Investigating the Relationship of

Absurd and Happiness in Albert

Camus Philosophy

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A Thesis
Submitted to
Faculty of Arts and Letters
University of Santo Tomas

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In Partial Fulfillment
Of the requirements for the degree,
Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy

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By

Nifas ,Gabriel Vincent

May 13 2016
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CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL FOR DEFENSE

This Thesis entitled

Investigating the Relationship of Absurd and Happiness in Albert Camus
Philosophy prepared and submitted by Nifas, Gabriel Vincent G. has
been ACCEPTED AND APPROVED for Oral Examination, for the
fulfillment the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts major in
Philosophy Program.

Adviser

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL

Prof. Marella Bolanos PAGE
Thesis Coordinator, Philosophy Department

ADVISER’S GRADE: __________

(written and countersigned)

Date: _______________
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 2

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
I hereby declare that this submission is my own work, and that
to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material
previously published or written by another person nor material
to which a substantial extent has been accepted for award of
any other degree or diploma of a university or other institute of
higher learning, except where due acknowledgment is made in
the text.

I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is a

product of my work, even though I may have received
assistance from others on style, presentation and language
expression.

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________________________________________________
Candidate’s Signature over Printed Name

Date: __________________________________

_____________________________________________
Adviser’s Signature over Printed Name

Date: __________________________________
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 3

Abstract:

This thesis is a research on Albert Camus’ philosophy and his concept of absurd
and happiness. It will show how the famous Camusian concept of the absurd come into
life and how the process of rebellion will affect the development of man with his
experience of absurdity into happiness This will be done through retracing Camus’
essays, plays, and novels, as we explore various themes of living an absurd life. The
concept of happiness has been greatly discussed by dozens of philosophers already,
having been able to provide various conclusions on how or what genuine happiness is. At
this point this research will also offer a different angle on the discussion of happiness with
the help of Camus' concept the absurd. This study will offer a new way of interpreting
happiness as it ventures first into an investigation of a seemingly contradictory concept
and that will soon translate into the realization of happiness. While it is true that
investigation of happiness is not new in the literature of philosophy, the research aims to
help inspire further developments that may open ways for a more critical research of
Camus’ philosophy. The study aims restate the concept of Camus that the absurd is the
first realization, rather it is happiness, and that genuine happiness is possible as long as
the consciousness will re-evaluate its understanding of the whole world and focuses on
the essential. UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE

Keywords: Absurd, Happiness, Camus, Life, World

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Acknowledgements

My journey has been hard but at last this chapter of my life will now end,
all of these are possible thanks to the people who never cease to believe
in me; To my exceptional adviser, Mr. Einstein Mejaro, and all mentors in
philosophy who molded my outlook in life and has never failed to guide
and encourage me in finishing this thesis. I give my outmost respect and
gratitude.
To all my friends, who has always been there supporting and motivating
me, to those who shared laughs with me, enjoyed stories over bottles of
liquor and best of all, to those who have stayed in my most absurd
moments- thank you. May we continue to cruise this world together as
comrades.
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
And lastly to my parents, to the greatest people who have been believing
in me ever since, thank you for all the love you poured on me.
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 5

Contents
Abstract:...........................................................................................................................3
Acknowledgements.........................................................................................................4
Chapter 1..........................................................................................................................6
Introduction...................................................................................................................6
Review of Related literature........................................................................................10
Chapter 2........................................................................................................................22
The Absurd...................................................................................................................22
Chapter 3........................................................................................................................36
The Three Sketches of the Absurd Man.......................................................................36
The Underlying Ethics..................................................................................................43
Chapter 4........................................................................................................................49
The Creator..................................................................................................................49
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL
The first realization......................................................................................................52 PAGE

The Quest for Happiness..............................................................................................61

Chapter 5........................................................................................................................71
Summary......................................................................................................................71
Conclusion...................................................................................................................72
Recommendation........................................................................................................77
Bibliography...................................................................................................................79
Main sources................................................................................................................79
Journal Articles............................................................................................................79
Secondary Sources.......................................................................................................79
Online sources.............................................................................................................80
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 6

Chapter 1

Introduction

Albert Camus is one of the contemporary philosophers who have left

his mark especially in the existential philosophy. With his literary

creations, he has managed to talk on various philosophical thoughts

without using the traditional systematic approach of the previous

philosophers. Camus has also imposed one question that may have been

considered as one of the biggest existentialist questions, “There is only

1
one really serious philosophical
UNIVERSITY question,
OF SANTO and that
TOMAS is suicide”SCHOOL
GRADUATE . Hand in PAGE

hand with this question is a concept used by Camus consistently:

absurdity. The absurd has been emphasized by Camus to demonstrate

his philosophy. Considered to be a human condition, the absurd separates

man from his desired significance. In relation to suicide, this absurdity

made people kill themselves for they have concluded that life is not worth

living.

Like the life of Sisyphus, our existence has come to me as absurd.

The repetition of habitual things that we do in our everyday lives perfectly

symbolize the same act Sisyphus did for eternity. We, the people, are also

1
(Camus, Selected essays and notebooks 1970)Camus, Albert. Myth of Sysphus
and other essays. New York: Random House inc., 1955.
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 7

pushing our own rock onto a top of a hill, moments later, realizing that it is

already falling down for us to roll it up again. This problem if I may say so

has been the concerned of Camus and has now been being realized by

me. But despite the absurdity of the world, Sisyphus managed to be

happy. This thought strikes me the most, making it a major existential

question a man should ask: How is it to be happy in an absurd world like

ours?

The happiness as believed and perceived by Camus will be the center

of this thesis. Camus believes that the absurd and happiness have distinct

relations that will show different interplays in understanding a distinct

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
human condition. This relation of these two will be the main focus of the

study. Prior to that, however, we will need to identify what Camusian

happiness is, hence, it is the papers’ duty to establish first the

philosopher’s idea. The earlier Camus was deemed by many as

pessimistic as he his writings were influenced by the two big world wars 2,

thus many sees the Camusian philosophy emphasizing more on the

absurd. The study will try to shed light on this problem as it aims to

emphasize the other side of Camus coin. The absurd is just one part of his

philosophy, and it is often forgotten that happiness is at the same

intensity. It is the research’s aim to prove that happiness is not just

secondary, more over this thesis would provide explanations on how does
2
(Samples 2014)
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 8

happiness and absurd became “the different side of the same coin”. It is

also the paper’s aim to show how happiness and absurdity are related.

The two concepts commonly used by Camus, although contrary in first

glance, must have non contradictory relations, for the process of

realization of happiness and absurd is considered by Camus as one whole

reality. While it has already been proven by Camus that the absurd will be

encountered by all, this research would also provide a claim that even

after the absurd, happiness can also be achieved by all. These would be

possible by first explaining how and what is the absurd in the second

chapter, the third chapter aims to show what an absurd life is while also
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opening an opportunity for discussion of a happy life and lastly in the

fourth chapter, hopefully it can establish concrete connection between

absurd and happiness while also being able to highlight happiness,

moreover the research aims in this chapter to show how can happiness be

possible for all.

This study will be significant in understanding Camus’ existential

philosophy by analyzing carefully Camus existential philosophical

framework. This research will focus on three main concepts: First is the

absurd; second freedom and happiness being the last. These three

concepts have distinct interplay that may decide the flow of human

existence. In Camus’ philosophy the desire to find meaning in one’s life is

 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 9

a main highlight. Prior to fully understanding this, however, one should first

past the absurd.

. In order to prove those claim, it will be necessary to understand and

investigate some critical concepts used by Camus in his philosophy and

literature which include but not limited to melancholy ,solitude, hope

freedom to name a few. Through identifying these concepts, a vital

understanding of Camus’ work will be developed. Analyzing his major

works like Myth of Sisyphus(1942), The Stranger(1942)r, and A Happy

Death(1936-38) would help us trace and identify how happiness has

developed in man’s life, hoping to be able to answers questions like how is

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
happiness possible. Or what determines happiness? What is relation of

absurdity in happiness?

The scope of this paper will mainly be Albert Camus’ works The

Myth of Sisyphus, The Stranger, A Happy Death and his various essays

that tackle absurdity. All these books were created in the early life of

Camus where many believe his philosophy is still in its most pessimistic

state. The discussion would emphasize on absurdity and happiness in the

book The Myth of Sisyphus and its development in the previously stated

books. Moreover, the research will also utilize his other literary outputs

along with his philosophical thoughts. Various articles were also

 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 10

consulted. Further, these articles have a common ground that is on

happiness and the way it functions within Camusian philosophy.

The limitation of this thesis would be its inability to access all works

of Albert Camus. Although the researcher has acquired famous titles

under Camus’ name, it is difficult to access all of Camus’ essays

especially those which still in its original language. Moreover the thesis

would also be limited by temporal reason in which may be a hindrance to

fully research on the topic.

Review of Related literature

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All literature related to this thesis have tackled main topics that

Camus himself discussed. The following literatures provide its own

explanation on concepts like happiness and the absurd through relation

with Camus’ philosophy. With the discussion of the following concepts and

with their relationship with one another, this can give a structural map on

the trajectory of this thesis. The best way to understand Camus is to

understand absurdity which is the fundamental concept of his philosophy.

Baltzer-Jaray states that it is not only in contemporary philosophy

that the problem of the absurd arises. She is pointing out that even the

modern philosophers encountered absurdity and even tried offering an

 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 11

answer but all of them tried to retreat with either with the concept of god,

or lack of philosophical explanation with the help of ambiguous concepts

to end their philosophies3. This pattern is the evidence that man can never

really grasp reality and that the entire previous philosophers failed to

accept the truth that reality cannot be grasped so they assumed concepts

like god or even create an open-ended conclusion like geist and noumena.

