Albert Camus and the Philosophy of the Absurd

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”- Albert Camus. This quote of Camus having association with so many abstractness prompts to put his philosophy under scrutiny.

Post WWII trend – “Existentialism” gives emphasis to individual Choice, freedom and existence by rejecting conventional human nature which are dependent on our environment, social structure and genetics. Another prominent view of Camus revolved around “Absurdism”, reflecting that tis unjust world has no intrinsic meaning of its own, through free will, awareness and personal responsibility human create their own meaning. Human needs to accept this irrational world and concurrently rebel against it by taking on life’s offerings rather than pursuing physical or spiritual suicide.

Camus argument against physical and Spiritual suicide and acceptance of absurdity is not compelling enough to convince the readers. His only notion around suicide is the act of suicide avoids absurd by not dealing with it. He moves on condemning suicide and proposing to simply embrace absurdity and continue to live.

Consciously or subconsciously people long for a just world where actions have foreseeable outcomes. If the world is unjust like how Camus describes, then it becomes hard for most people to embrace the concept of “Absurdity”. World work around the believe that being smart, working hard will lead to reward, which is in contrast with Camus’ philosophy.

Camus’s philosophy on the accepting the past and present, relishing the moment, ceasing to worry about future really refutes individuals as well as organisation’s future oriented view. In case of organisation- Organizations pursue ongoing profit maximization and usually plans for a longer time. Therefore, not to worry about future and embracing what life has to offer are in contradiction.

Existentialism accentuates that individual’s judgment is the determining factor for what is to be believed rather than by arbitrary religious or secular world values. In context of organisations, organisations have rules and regulations to conduct their activities and reach ultimate goals. As per Camus, adherence to these rules will depend on individual’s choice, will, values. This might seem merited from individual’s perspective but not necessarily from organisational view.

Existentialism refutes modernity and does not give clear advice about how to proceed, any act by an individual seems appropriate and acceptable given that the choice was authentic, it conformed with his will, values, and was acted in good conscience.

“Radical Freedom” concept of freedom is countered by the fact that we’re not necessarily responsible for everything. Not every aspect of our lives is created by our choices. We’re influenced in very real ways by circumstances, genetics, social structures. Once again from organisational perspective, every individual has defined roles and responsibilities and expected to perform accordingly. The idea of absolute freedom and being responsible for everything counters that.

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