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The Direction of Heart and Mind
Albert Camus is absurd.
Okay, that’s not really a fair assessment. I didn’t know Albert Camus. He died before I was born. Even if he were alive today, in the Venn Diagram of the total population, I doubt Mr. Camus and I would know each other.
Albert Camus was a French philosopher, author, journalist, and is often recognized as the father of absurdism.
Absurdism is a thought discipline that claims the universe is irrational and meaningless. Searching for meaning, it states, leads people into conflict with the world.
According to Wikipedia, “This conflict can be between rational man and an irrational universe, between intention and outcome, or between subjective assessment and objective worth, but the precise definition of the term is disputed. Absurdism claims that existence as a whole is absurd.”
In “They Myth of Sisyphus,” Camus writes:
Man stands face to face with the irrational. He feels within him his longing for happiness and for reason. The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.
Let’s continue down this rabbit hole for just a moment before we break from absurdity.
Camus argues that individuals can find meaning and purpose in the face of the…