This is the absurd said Baltzer-Jayer, and this absurd was often evaded

by the previous philosopher. And this absurd she believed is a second

truth in philosophy.

She then leads the discussion to what is this absurd and elaborated
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the two source of the absurd. Akin to the previous articles, absurd is

evoked as the chaos and irrationality that lies in our universe. This absurd

is unknowable, strange behavior according to Baltzer-Jaray. In the middle

of her paper she discusses the reasons why the modern philosophers

avoided the concept of absurd in the their own philosophical projects. Due

to the demand of the modern times in extracting what is truth, the said

modern philosophers tried their best to try to know the world. Because of

the absurd, the possibility of truly knowing the world is impossible. The

problem Baltzer-Jaray has with the moderns are their failure to realize the

3
Baltzer-Jaray, Kimberly. "Absurdism: the second truth of Philosophy." Journal of
camus studies, 2013.
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 12

existence of the absurd or maybe there was no possible condition . In the

light of Camus philosophy it is believed that in order to grasp even partially

what the nature of reality is one must know the absurd. This will take her

into recognition of the effort of Immanuel Kant, whom she believed

recognized the absurd in his philosophy. In the case of Kant he called it

the Noumena, the distinction between the noumena and the phenomena

is the first ever distinction of absurd according to her.

She then tackles on the absurd coming from death, death as a

source of the absurd translates into the ultimate negation of man, and like

previous articles, the answer against death is to create one’s own

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meaning. This leads her into the conclusion, that all philosophers like

Sisyphus must acknowledge the absurd, embrace it and try to make

meaning out of it contrary to the moderns who tried to know the world by

its full potential. Now that we are talking about absurdity, it is essential to

talk about the most important work on Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus.

In the history of Camus’ works, The Myth of Sisyphus was

considered one of the most influential works that defined his philosophy. In

the article made by Verhoef he started revisiting Camus’ “Myth of

Sisyphus” discussing how absurd life of Sisyphus was. He now started to

brew a question that will be the topic of this whole journal. Can Sisyphus

obtain happiness or will he be consumed by the absurdity of his world?

 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 13

Vergoef will now subject Sisyphus to a series of questioning and inquiries

in able to answer if he was able to attain happiness. In the initial part, he

still discusses how Sisyphus’ life was heavily affected by absurdity trying

to find connection on how Sisyphus managed to find happiness in an

absurd world. In search for connection Verhoef referred to Camus.

Reaching a conclusion that due to an embrace of his absurd life, and even

though life for him is limited, he managed to content and with this content

he might be able to achieve happiness (this one’s ambiguous).

But this kind of happiness is doubted by the article stating that the

happiness attained by Sisyphus may not be authentic. This time the

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author analyzes Sisyphus happiness and tested it with the help of Daniel

Haybron. It dissects the different concepts of happiness and its type

namely psychological, prudential and perfectionist. The happiness of

Sisyphus was subjected to this different kinds of happiness resulting into

something positive and still being able to defend its authenticity.

Being able to survive the physical and physiological aspect of

happiness it will face the concept of transcendence with the question of a

possibility of authentic happiness without attaining transcendence. So

Verhoef started again by defining transcendence and identifying its two

types according to Wessel Stroke. Namely immanent transcendence and

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radical transcendence4, with these, we again need to return to the fact that

Sisyphus has learned to embrace his world’s absurdity, but because of

this absurdity becoming a status of absolute for him, we can say that he

reaches immanent transcendence. Replacing the absolute god by an

absolute concept, and if the situation is the opposite, without the view of

an absolute reality Verhauf referred to Camus and said that this can be

called the Radical Immanence, explaining that even though this is not the

same transcendence like the radical transcendence in which it is above

the world we could still argue that he may have attained individual

transcendence thus making his transcendence a radial immanent one 5.

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In her conclusion, she affirmed that the happiness Sisyphus has

passed all the questions regarding happiness and that it has managed to

reconcile its concepts in accordance to the different aspects of happiness

and lastly the interdependence of happiness and transcendence, affirming

that these two concepts are interdependent on one another.

The expected topic that I will use for the thesis will revolve on the

concept of happiness. Obviously the title of the article itself shows

significant relation to the topic that I choose to write on. The article’s

4
Verhoef, Anne H. "Sysphus, Happiness and Transcendence." South African
Journal of philosophy, 2014: 537-546.
5
Verhoef, Anne H. "Sysphus, Happiness and Transcendence." South African
Journal of philosophy, 2014: 537-546.
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 15

concept of happiness and the myth of Sisyphus being the article’s main

discussion it is undoubtedly related to my topic. The classification of

knowledge that used by Verhoef would be very helpful in future cases in

which I might subject certain type of happiness under that kind of test.

Moving forward, a fresh new concept was shared to me by this article-

transcendence. The concept of transcendence offers fresh new

possibilities on how I may relate the different kinds of happiness into one

concrete definition of a genuine happiness. This also pave way in the

question of ends, sparking the question what is the real end of happiness

and is happiness the ultimate end or is there something greater than it.
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
Moving forward, Happiness should also relate to human condition, one of

the human conditions that are important in attaining happiness is

melancholy. The Melancholy is also in relation with the absurd, and in

understanding the melancholy and its relation with happiness, it can help

us determine how fully the absurd and happiness are related.

Now that the former literature has affirmed the existence of

absurdity and the possibility of Camusian genuine happiness, the next

literature would suggest the great interplay of the two. Andrew Gibbons

paper was aiming to use the A Happy Death to search for knowledge and

although the intention of the papers is very far from what I want to

achieve, his discussion on the A Happy Death and Mersault is with great
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 16

relevance to my paper. Like most of these literatures, this paper also

attempts to search the Happiness with the help of Camus’ philosophy. The

highlight of his paper is the use of concept of time as an emerging factor in

determining the absurd as it results to terrible imminence of life. This

indicates a possibility of an absurd, that temporal limit of man and infinite

concepts in this world is just overwhelming. This limit has condemned man

into pattern in his life, yet Gibbons with the help of Camus, would state

that Mersault would need not to look into him but into the world. But when

he tried to go out of himself and search the world for happiness he

encounters another dilemma, the search itself frustrates him because he

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is not free to be in search for one. 6 This is the temporal limit of Meursault.

But through this realization he will rebel just in order to attain happiness.

According to Gibbons, the moment Meursault killed his friend and steals

the money, this translates into Mersault moment of saying no to the his

absurd life, while it cannot yet be considered a full rebellion, it is the start

of Mersault being a rebel. While both Sisyphus and Meursault desire

happiness, they did it in a different path: Sisyphus, as condemned by the

gods, embraces and turns out to be contented Meursault, however, as

having rebelled and determined his own happiness, chooses the path of

6
Gibbons, Andrew. "Like a Stone:A happy death and the search for Knowledge."
Educational Philosophy and Theory, 2013.
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 17

solitude. These two opposing views would now be discussed on the

thesis. The duality of happiness-absurd relation would be important to

discuss especially how two Camusian characters could end up into two

different situations. Prior to the inquiry, one should first acknowledge that

thought different in the result it is undeniable that happiness and absurdity

affect each other, in this case Meursault happiness giving birth to his own

absurdity, and absurdity creating him to desire happiness.

Another important idea that I have mentioned is the term rebellion

in Gibbon’s article but he never thoroughly discussed the term. Here in the

essay of David Mikik’s and Robert Zaretsky we could understand more the
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
rebellion and their use in the absurd-happiness relation. Although rebellion

on Camus’ philosophy was known via his political stands, it is also crucial

to know that this rebellion is vital in the absurd-happiness relationship.

According to the two, rather than looking at ourselves akin to Sisyphus we

need to look at the world, for it offers no truth but has objects for love. The

rebel reflects at his world and learns to say no. The moment the rebel

says no, he is imposing himself, no truth being attained nor created what

he just did is imposed himself in the world (. It is his affirmation that he is

in the world that this is his world. While both talked about rebellion in a

political point of view, I took the liberty to use their concept “philosophy of

limit”. These rebellions according to them not only impose the tyrant in a
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 18

political sense but also impose something on the imposer. It sets as a

limit; these impositions limit us to falling into despair amidst these

absurdities7. This is important to note because it serves as the barrier on

why we do not fall into the pit of absurdity and why we still manage to try

finding happiness. The act of rebellion towards the absurd does not mean

to take it down or to conquer it, it is only a denial of conquest of the

absurd, it is a no to be engulfed by the ever-existing paradox.

The next journal opens by discussing the concept of melancholy defining it

as the experience that combines pleasure of feeling sad with sober self-

reflection. This melancholy will soon be the center of his work by trying to
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connect melancholy and its effect in attaining happiness. The author

believes that even though happiness and melancholy look like different in

first glance there is still a significant relation between them that makes him

insist that melancholy can help attain happiness. Philosophers and

psychologist, like Freud and Julia Kristeva, view melancholy as something

negative and thus, making it an opposite of pleasure. Yet others also view

this as a balancer like the ancient Greeks, Kierkegaard also view

melancholy as an ally in deepening the relation with god.

