - ‘Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know.’ - the protagonist’s resigned indifference establishes a tone and attitude that never lets up. A classic of existentialist literature, it is also an absurdist story about the fate of a person who, in an attempt to find meaning, is led into a deadly conflict with the world. Highly recommended.
From the back: Meursault leads an apparently unremarkable bachelor life in Algiers until his involvement in a violent incident calls into question the fundamental values of society. In his classic existentialist novel Camus explores the predicament of the individual who is prepared to face teh benign indifference of the universe courageously and alone. In this world, cut off from a sense of God, society has created rules so binding that any person breaking them is condemned as an alien, an outsider. For Meursault it is an insult to his reason and a betrayal of his hopes; for Camus it is the absurdity of life. To him Meursault was not ‘a reject, but a poor and naked man … who, without any heroic pretensions, agrees to die for the truth.’
The Sounds
Today’s playlist is a selection of five tracks, all of which are connected in one way or another to the idea of absurdity: ‘Everything In Its Right Place’ (Radiohead, 2000), ‘A Design for Life’ (Manic Street Preachers, 1996), ‘Where is My Mind?’ (Pixies, 1988), ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ (Bob Dylan, 1965) and ‘Helter Skelter’ (The Beatles, 1968). Enjoy!
The Thought
Today’s Thought is from the American novelist, Tom Robbins:7
‘For the being who is at peace with itself, survival may be of trivial concern.’
If you have a thought on this Thought - or any part of today’s issue - please leave a comment below:
And that’s the end of this Stop - I hope you enjoyed the diversion!
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Until the next Stop …
Today’s Stop is only a brief look at a complicated philosophical idea. If you want to know more, you can check out a bit about absurdism’s philosophical brother Nihilism in The Bus 3.2, or click one of these links for today’s sources: Albert Camus (Stanford) and Absurdism (Wikipedia).
For more about Kierkegaard, see The Bus 1.17. You can also check him out here: Kierkegaard (Britannica)
The Myth of Sisyphus, 3.
This question was posed by William James in The Will to Believe (1896). For more about James, see: William James (Britannica).
The Myth of Sisyphus, 4.
The controversy surrounding the track is because the song - along with others from the same album - was interpreted by the cult leader Charles Manson as a ‘coded prophecy of an apocalyptic war’ and his followers wrote the phrase in their victims’ blood on the walls at the scene of the Tate-LaBianca murders. Negative connotations aside, a helter skelter is just a common English fairground ride resembling a lighthouse. Riders climb to the top via stairs on the inside and, using a coir mat, slide down a spiral shaped slide built around the tower.
Robbins - author of Another Roadside Attraction (1971), Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1976), Still Life with Woodpecker (1980) and Jitterbug Perfume (1984), among many others, has a unique take on the absurd. Though I haven’t read him in years (to be fair, he hasn’t published in years), he’s remained a favourite, but one I only occasionally recommend as he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, shall we say. Strange, convoluted and ready to play with his readers, he’s certainly worth checking out. For more information, see: Tom Robbins (Britannica).
Bryan, if I had to nominate one “The Bus” piece as the singular best expression of your project, it would be this one. It so perfectly captures what I like about your “body of work”—and yeah, it is a body of work—and also what I think about life. Bravo! Well done. Fuck yeah.