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Corey M. Dunn

Professor Sung

English 113

24, Jan 2018

Albert Camus: The Myth of Sisyphus-Absurd Freedom

In Albert Camus’s book The Myth of Sisyphus (Camus, 1942), There is a chapter titled

Absurd Freedom (477-488). In this section, Camus describes what it means to be an absurd man.

Camus expresses his ideas of mechanical life and trying to understand the meaning of life or as

Camus states “the absurd” (478). Why one must strive to seize their moments in life without

worrying about tomorrow and the uncertainty of the unknown. That the absurd man feels that

there can only be certainty as it relates to the absurd. He feels a desire to have unity,

understanding and a oneness with the world in which Camus feels is nonconforming. It is

without disbelief that there is by some divine reason for life, it just has not been shown to be of

proof (Camus 477). In a sense, one can only find truth in the idea of absurdity itself. Being aware

cognitively and physically is what the absurd man understands. It is here that he feels that he is

of the world, and not an abstraction of the universe. Once he loses this conscious awareness, it no

longer exists. The beliefs and understandings that the absurd man must hold on to are what create

him. The problem that lies within this is the constant battle between the notion Camus states is

his conscious revolt, his freedom, and his passion (479-487).

According to Camus, once he has become aware of his consciousness, his objective is to

now enjoy a life that is in the state of now and enjoy every moment methodically that is within

his conscientious awareness, which needs constant revolt of the absurdity. The absurd man only

understands such fruitful living because it is in his idea that what is, is still a false certainty.
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Therefore, the only thing to be certain of, is that there is nothing which now compels the absurd

man to further understand his purpose or lack-there-of. Camus now must consider the thought of

taking ones’ own life which he strongly digresses from and takes to the realization that there is

absurdity in the stance of living life in the now and celebrating it with the understanding that we

are all here temporarily, and then our lives cease to exist is why we have this dilemma of what is

real and what isn’t (Camus 479). That constant struggle to identify that living in a moment

means that he has now taken ownership of it (whether it be a certain lifestyle or belief system),

or it of him. This consciousness now must be considered; retreat from the situation by way of the

initial idea of suicide which now becomes a question of whether you are terminating or escaping

the conflict, or knowing that now the idea of death is relative, and the absurd man now must

make the decision to accept it as a certainty in the same likeness of a man condemned to death

whom fights against the idea knowing that he is now aware that he is moments from his fate.

Camus argues that revolt is a necessary constant, to accept the absurd. He is now

conclusive in his theory of what life is, he begins to accept this as a freedom of his own choice

and guide himself in whatever direction of life he chooses and ignoring the disparities that

plague society. In the metaphysical state, this is to have choice over all your actions and

ramifications (Camus 481). As to which, the absurd man now again sees this as another

uncertainty. Given metaphysics has been concluded to that of an idea and not of a physical proof.

The absurd man now only has belief in what he can measure in his own experiences or thoughts.

Which now frees his mind, he gives himself this freedom. He has now placed himself in a

position of living only for the now, with no regard of what comes tomorrow, and free of any

characterizations. Camus insists that because of this notion, there is no gauge as to doing one
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thing over doing another, he now must position himself to live a life through experiences, rather

than meaning.

The absurd man resents following the rules of the universe when realizing that it is now

evident that one is not completely free from the burdens of the world. For this reason, Camus

now looks for freedom within self (486). This construct has given life to the idea that somehow,

liberation of the mind and its actions is very limited and can allude to the idea of death in which

the absurd man finds reconciliation. Camus’s main concern however, remains in the rationale of

living without some purpose or preordained path. By putting his efforts towards the quantities of

life rather that the quality of life “What matters is the best living, not the most living”

(Camus,484) which means he takes advantage of all the experiences in front of him, he wastes

none of his time and efforts on meaningless things and fills his life with exceptional experiences

that he can relish.

Furthermore, the concluding thoughts of Camus’s conflicts of living within absurdity lies

within his “passion” (487). The last consequence of the absurd man as Camus states, is his want

to live in the present, that now has taken him back to the notion of an impending death. This

makes the absurd man want to enjoy every waking moment of his life in bliss. Now, the notion

of quantity also adapts to additional content to his theory of what it means to live an absurd life.

He now understands that the will of man isn’t what drives him. It is the existence of death always

ever-present looming over his head that now makes every experience in his life take on new

meaning and give it purpose (Camus 486). In short, overall objective of the absurd man is to not

merely exist within the constructs of consciousness, not in the metaphysical sense of freedom, to

not live a mediocre reality in a world of harsh possibilities, on a constant revolt of all absurdities

and the understanding that every man’s fate is death- without knowing what is there after death.
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And knowing such, holding on to his passions and realizing that no matter what unfair

prescription life has given him he is to happily embrace it. not to allow it to dictate how he lives

his life. Refusing to let it have control over him. By knowing the truth, he no longer lets it

consume him. He simply wants to exist by recognizing that the absurdity of life is won by living.
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Works Cited

Marino, Gordon. Basic Writings of Existentialism. NY: Modern Library Web. 2004.

Camus, Albert. “The Myth of Sisyphus.” Absurd Freedom 1942: pp. 477-488. Print.