7
Mikics, David, and Robert Zaretsky. "From solitude to Solidarity." Virginia
Quarterly Review, 2013.
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 19

This now leads to the affirmation that melancholy has positive effect

and negative effects. But it is the positive effect that interested Smith. In

the next part, he will now try to prove that melancholy has an effect in the

attainment of happiness. Philosophers had ignored the concept of

melancholy in their discussions of happiness as they fail to consider the

potentially positive role of melancholy in enhancing happiness. Smith

wants to show the connection between the two, he claimed that sober self-

reflection can facilitate a pensiveness which may also contribute to person

happiness8. Being in the melancholic state it may help us have a self-

reflective perspective and with these self-reflection we may be able to re

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asses our lives and recognize authentic priorities that may lead to

happiness. But even though he affirmed this, there are still factors that

limit melancholy in its connection to happiness. Not all melancholic state

can lead into happiness; he believes that only the ones who are

emotionally connected are the ones that may be able to achieve

happiness through melancholy. As he states the conscious awareness of

the emotion without denial facilitates a better understanding of her whole

emotional landscape. In short, melancholy should be positively interpreted

8
Smith, Steven R. "Melancholy and Happiness." South Afrincan Journal of
Philosophy, 2014: 447-458.
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 20

by the mind in order for it establishes a deeper connection to self that may

lead to self-connection reflection and reassessment.

In conclusion, melancholy may be used to achieve happiness but

only if the person has a stable emotional connection. Because with the

connection to the melancholic emotions, we may transmute it into self-

assessment; moreover, reevaluations of things that will help us lead into a

more genuine life. In this case, happiness is now studied in parallel with

melancholy. The concept of melancholy will be essential in my future

research, especially if one acknowledges Mersault’s status in A Happy

Death; it is to be analyzed if he has undergone a state of melancholy

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before he chose the solitary life. And like in the article of Smith, we shall

also apply the concepts of absurdity, and melancholy’s possible

contribution or destruction of happiness.

And lastly, we are to look at the most relevant literature in

accordance to this paper, in which will argue that happiness can be in line

with the supreme goods.

The paper discusses two objections to the Aristotelian concept of

happiness. Weinand discusses each argument explaining every aspect.

He explains that reason alone cannot apprehend the supreme good for

man cannot live in the present. This characteristic for man serves as a

hindrance in noticing and enjoying the happiness of the moment.

 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 21

He first presents an argument that we are not in the position to

make an objective assessment of human life in its totality. He also refers

to culture and history and stated that happiness is not always the highest

end. And lastly, the three concepts of happiness, human existence and

sovereign good hold no truth value in context of relation. In the second

argument, he claims that happiness and unhappiness are what we

fundamentally are. It is only our affirmation towards life, meaning we

choose if we will be happy or unhappy.

Weinmand refers to Cartesian scholar named John Cottingham.

Cottingham believes that human condition is not an obstacle in attaining

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happiness. Cottingham believes that it is purely in man’s hand to

determine his happiness. In his conclusion, he expounds this idea that

our concepts and beliefs can give us a chance of happiness. And that

what we are and what we wish for to be can be considered the supreme

good. This article now subjects happiness into questioning with whether

happiness is the ultimate good. Happiness being tested with this kind of

questioning it can give me a wider view of what really are the possibilities

in happiness and if my future claims can be plausible.

 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 22

Chapter 2

The Absurd

The meaning of life is the most urgent question 9, and thus, we

search for answer. The departure point of Albert Camus in the

investigation of the absurd is the problem of suicide. He views it as a

confession that life is too much for you or that you do not understand it 10. It

is the moment of void when man suddenly realizes all the illusions around
UNIVERSITY
him. He then forgets OF SANTO
the world, TOMAS
and together GRADUATE
with SCHOOL
it, is his loss of hope. PAGE

Once a familiar world, but now a stranger to man, at this moment, man

has encountered the absurd. Camus would soon justify that the absurd,

even though caused by the thought of suicide, is not justified by it. In this

chapter, it will be my task to elaborate what is the absurd and to show how

it can affect our choices, especially the choice of living or suicide.

Camus understands that this absurd has a beginning, and it is

almost everywhere; hence, the starting point of the absurd feeling is a

realization. Prior to this realization, the world is in order. The absolute

normality of it can be perfectly enjoyed by men, and then suddenly, the

realization afterwards, is the collapse. We are accustomed to the same

9
Justin O’Brian, trans., The Myth of Sisyphus (NewYork: Random House, Inc, 1955) ,pg.4
10
Ibid,pg.5
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 23

rhythm-this path is easily followed most of the time, but one day, a why

arises and everything begins in that weariness 11. Now, the realization of

the absurd is not gradual. Camus says it is an accumulation of

consciousness or a slow realization of the world. So how then, the world,

once our comfort, has now become the source of absurdity? We can find

Camus’ explanation in the process of realization of time, we people are

constrained by men’s limited hours, as time always moves towards the

future. Time will not stop for men, and so we men are hoping for

tomorrow. The failed acts of today finds its hope in the coming tomorrow,

we desire for the future, which we believed will give us something, but the
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world does not care, time has a phase and it is constant. Yet it is the

tendency of man to run after it, our desire of the promise of hope from

tomorrow that makes us encounter the absurd. We desire tomorrow

because we believe it will give us something new 12, but once the flesh and

mind realize it has been left behind, it is the moment we hit the wall of the

absurd, like a dog waiting for a dead master, a groom to his runaway bride

and a dying old man and the memories of his youth, all of this like time,

shall never return again. This is one limit of man that he cannot exhaust

for he has no control over it, unlike other factors like rationality or

11
Ibid,pg. 10
12
But tomorrow is nothing, it is just a thought. Tomorrow will not be different from today if all
man will do is hope. The same pain you felt today is the same pain that will haunt your
tomorrow if you only cease to hope or be in an idle state.
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 24

sensibility, time answers to no master and what Camus wants is to

understand this limit, as absurd grows with time if man cannot face this

reality of ephemeral. The restriction of time also means a restriction of

intellect and rationality. Due to the temporal limit of man, his rationality is

also limited. It is undeniable that the infinity of this world is too much for

our mere understanding, even great philosophers like Kant and Hegel

were restricted by their rational limits to unravel the world, no one is safe

from the absurd, even a titan’s mind is lesser than it.

Men are chaser of truths, hungry to unravel the world just to

understand it, yet we do not know the world, we do not understand it. We
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may have created theories and erected laws but we have never grasped

reality. We tried to reduce the universe into ink and paper, laws and

theories we believed are the underlying rule that governs the principles of

cosmos. But then the universe does not meet the expectation of man,

again making man realizes he is not an all-knower. Questions and

contradictions are set upon him, his desires for truth and answers are his

and the world’s absurdity.The absurd depends on the interaction of man

and the world.. For moment it is all that links them together 13 .This I call

the epistemic absurd, universe and man are at constant hide and seek for

truth, through every discovery, the universe reveals another mystery. Man

tries to find answers to control the universe to manipulate man’s faith.

13
Justin O’Brian, trans., The Myth of Sisyphus (NewYork: Random House, Inc, 1955) ,pg 16
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 25

Man’s desire to a unifying absolute further intensifies his bond with the

absurd. The inconsistency of the world further intensifies the absurd: man

is detached from the world while being in it. The world gives no connection

between man and it. Man is alone to struggle or to live, in his contact with

the world, he encounters the absurd; the good man who is brutally

attacked, a child who is raped, and many others, these are manifestations

of the absurd encounters. Man will encounter it these kinds of scenarios

and it will make no sense, the moment we call for an explanation the world

will not submit. This I see as a form of an absurd existence.

The existence of the absurd is not in the rational thinking of man

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alone, nor is evident in the world without men. It is their unity that creates

this, there can be no absurd outside human mind, also there can be no

absurd outside the world either14. Man’s mortality is a realization from the

immortality of the world; it is also the departure point of Camus’ absurd,

the absurd is not born of an irrational response to the realization of human

mortality.15 But the irrational response of the world towards human

rationality.The mortality of man is his facticity, the beginning of life is an

introduction to an inevitable death, however, more often than not most

people fear this mortality as if it was a curse bestowed upon them failing to

realize that in the first place we are bounded to it. Because of this, it

14
Justin O’Brian, trans., The Myth of Sisyphus (NewYork: Random House, Inc, 1955) ,pg 23
15
John Foley, Albert Camus ., From absurd to revolt(Stocksfield [U.K.]: Acumen, 2008). Pg 6
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 26

exaggerates the absurd realization which is supposed to be accepted and

embraced in the first place. This kind of irrationality by man was created

due to how the absurd responds to man’s rationality. Man expects logical

consistency every time, for our existence is bounded by a logical chain;

however, when this chain is broken, the expectation of man brought by

logical presuppositions would be meaningless once the world does not

comply, the once sudden logical life is now faced with the absurd. In

addition, the shock from the idea of mortality, the contrast of the world’s

unreasonableness and man’s rationality is unacceptable for men. The

incompliances of the world are problems for the mortal man as he faces
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his temporal existence while facing the dilemma on dealing with absurd

reality, the limit of time and his acknowledgement of that his rationality is

not enough, puts pressure on how man will engage with his life, while still

continuously extracting reason to fuel his appetite for life . This kind of

thinking by Camus can be assumed as a realization brought by personal

experiences. (This awareness came with his first attack of tuberculosis in

1930-1931 at the age of seventeen. 16.) This explains how, even his early

works like the “Nuptials” and other essays in his lyricals like “Irony,”

“Between Yes and No,” “Death in Soul” and “The Wrong Side and the

Right Side.” For one, Camus says:

16
Ibid pg 6
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“How many hours have I spent crushing absinthe leaves, caressing ruins,
trying to match my berthing with the world's tumultuous sight! Deep
among wild scents and concerts of somnolent insects, I open my eyes
and heart to the unbearable grandeur of this heat-soaked sky. It is not so
easy to become what one is, to rediscover one's deepest measure. But
watching the solid backbone of the Chenoa, my heart would grow calm
with a strange certainty. I was learning to breathe, I was fitting into things
and fulfilling myself...Yet even here, I know that I shall never come close
enough to the world”17

Eventhough the concept of the absurd absurd is not yet strong in

his early works, that excerpt ex from the “Nuptials”-one of his more elated

essays, still shows us our inability to know the world, and this is what I

believed is the departure point of the absurd. The absurd has been and

will always be here, thus one must understand that the absurd will never

disappear because we are thrown into the world, the same truth that we
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can never escape it. While the feeling of absurd can thus be awoken, the

awareness of the absurd, Camus insists, is specifically a rational

discovery.18 The moment of man’s desire is an agent towards the

encounter. Through desire, sooner or later, man will be confronted by the

fact that the world will not deliver. In his collection of Lyrical and Critical

Essays, it is obvious that even before his creation of the concept of

absurd, the essays themselves in that collection already depict strong

realization of the Camusian absurdity. In his essay, “Irony,” he explored

how disconnected the world is and how irrational it can be. This strong

17
Albert Camus and Philip Malcolm Waller Thody, Lyrical And Critical Essays (New York: Knopf,
1968).
18
John Foley, Albert Camus (Stocksfield [U.K.]: Acumen, 2008). Pg 7
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 28

imagery of Camus perfectly depicts an absurd image as he randomly

narrates different lives and concludes:

“None of this fits together? How very true! A woman you leave behind to
go to the movies, an old man to whom you have stopped listening, a
death that redeems nothing, and on the other hand the whole radiance of
the world . . . Here three destinies, different and yet alike. Death for us
all, but his own death to each.”
The escape from the absurd is impossible as it is always returns

around man. This is man’s curse-his ability to hope has in turn showcased

man’s inability of accepting the absurd world. We reject what we cannot

understand; in turn, we turn into the future to find something better: a

situation in which we are in control. For Camus, there is no freedom; that

freedom to be which alone can be the basis of truth does not exist, the
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only reality is death.19

Though already an absurd man, even Mersault from Camus novel,

The Stranger is guilty of trying to escape an inevitable death. In his last

moments when he has the chance to contemplate on life, he slips into the

sweet promises of hope. He admits:

“But naturally, you can’t always be reasonable. At others times, for

instance I would make up new laws’ would perform penal code. Id
realized that the most important thing was to give the condemned man a
chance”20
Camus’ illusion of freedom pertains to man inability to escape

death. This though is a call for a suicide if the pointlessness of life, and

illusory choices will only lead us to death. At one point, Camus considers

19
Justin O’Brian, trans., The Myth of Sisyphus (NewYork: Random House, Inc, 1955) ,pg 47
20
Camus, Albert, and Stuart Gilbert. The Stranger. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1946. pg111
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 29

death as liberation, death has a particular hand, which while crushing,

liberates. It is now essential to answer the question of suicide for it will be

a manifestation on how man will be dancing with the absurd. Essentially,

because of the disharmony of world and man, the process of taking one’s

life is justifiable, after all what is life but a series of absurd. Absurd is

everywhere and it can be in all forms, the confrontation of man and absurd

affect the rational decision of choosing whether to live or die.

To understand the process of confrontation and choices of man, we

need to look back once again not only to the absurd, but man’s traumatic

experience with it. The question of how absurd rises is answered already
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by previous discussions, what we now need to account is how does an

absurd life affect man’s willing to live, before encountering the absurd man

with aims for justification21. The first choice of justification presented by

Camus is the choice of suicide, and it is agreeable, that it is a wrong form

of acceptance toward the absurd. In the act of suicide, man shows defeat

by justifying the future, man has felt the repetitiveness of the absurd; and

thus, this repetitive shock from the absurd breaks man, and leads him into

despair. It is true that Camus dreads hope for it amplifies the absurd life

but it is despairing that makes it dangerous.

21
Justin O’Brian, trans., The Myth of Sisyphus (NewYork: Random House, Inc, 1955) ,pg 42
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 30

“Physical suicide, expresses despair from the possibility of touching the

beyond and the sense that without it concrete reality is meaningless.
Without decoding the secret of life, life has no value ”22
Camus understands that there is no more need for hope, while in

the state of despair man sees the world as no hope.

“The absurd man does not absolutely scorn reason and admit the
irrational. Thus he again embraces in a single glance all the date of
experience and he is little inclined to leap before knowing. He knows
simply that in that alert awareness there is no further place for hope.” 23
Camus’ recognition is just one step. One must embrace the

absurd.The absurd as a truth in life is what saves man from despair. What

happens with the people who choose suicide is that they struggle with the

absurd and identifies the same as a removable thing or a problem that has

a solution. Living is keeping the absurd alive, keeping it alive is

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contemplating it24.This kind of people who choose the absurd never had

the chance to contemplate the absurd, and have been stuck in the

constant state of shock with their encounter, for once, the world that he

thought was his, was not working with what he desires, thus, he fall on to

the pit of despair.

Camus has pointed out the fault of other philosophers as they

encountered the absurd. Even though these philosophers never supported

the cause of suicide, Camus finds some of this philosopher’s method

faulty in handling the absurd condition. In The Myth of Sisyphus, he

22
Abraham Sagi, Albert Camus And The Philosophy Of The Absurd (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2002). Pg
34
23
Justin O’Brian, trans., The Myth of Sisyphus (NewYork: Random House, Inc, 1955) ,pg
24
Ibid pg 40
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 31

attacked Kierkegaard, Chestov and Jaspers, all being Christian writers.

These existentialists see a solution for the absurd, the central point to their

argument is the radical endorsement of irrationalism. They look at the

absurd not as an apriori; for them, the absurd is but a mere concept that

arises but solvable via the practice of faith. The problematic thought

common among these three is their strong belief of hope which promises

salvation from the absurd. For instance, the idea of the leap of

Kierkegaard that orders the suspension of rationality and submission of

one’s self into what the philosopher termed as a religious sphere. He

posits:
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“Kierkegaard likewise takes the leap… thus the very thing that led to
despair of the meaning and depth of this life now gives it truth and its
clarity…”the sacrifice of the intellect”… he makes the absurd the criterion
of the other world, whereas it is simply a residue of this world” 25
What Kierkegaard does is to blindly suppress the absurd. He fails to

offer a solution but he directs this leap towards a god (?) in which man is

destined to depend his existence on such a god fully. He (Kierkegaard)

only problematizes the absurd, according to Camus, as one that is

attributed to god with His attributes, unjust incoherent and

incomprehensible26. What he creates is a bubble of temporary solution,

which if burst, drowns the believer or worse, only suppresses the very

tension that is the heart of human condition, the absurd the metaphysical

25
John Foley, Albert Camus; From Absurd to Revolt (Stocksfield [U.K.]: Acumen, 2008). Pg 8
26
Justin O’Brian, trans., The Myth of Sisyphus (NewYork: Random House, Inc, 1955) ,pg 29
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 32

conscious of man27. The belief of Camus in which God is not needed, has

traces all over his works, in the scene where Mersault is asked by the

chaplain to have his last confession, for instance, according to the

chaplain, human justice was nothing and divine justice was everything 28

but Mersault has viewed the world as his, and that he has already

conquered his limits. He says:

“… but atleast I had as much of a hold on it as it had on me. I had been

right, I was still right, I was always right. I had lived my life one way and I
could as well lived it another… nothing, nothing mattered and I knew why
and so did he. Throughout the absurd life I lived, a dark wind had been
rising towards me from somewhere deep in my future, across years that
were still to come, and as it passed, this wind has leveled whatever was
offered to me at the time, in years no more real than the ones I was
living”29
Mersault UNIVERSITY
has lived throughout the absurd
OF SANTO TOMASlife, as he faces
GRADUATE whatever
SCHOOL PAGE

the metaphor of the dark wind has offered. This is because he has

affirmed and embraced the inevitable rise of the absurd, and no matter

what he does, it will constantly catch up with human life. The same

attitude can be identified in The Plague where in Doctor Rieux has

abandoned the hope for the divine as he has been condemned in the

plagued city of Oran. Although the presence of Father Paneloux tries to

affirm a need for a God, the plague is more of an allegory of a godless

society in which man needed to strive in order to live. In the sermon of

Father Paneloux, he affirms that plague was only a test from god as he

27
John Foley, Albert Camus; From Absurd to Revolt (Stocksfield [U.K.]: Acumen, 2008). Pg 8
28
Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Translated by Richard Howard. NewYork: Random House, 1973.pg
118
29
Ibid pg 149 (Foley 2008)
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 33

reveals that the plague is god in action, unfailingly transforming evil into

good.30 But Rieux, a man who understands the absurd views it from a

different angle, in his conversation with Tarrou reveals that he does not

believe in a God but what is more important is his reason on why he does

not believe. He posits “it might be better for god if we refuse to believe in

him and struggle with all our might against death with-out raising our eyes

towards the heaven where he sits in silence.” 31 This is what Camus wants,

a struggle against death but also an acceptance of the absurd situation.

We should not desire death in a way that we find it as a transcendence,

there is no afterlife neither another life, what Camus wants is to struggle

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with the life that we have right now and create something out of it. Camus

wants the consciousness of the absurd translates into a life without

appeal, a life not tied from a providence that needs blindly to be obeyed, a

life we are not to answer to anyone and that there is no rational logic or

reason that governs us, it is only man and the absurd and it will be in

man’s power how will he deal with it.

So in order to realize happiness man must first decide not to die, at

least not today. The decision between not killing one’s self lies in one’s

ability to recognize the absurd as a facticity of this world’s interaction with

man, in the face of absurdity in life; the individual should not despair or
30
Camus, Albert. The Plague. Translated by Stuart Gilbert. New York: Modern Library, 1948. Pg
90
31
Ibid 118
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 34

give up. He should seek to encounter life on its own term. In order for the

absurd man to do this, he must face the absurd rather than run from it.

Living is keeping the absurd life, keeping it alive is contemplating it. 32 This

is Camus’ acceptance of the absurd, we should take note that he never

tried to solve it, and he has known from the start that the absurd is

inescapable. But through contemplation of man, eventhough we cannot

fully understand the absurd, we gain the ability to revolt. This is the

rebellion of Sisyphus.

“(Revolt) is a constant confrontation between man and his own obscurity.

It is an insistence upon an impossible transparency. It challenges the
world anew every second. Just danger provided man with unique
opportunity of seizing awareness, so metaphysical revolt extend
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL
awareness to the whole of experience… That revolt is the certainty of
PAGE
crushing fate, without the resignation that ought to accompany it” 33
One must not mistake this rebellion of Sisyphus the same as the rebellion

from the rebel. The rebellion done by Sisyphus rebels against

metaphysical consolation; on the other hand, “The rebel’s” rebellion is

ethical and political34. Therefore suicide is not a form of revolt for the act of

suicide is an act of resignation from the absurd. The absurd man revolts

against the loss of meaning. He does not deny the absurd condition. What

he does is to rebel against it and generate his own meaning.

32
Justin O’Brian, trans., The Myth of Sisyphus (NewYork: Random House, Inc, 1955) ,pg 40
33
Abraham Sagi, Albert Camus And The Philosophy Of The Absurd (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2002). Pg
112
34
Ibid pg 113
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The revolt is the moment when man says no, but whose refusal

does not imply a renunciation 35. In this case you will not abandon the

absurd, Camus does not imply a need for rejection of the absurd, after all,

it has been repeatedly emphasized that it is one of the realities of this

world. Then what are these moments refusal? These moments are the

moments when the absurd tries to consume man and his existence, the

saying of no is an affirmation that man has understood that he has a right

in certain degrees. Because the absurd negates, the absurd man will try to

rebel against the absurd by trying to change the situation while still

recognizing that the absurd is non-negatable. This is what Camus means

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
by metaphysical revolt, he understands that the absurd is not to be

rejected as it is a reality of this world, that is why Camus states that the

movement of rebellion is founded simultaneously on the categorical

rejection of an intrusion that is considered intolerable and on confused

conviction of an absolute right, in which is the rebel’s mind, is more

precisely that he has the right to 36. The absurd reasoning opens up the

consciousness of man that there more to the absurd life that he is living,

as struggles to discover what he ought is right His revolt will lead him to

his transformation of becoming an absurd man. In his dedication to rebel

he will realize an ability to be free from becoming someone.

35
Camus, Albert. The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt. New York: Vintage Books, 1956. pg 13
36
Camus, Albert. The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt. New York: Vintage Books, 1956. pg13
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 36

Chapter 3

The Three Sketches of the Absurd Man

Now that we have established Camus’ concept of absurd it is in

time for us to discuss his concept of happiness and its relation to absurd.

The understanding of Camusian happiness will be essential in this thesis

for it will be an essential component that will define if man is bound or

destined for happiness. But before we can unravel that question we need

first to have an understanding of what is happiness from a Camusian

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
sense. In the previous chapter, I have expounded the ideas of absurdity,

in which according to Camus an integral part of happiness. In his essay,

Myth of Sisyphus, Camus directly writes that happiness and absurd are in

fact hand in hand but he clearly draws the line and also states that both

are not the result of the other. Happiness and the absurd are two sons of

the same earth. They are inseparable. It would be a mistake to say that

happiness necessarily springs from the absurd discovery. It happens as

well that the feeling of the absurd springs from happiness 37.

I have already explained how man realizes absurdity, it is now in

this chapter that I will elaborate on how can man realize happiness.

Camus’ work will present different themes that demonstrate a secondary

37
Justin O’Brian, trans., The Myth of Sisyphus (NewYork: Random House, Inc, 1955) ,pg 112
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 37

kind happiness or exhibit man’s desire for one. The beauty of his concept

of happiness is that is able to coincide with his main theme which is the

absurd, these said sketches of man do not hide from the absurd. The state

of happiness are not directly implied in some of Camus’ works; hence, we

need first to understand how an absurd man views the world. We have

known already that the absurd man understands the benefit of

understanding and embracing the absurdities with in him and his world.

These people who are able to welcome the absurd are considered by

Camus as the absurd men. These absurd men were divided into three

characters that displays different approaches on how do absurd men

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
venture into the realm of the absurd world.

The first of the absurd man is characterized as Don Juanism,

attributed to the character of Don Juan the seducer. Don Juan’s case is

not a case of man longing for love neither a man hoping for it. He was

accused of melancholy but he was not, melancholy people have two

reasons for being so; they do not know or they do hope. Don Juan knows

and do not hope.38 . Camus opens the analysis of Don Juan’s approach

towards the world by stating first the problematic habit of a great seducer-

he was not contented of having just one lover. It is not a case of

discontent nor does a story of search for love, rather Don Juan use it as a

mechanism to cope up with the absurd. It is Don Juan’s way of expressing

38
Ibid ,pg 52
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his life for the present moment, he does not worry of the future, and his life

revolves in the fleeting moments of his love making. He holds no hope for

the future and thus not seek assurance of love. He is not aiming to

transcend the sensual and carnal aspect of relation for he sees the search

of genuine love as a way of desire for transcendence. In his gift to not

hope he understands the inabilities of man; also in this understanding he

understands the ability of man. Don Juan sets aside morality and lives at

the moment, future for him is futile and thus he consumes the moment.

For nothing is vanity for him except the hope of another life 39. The Don

Juan embraces the world, and manipulates it as he wills, he gave it a

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
brand that can satisfy his joys, and so far it does. Don Juan does not

seduce because he feels incomplete, he seduces for the sake of

seduction. The quantity of pleasure he gains from it continually feeds his

need. He is a man of his strength, being able to stand above the odds- no,

he does not conquer the absurd. He merely embraces it and created what

he believes gives him pleasure. Yet Camus understand that this kind of

outlook is selfish, but even though he gave it a recognition of a probable

selfish act and hedonism in a sense, he defended Don Juan writing that

he is not immoral, but at very worse was amoral. The Don Juanism finds

its happiness with his desire; he feeds the need of his flesh and

continuously consumes the other. His consumption is not immoral in a

39
Ibid ,pg 70
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 39

sense that he never aims to negate the others, in his consumption he

amplifies his self while trying to share his existence, it is the reason for his

desire for quantity, because of the ability of the absurd to negate one’s life

meaning Don Juan finds a way of re affirmation. This is in fact a way of re

affirming life through responses toward the world. The act of Don juanism

does not care of the absurd result of his acts, after all it is the absurd that

leads him to a realization of his abilities to create pleasure for himself.

Even so, it is still undeniable that the great seducer is a rational man, in

which he understands his limits in this world and towards other being in

this world.40
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The next absurd men are the actors; people who live their lives

living the lives of others. Camus immediately described the life of these

actors as a life destined for an absurd fate. The absurd men begins where

that one leaves off, where ceasing to admire the play, the minds wants to

enter in. Entering all this lives, experiencing them in their diversity,

amounts to acting them out…but their fate is an absurd fate which may

charm and attract a lucid heart.41 The life of an actor serves as symbol of

fleeting moment. An actor lives without having desire for eternity; he

enjoys the moment of his portrayal and gives everything as if the

40
Don Juan’s limit is a limit of morality rather than a limit for quantity, he knows his limit in which
he realizes at what degree he can only consume a woman, but he does not know the limit of
quantity.
41
Justin O’Brian, trans., The Myth of Sisyphus (NewYork: Random House, Inc, 1955) ,pg 57
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 40

temporary fleeting moment will be his forever. 42The absurd here is

represented as a senseless depiction of the actor’s art. His works will

never be immortalize, not unlike great painters or poets whose output may

conquer time, the actor’s fruits are forgetful. He assumes that his work will

bear witness to what he was. . . for him not to be know is not to act, and

not acting is dying a hundred times with all the creatures he would have

brought to life or resuscitated.43

The love of the actor for living another life should not be mistaken

as a hope for transcendence and longing for another life. It should be

viewed as the actor’s love for his own life as it is his only life where he can
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
express his passion for expression. Yes, it is true that an actor’s life is

unlimited for he was able to erase the boundary between the internal and

the external. The actor’s consciousness was alive, as his journey through

the world, not unlike us who only understands our internal consciousness,

his was open. He had been as valiant as Achilles; he felt the pain of

Romeo, the anger and desire of Brutus and the passion of Christ. He has

lived of these people as if it was his own; and no, he did not just know

what happened he connects, he was being engulfed as if the

consciousness of them are one, yet still he prevails, for after the curtain

42
Camus refers to stage actors and theatre actors and not the ones who act in front of the
cameras. The difference between the two is the ability of film actors to transcend his time and
immortalize his works, thus if taking in to consideration this kind of actors will defeat the
meaning of Camus metaphor.
43
Ibid ,pg 58
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falls his characters die but he will continue his adventure in this absurd

world as a reborn man in a skin of a new portrayal. The actor’s life is not

synthetic, no it is inauthentic, his re-creation of life does not mean

inauthenticity of his own, and his life is as authentic as his portraits. He is

maintaining multiple consciousnesses in a vessel with one absurd fate.

.They accompany the actor, who cannot readily separate himself from

what he has been … he abundantly illustrates every month or every day

that so suggestive truth that there is no frontier between what a man

wants to be and what he is… for that is his art- to stimulate absolutely, to

project himself deeply as possible into lives that are not his own. 44
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
The last of the three men is the conqueror; the conqueror is what

attains the ultimate absurd life in which he continuous to live in revolt

freedom and passion. He understands the world needs changing while

ironically knows that it is impossible to change. The absurd world is

constant yet his desire for revolt still remains. His course of action is not

irrational neither he does acts senselessly; his revolt is in an ultimate form

for he desires change even though he knows its impossibility of it. His

thoughts, should not only be limited in contemplation , there always comes

a time when one must choose between contemplation and action. This is

called becoming a man45. What he does is not a struggle against the

44
Ibid ,pg 59
45
Ibid ,pg 64
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 42

absurd, it may look like the conqueror is trying his best to conquer the

absurd but he is not, he is intelligent and he understand his limits. What is

it then that motivates this absurd man? He is an agent of progress, he

understands that the absurd does not mean we should succumb in its

absurdities and be consumed by it. He moves forward, not unlike the don

humanistic and actor’s attitude, he does not settle with in his limits. Do not

get him wrong, he knows the ability of man but more than that he hungers

for what can be the ultimate potential of man.

One must not misunderstand his passion for an illusionary desire,

despite his hunger for the realization of man’s ultimate potentiality the
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
conqueror still keeps in mind the limits. A victory would be desirable but

there is but one victory, and it is the eternal. 46 He knew he can never have

that, just like Don Juan and the artist; eternity is one of their brinks. The

conqueror now reflects that man, even though captive by the absurd has

the ability to transcend, not that of transcending the absurd rather the

ability to transcend his current situation. For man holds only one life and

has no ability to escape it or its world but is to be taken with great

consideration that the condition in which he lives can be affected by his

will to revolt and his ability to utilize freedom and passion.

“The amazing grandeur of human mind, the conqueror are merely those
among men who are conscious enough of their strength to be sure living
constantly on those heights and grandeur. It us a question of arithmetic

46
Ibid, pg 65
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 43

more or less, the conquerors are capable of the more. But they are
capable of no more than man himself when he wants. 47
The problem with these men is they are limitless, as they are bound by

desire for quantity. Don Juan, the actor, and the conqueror all don’t know

their limit as an absurd man, more than that, even though they have

found a way to live with the absurd in their existence, their existence is

incomplete and rather inferior as their rebellion leads them back to a

nihilistic character, who does not understand

The Underlying Ethics

These absurd men are claimed by Camus as mere metaphors and

do not propose UNIVERSITY

moral codes…OF SANTO
they TOMAS
merely GRADUATE
represent a style ofSCHOOL
life. 48 But PAGE

then it gets problematic when this representation holds no moral values.

The search for happiness will be translated into a fight of the strongest

consciousness; if everyone did what they believe they can do because the

absurdity of the world justifies it, then it is undeniable that we have just

amplified the absurd fate. Whatever we do will become meaningless as it

is always subjected to a possible consumption of a no moral value world.

Thus for every man to find satisfaction in the absurd world, he must at

least have a glimpse that after he rebels against the absurd, his quest for

creation of meaning will not just be stomped by another absurd man.

47
Ibid ,pg 65
48
Ibid ,pg 66
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 44

This translates into a need of an ethical and moral claim in the

Camusian philosophy, without so everything will collapse. The said so

ethics that I am talking about would emerge from the metaphysical

rebellion of Camus. The absolute freedom that was bestowed upon us by

choice of rebellion now becomes problematic as it heralds that this

absolute freedom may entail neglect for values. The fact that man is told

that nothing is. But at least is a certainty. And it is with this that he is

concerned: he wants to find out if it is possible to live in a world without

appeal49. This is very dangerous water for frail men; this might lead into a

radical conclusion. Men who mishandle this kind of capability may mistake
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
their selves as god, since he has chosen a life without boundaries and
50
restrain. However in all of Camus work there is an underlying principle

which all of its characters has- function. Analysing Camus works most of

the characters understand their function in their world. Examples of this

would be Dr. Bernard Rieux of The Plague understands his function in that

dying town, even though he saw the extremes of the absurd events he

continued to stay and fulfil his function that translates into his

understanding of life’s value. Even the two Meursault of The stranger and

The Happy death demonstrates understanding of this function. Starting

with Mersault of the happy death, even though the fact that he killed
49
ibid, pg 39.
50
Abraham Sagi, Albert Camus And The Philosophy Of The Absurd (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2002). Pg
101
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 45

Zargeus and took all is money to pursue his personal happiness, the

interaction between the two is deeper than that. The encounter in chapter

four of happy death strengthens the claims that Mersault was not just an

absurd killer pursuing his happiness. The development of Zagreus speech

about happiness interest the monotonous life of Meursault, Zagreus told

Mersault that;

“What I am sure of is you cannot be happy without money. That’s all I

don’t like superficiality and I don’t like romanticism. I like to be conscious.
And what I’ve noticed is that there a kind of spiritual snobbism in certain
superior beings who think that money is not necessary for happiness “ 51
Zagrues later added that; “To have money is to have time . That is

my main point. Time can be bought, everything can be bought “ 52. The
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
development of Zagrues intention was still not clear for Mersault but

sooner Zagreus will drop his agenda that will conclude this conversation.

He wants himself dead and he wants Mersault to do it. The money was a

mean of exchange if he does the act. Zargues line “you understand- you

have to understand, I didn’t want to have a lesser life, a diminished life ” 53

it is clear that Zargues was the absurd man of this moment, he

understands that his limit has come, his in ability to continue meaning

translates to his end54. But more importantly it is Mersault who bears a

greater function, he was now suddenly interacting with the absurd. Then
51
Richard Howard, trans., A Happy Death(NewYork: Random House, Inc, 1972) ,pg 43
52
Ibid pg 43
53
Ibid pg 43
54
it is not suicide, after all zargues was using all his ability to play with the absurd world into
getting the best conclusion for his deteriorating life, he is an intelligent man playing with fate .
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 46

the day came he chose to pull the trigger. The act of pulling was a

manifestation of a value. He initially pulled the trigger for the happiness of

the crippled man, he could have rejected the offer and went back to his

ordinary life, but he chose do accept the task knowing the possible burden

that he will carry. In his act he was able to maximize the happiness of him

and Zargues and more importantly both men has made to live a life

without appeal at the same time having preserve certain values that

preserves the others.

Mersault of The Stranger is a very hard case to justify. How

specifically an absurd man who shots a man with four times be able to see
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
the his function in a relation that would translates into value. In legal terms

the act of excessive firing means an intentional desire to kill, thus this

immediately invalidates the claims that Mersault has an understanding of

values. That being said it first needed to provide a defense for this absurd

man. The shots were not merciless neither it was brutal nor cold hearted.

All those shot were just shots. Four bullets passing a dead man’s body,

after all it was stated that the first bullet already killed the arab, the

succeeding four bullets means nothing, Mersault recognized this the

moment he committed the killing, he knew what he has done and he

understands it. The Arabs body was already meaningless after the first

shot, and so does the next four shots. But this does not mean that
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 47

Mersault does not understand the value of life, contrary to that belief he

was ready to preserve it. Their encounter on the beach proves so;

I thought quickly. If I told him not to, considering the mood he was in, he
might very well fly into a temper and use his gun. So I said the first thing
that came into my head “He hasn’t spoken to you yet. It would be a
lowdown trick to shoot him like that, in cold blood.” Again, for some
moments one heard nothing but the tinkle of the stream and the flute
notes weaving through the hot, still air. “Well,” Raymond said at last, “if
that’s how you feel, I’d better say something insulting, and if he answers
back I’ll loose off.” “Right,” I said. “Only, if he doesn’t get out his knife
you’ve no business to fire.” Raymond was beginning to fidget. The Arab
with the reed went on playing, and both of them watched all our
movements. “Listen,” I said to Raymond. “You take on the fellow on the
right, and give me your revolver. If the other one starts making trouble or
gets out his knife, I’ll shoot.”55
He immediately disregards the desire of Raymond to silence the

Arabs, he understands the weight of killing a man without no reason, he

only affirms theUNIVERSITY OFwhen

act of shooting SANTO TOMAS
their life willGRADUATE
only be putSCHOOL
in danger. PAGE

More over one over looked part here is he was willing to take responsibility

of a possible murder which can be connected to him being an absurd

man. Mersault is a thinking man, and in the series of event he was not

ready to do something that would harm others good until theirs will be on

risk.

All given scenarios was an affirmation of an underlying human

values, this kind of ethics is not rooted in a supreme being and not

necessarily should have been in a theological level, this values spurts

from a personal level which each men recognize. It is an ethics of

rationality, which revolts against the absurd, this kind of ethics does not

55
Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Translated by Richard Howard. NewYork: Random House, 1973pg
56
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 48

amplify the absurd in the same way it contradicts the principles of it. It is

clearly stated that the world moves in a manner unknown to man but at

least this kind of ethics in Camus philosophy shows an ability for men to

rationalize the interaction among men in an absurd world. No supreme

idea, no values rooted in the transcendental are necessary to justify

absurd rationality, this kind of values offer a concrete human existence

that embodies wants and needs. This means that men still has the rational

capability to understand their obligations and prohibitions. 56 This translates

into the ability of man to meditate amid through this absurd world, and

through his meditation leads him to an understanding of mediation. This

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
kind of quality is not with in the three sketches, but is found on the most

absurd character, who is the creator.57

Chapter 4
The Creator

The Absurd men of the previous chapter may have attained a

spectrum of life realization, but this is still highly far from a full attainment
56
Abraham Sagi, Albert Camus And The Philosophy Of The Absurd (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2002). Pg
103
57
Justin O’Brian, trans., The Myth of Sisyphus (NewYork: Random House, Inc, 1955) pg 68
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 49

of happiness, the three Absurd men portrayed in the previous chapter lack

an essential character – an ability to create. All these absurd men tried

their hands at miming and repeating, and at re-creating the reality that is

theirs58. Considering the previous three sketches all of them share a

certain deficiency, that is their inability create. One must not confuse the

ability to create and the ability to mimic, the first three sketches only bases

their interaction with the absurd in a degree of rediscovery. Don Juanism

amplifies his satisfaction via consumption, the artist finds joy in reliving a

moment, and the conqueror sieges his glory in overcoming. It might be

true that they have found a way to live with the absurd but it is not in its
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
finest.

This is why Camus has introduced the most absurd of all absurd

men, - the Creator. The possibility of happiness is achievable, through

becoming a creator. For in this regard the absurd joy par excellence is

creation.59 The question now is how the absurd creator differs from the

first three sketches in terms of tackling the absurd, and how does this kind

of existence surpass the others? The absurd creator is all about creating,

as the name suggests, but more than that he understands the necessity of

suspending rationality.

58
Justin O’Brian, trans., The Myth of Sisyphus (NewYork: Random House, Inc, 1955) ,pg 70
59
Ibid pg 69
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 50

At times, he has the ability to focus on experiencing, describing and

creating. The ability to create in an absurd situation shows the capability of

man to redirect the absurd. However, Camus realizes that creation in an

absurd environment would be as paradoxical as it seems for the

inspiration. For creation will be an absurd inspiration in which, in the first

place, is never understood by a creators’ intelligence. In this case, it would

automatically negate the ultimate need of creation, which is, the eruption

of a new feeling different from the absurd. It would be cyclical and useless

if the creation is no different from reality as it does nothing but replicate

what is already there. If the world were clear art would not exist 60. The
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
process of creation is not process of savior vivre to savoir faire 61, this is

not its cause. The process of creation is not meant to reduce the world

into thought, creating or not creating changes nothing 62. The creation itself

is meaningless towards the world, as it will not affect the already absurd

setting. However, analyzing Camus thought sooner it will manifest that.

although creation does not affect the absurd world, it changes the

awareness of the creator.

To live without appeal is the goal of Camus, to free one’s self from

the bind of providence and be able to create meaning to kill god is to

become god oneself: it is to realize on this earth the eternal life which the
60
Ibid pg.73
61
Not from understanding the world to explaining it
62
Ibid pg.72
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 51

gospel speaks.63 The promise of divinity is non-existent for Camus. What

is more important is our awareness towards the world. Our awareness

dictates our actions toward the absurd world. Eventually this awareness is

neither reduced nor limited to its set goals but must also understand its

limitation. There are differences between people’s awareness, and this

distinct them from one another, as only those absurd creators understand

the limits of human capability. The ability of the creator to exceed the

absurd may soon translate into his ability of realization of happiness. But

before the creator creates and realizes his happiness, let me introduce

first a reassessment of happiness in Camus philosophy, rather than a

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
realization after the absurd, I would present it as an antecedent of the

absurd realization. This reassessment would be a rediscussion of Camus’

philosophy, yet still holds the promise of not disarraying the structure.

There is a necessity to investigate this as it represents a more humanistic

understanding of Camus philosophy, as it eliminates the pre supposition of

pure nihilism in Camus philosophy; this offers an underlying reason for

existence which will present that the focus of man is essentially geared for

happiness. While happiness and absurdity are both rational tendency of

the mind, this claim will attest that even with dichotomous unity of the two

concepts man’s end is still bounded for a happy life if guided with the right

approach.
63
Ibid pg 80
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 52

The first realization

Camus has claimed that the absurd is the first realization, but in the

same breath, happiness can also be seen as the first. Going back to his

early works we could see that the absurd is just but a secondary

realization, observing his early works in the lyricals. Camus is fond of

exposing the beauty of nature and life. In his essays, he explores the

content of the world, yet various Camus interpreters see this as the

budding of the absurd ,it can also be seen as Camus’ love for life and

pleasure experiences .for instance his essays “Irony”, “Between Yes and

No”, and “DeathUNIVERSITY

in Soul” all started with TOMAS
OF SANTO a heavyGRADUATE
influence of SCHOOL
the absurd PAGE
theme. The only time the concept of happiness is fully discussed is in the

essay “Love of Life”. However, all the those three characters who have

realized the absurd in the given essays where either in the dusk of death

or is depicted at the dawn of the absurd realization. The “Lyrical and Other

Essays” and even the other works of Camus have not investigated the raw

form of men, the natural innocence before he enters that awareness. The

inconsistency and irrationality of the world only means something when it

meets the rationality of men, the world is and will always be absurd but

only we men are capable of identifying it. This crash will be unenviable but

it does not mean that it is the first movement of absurd awareness. It is not

in our nature to meet the absurd in an instant for the initial object of man’s
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 53

consciousness is not absurd reality but the reality of the good. It does not

mean that the absurd is not good, neither it is evil. However man’s

tendency is to find the pleasurable and attributes it as happiness.

A passage presented in the essay “Irony” captivates the contrast

between the before and after the clash is realized.

“What do an old man’s suffering matter when life absorbs you

completely? He talked on and on, wandering blissfully through the
grayness of his mutterings. But it couldn’t last. He needed an ending, and
the attention of his listeners was waning; he wasn’t even funny any
longer; he was old and young men like billiards and cards which take
their minds off the imbecility of everyday work” 64
That is the complexity of the absurd realization, both scenarios can

express happiness yet both also live in different themes, the old man

UNIVERSITY
finding joy in reminiscing theOF SANTO
past whileTOMAS GRADUATE
the young SCHOOLthe
people enjoying PAGE

present. The first realization of happiness is innocent, and its awareness is

trivial. Foremost, it is necessary to find beauty and love for the world

before the realization of the absurd burst. Due to the fact that men are

rational people with rational desire, it is sensible why happiness becomes

the first realization, when man’s consciousness starts to perceive the

world it is its natural tendency to perceive first the good of the world. The

first interaction will be a shock but not in a negative aspect, life itself was a

gift of the absurd. This shows the duality of this concept, the intertwining

chaos and creation of the absurd reality. The moment of life is a moment

of happiness at it radiates the new in an absurd reality. This idea of

64
Camus, Albert, and Philip Malcolm Waller Thody. Lyrical and Critical Essays. New York: Knopf,
1968 pg 24
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 54

newness and purity is an evidence of a brief moment of absurd negation,

a moment free of the absurd. A brief moment which is pure as it only

absorbs the good reality. The first experience creates a bubble of illusion

that delays the interaction with the absurd.

The man in which enters the city fancy the bright orange lights of

the streets, the vivid colors of the towering buildings while savoring the

illusion of progress and power, the lover who sees the beauty of her lady’s

smile, how the softness of her voices calms his mind and the feeling of

eternity in her embrace and the parents ecstasy with their first born all

holds this innocent moment of purity. This same moment suspends

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
judgement and overtakes reason, unlike the absurd which demands to

suspend judgement, this happiness as first realization does not demand,

contrary to the absurd, man actually voluntarily suspends his reason to

savor these moments.

“I arrived in Prague six in the evening. Right away, I took my bags to the
checkroom. I still had two hours to look for a hotel. And it was full of
strange feeling of liberty because I no longer had two suitcases hanging
on my arms. . . Now I can live only scrimpingly in this great city. My
distress, still rather vague a few moments ago, fixes itself on this obe
point. I feel uneasy, hollow and empty. Never the less a moment of
lucidity”65
In the essay the “Death in Soul” Camus tried to show the transition

of absurd to solitude into happiness, but he failed to point out the pre

absurd happiness. In the passage, the anxiety of the narrator is evident

but it is also presented that Camus has acknowledged a feeling of liberty

65
Ibid pg 40
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 55

in lucidity in this new experience. Even if Camus did not directly write

anything about this pre-absurd happiness it is obvious that he has

unknowingly affirmed its existence in every lived-experience. This excerpt

from one of his essays states:

“If it is true that the only paradise are those we have lost, I know what
name to give the tender inhuman something that dwells in me today.” 66
“Between Yes or No” depicts the same pattern in Camus’ writing,

analyzing this you could see that the narrator has already acknowledge

the absurd, and throughout this essay he will talked about the

senselessness of the past and the uselessness of relieving the past,

although he is correct in these, through the narrators reminiscing he has

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
revealed that before all this absurd circumstances happen, there was a

moment of paradise, even if it is not expounded the mere fact that the

character is reminded this paradise means he experienced it before he

had a face to face encounter with the absurd.

“How many hours have I spent crushing absinthe leaves, caressing ruins,
trying to match my breathing with the world’s tumultuous sighs! Deep
among wild scent and concerts of somnolent insects, I open my eyes and
heart to the unbearable grandeur of this heat soaked sky. . .my heart
would grow calm with a strange certainty. I was learning to breathe, I was
fitting into things and fulfilling myself”67
That excerpt is from the “Nuptials in Tipasa” where Camus’ tone is
celebratory and vibrant; in this essay he was experiencing the beauty of
life and the world. Another excerpt from the lyricals states;
“I had known joy for one entire day seemed to me not an
exceptional success but the intense fulfillment of a condition which, in
certain circumstances, makes it our duty to be happy”68

66
Ibid pg.30
67
Ibid pg. 67
68
Ibid pg. 71
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 56

What is vital among these essays are the chronology on when did

Camus got his inspiration for writing. The “Nuptials in Tipasa” was written

in 1936, while the Carnets his working book was finished in 1937. Most of

his works where written in 1936 and his visit in Tipasa was from the span

of 1935 to 1936. This means that before Camus has finished all his works

in the Carnets, he was encountering this innocent moment of appreciation

and happiness. The idea of happiness was dwelling on him soon before

the absurd penetrates.

Returning to my Chapter One, I have also used the “Nuptials” to

affirm that it holds traces of the absurd, and now I am heralding that”
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
Nuptials” is a brief moment of happiness or amere prounounced

meditation on happiness. There is no contradiction from both claims: truth

about happiness is also truth about the absurd. In fact both concept co-

exist constantly. For if there is no interaction between the two, none of

them will exist, the absurd is and already has been existing what I am

claiming is; Happiness is the first realization then follows the absurd

realization, the first realization is the starting point of the interaction

between the absurd and happiness, the state of happiness is not constant

and will not be forver. The absurd realization is necessary as it is a reality

of man’s existence .After the brief moment of happiness, sooner or later

the absurd will penetrate no matter what. The brief moment of suspension
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 57

of reason is what causes the absurd realization. Reason voluntarily

suspends its cognitive abilities for the beautiful for we are not only rational

beings but also sensible, we are prone to emotions and happiness which

translates to something beautiful and good evokes this sensible side of

man. When the absurd reveals itself, man is facing again a moment of

shock. Yet contrary to the first shock of happiness, the absurd does not

evokes something good immediately, and so man would snap back to his

rational state and asks “why?” hence the birth of an absurd reasoning is

born.

To give a different perspective in the absurd-happiness interplay,

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
the next part will show that Camus have actually provided settings in

which happiness is the more pronounced side while absurd is the

supporting reality which help the actualization of this happiness. In other

words this will provide a reinterpretation which will offer a new way of

reading Camus; this re interpretation shows how aggressive the

realization of happiness can be in contrast to the absurd. The aim is to

provide proof that happiness is not just a supporting cast in Camus

interplay but rather, in the same level with the absurd.

Most of Camus’ works highlighted how potent the absurd can be,

while most of the time, leaving happiness as a secondary outcome, but if

we are going to retrace some of his earliest works we can be able to point
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 58

out that Camus still manages to establish happiness that provides the

same intensity of the absurd. In his Lyricals, some of his essays treated

happiness as the more potent of the two. In his work “A short Guide to

towns without a past” he wrote;

“And now perhaps I can stop being Ironic. After all, the best way to speak
of what one love is to speak of it lightly. When Algeria is concerned, I am
always afraid to pluck the inner ccord it touches in me, whose blind and
serious song I know so well69”
Throughout this essay Camus talks about Algeria in a light manner,

describing its people as splendid, its desserts and shorelines are dazzling

and its culture as rich but then in the end part of the essay he turns the

table around by confronting all this and talks about the “True” Algeria. The
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
essay suggests Algeria as his love, his happiness. at the beginning his

admiration was strong and beautiful, almost perfect at some moments.

Like the absurd, happiness can provide a strong influence that changes

how we realize the world. If Camus showed that Absurd can affect how

happiness is being assed, in this case I suggest that happiness can affect

how we assess the absurd. Another essay that would provide the same

theme is “Return to Tipasa” in which where Camus talks of the narrator’s

desire to go back to Tipasa. His will to go back to Tipasa is strong- a place

where he finds beauty and where he experiences happiness. Once you

have had the chance to love intensely, your life is spent in search of same

light and the same ardor.70This feeling of happiness keeps coming back,
69
Ibid pg 157
70
Ibid pg. 165
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 59

the same way the absurd haunts us. While absurd may deliver despair,

this kind of happiness may deliver uncontrollable desire. Yet he still insists

that one must keep a freshness and source of joy intact with in 71. However

the absurd is still in picture, but unlike in his other works where it was the

highlight, in these two essay Camus puts happiness as the priority of each

narrator.

In the first essay absurd was the indifference between his thought

of Algeria and what actually is Algeria. In this case the absurd, although

necessary proves to be only secondary as it only serves as a reflector on

what Algeria is. The narrator still choses to love and affirms his happiness
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
with this “wretched” country. His perspective of Algeria overpowers the

absurd feeling towards it as he whole heartedly accepts it flaws. In a this

can be connected to the process of our quest. The ability to accept and

suspends reason and embrace happiness in the same way we have

approach the absurd. His second essays took the same route, midway

through the narration, it was revealed that his urge to go to Tipasa was

under the veil of war;

“Raised above all in spectacle of a beauty that was my only wealth, I had
begun in plenty. The barbed wire came later- I mean tyrannies, war
policing, the time of revolt. We had to cmo to terms with night; the beauty
of daytime was only a memory”72
At this moment the feeling of happiness is still intense despite the

absurd setting, His urge to go back to what once was loved may be an
71
Ibid pg. 168
72
Ibid pg. 164
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 60

implication in which states the same power happiness holds vis a vis with

the absurd. In the previous chapters the absurd embraces man no matter

what, but in here the absurd is used as the supplementary in having the

realization of happiness. Happiness becomes the radiating feeling despite

the absurd existence. the absurd serves as a positive aspect which helps

realization, his saving grace was the absurd. His encounter with the war

makes him realizes that the worst years of our madness the memory of

the sky never left me73. It is what in the end saves me from despair 74. Yet

one must still remember Camus emphasis that the absurd and happiness

relation is a little coin carried back from here has one clear side, the face
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
of a beautiful woman… while the other side, which I feel beneath my

fingers homeward bond has been eaten away 75. s

The Quest for Happiness

One can surpass the feeling of the absurd but still ends up being

totally consumed by it. People who venture into the search for happiness

often fall into the trap of consequentialism. Camus uses the example of

man’s wants to earn money, because of his whole effort are devoted to

73
Memory of the sky refers to the sudden war that happened, this is one of Camus way in
expressing the absurd
74
Camus, Albert, and Philip Malcolm Waller Thody. Lyrical and Critical Essays. New York: Knopf,
1968 pg. 168
75
Justin O’Brian, trans., The Myth of Sisyphus (NewYork: Random House, Inc, 1955) ,pg170
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 61

earning money, happiness is forgotten and the means are taken for the

end.76 The question now is how do we attain happiness, after we have

embraced the absurd reasoning? The answer is simple man must

understand how to be a creator. Going back to the earlier stage of this

chapter I have already previewed what a creator was, now is the time to

reveal how a creator be.

An Absurd man has already learned to live without appeal, the

transcendental is nonexistence as far as Camus is concerned and man

must live a life free from dependence to the unknown. But even if man has

learned the ability to live without appeal, it does not translate that he can
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
live happily, the only gift of living without appeal can give you is the

understanding that the absurd cannot negate you. The quest of happiness

must not be mistaken as desire for a new life, but rather it should be

viewed as a reinterpretation of the absurd, the appetite to seek happiness

is natural and not contrary to the absurd world after all it is just the other

side of dichotomy. The first realization is only forgotten, when one ought to

be surprised that the world seems new only because we have forgotten

it77. The last line was from the “Nuptials” where Camus was savoring the

beauty of the world, and which we can derive a tender feeling of

contentment and happiness. Camus was right when he said that we have
76
Justin O’Brian, trans., The Myth of Sisyphus (NewYork: Random House, Inc, 1955) ,pg76
77
Camus, Albert, and Philip Malcolm Waller Thody. Lyrical and Critical Essays. New York: Knopf,
1968 pg 71
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 62

just forgotten happiness, because of the absurd penetration man has to

reconsider a new outlook in life in which might shift all is accustomed way

of living and thinking. Thus when one learned to live without appeal, one

must also learn to create without appeal 78. To create without appeal is the

new challenge for the absurd men, an independent creation is one step

into attainment of happiness. To create something that is for you and to

understand the world in a perspective that is your own while accepting the

fact this soon will fleet, that is the general sense of happiness.

“To work and to create for “nothing to sculpture in clay, to know that
one’s creation has no future, to see one’s work destroyed in a day while
being aware that fundamentally this has no more importance than
building for centuries-this is the difficult wisdom that absurd thought
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL
sanctions. Performing these two simultaneously, negating on the one
PAGE
hand and magnifying on the other, is the way to open to the absurd
creator”79
To accept that what we create is transient is one way to

understanding happiness, All creation are ephemeral and the creator must

understand it for if not we fall into consequentialism. The end will never

justify means and more importantly the end does not justify anything. The

problem sometimes is that we have objectified the end as a fixed point of

arrival making it the ultimate goal. And that is not the point, materializing

the end is enclosing the experience. It is limiting the freedom of creation 80.

To limit the freedom to create is to go back to an absurd realm, as you

78
Justin O’Brian, trans., The Myth of Sisyphus (NewYork: Random House, Inc, 1955) ,pg 75
79
Ibid pg84
80
One must not confuse the freedom of creation and the freedom referred in chapter 1. The
freedom in chapter one is pertaining to a freedom which desires to unchain oneself from the
bind with the absurd and the unevitable death, however the kind of freedom being referred now
is the freedom to create anything as man realizes that he is unbounded to any appeal.
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 63

surrender to the absurd and let it succumbs you into desperation. To

acknowledge a world without appeal and creation without appeal calls for

a need for a realization of self-ruling, rule yourself. The killing of

transcendental is the killing of god, and the downfall of the transcendental

is to become man again- be a man-god and not a god man 81. Be like

Sisyphus.

The story of Sisyphus may be one of the most well-known story and

one of the most influential work of Camus. “The Myth of Sisyphus” is a

metaphorical essay that Camus used to explain how man can be assumed

as happy. This myth holds the same vital importance for me as it will
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
cement my claim that man is bounded for happiness. However it is not

only Sisyphus who will help me solidify this claim but also the analysis of

Meursault’s life in the Happy Death. To start with let us continue with

Sisyphus. His story is simple yet metaphorical but is obviously in line with

all the Camusian concepts that I have presented. Sisyphus was

condemned by the gods to ceaselessly roll a rock to the top of a mountain,

whence the stone would fall back of its own weight. They (the gods) had

thought with some reason there is no more dreadful punishment than futile

and hopeless labor82. These lines captivate the full essence of Sisyphus’

existence as he was condemned to live an absurd life, and man and

81
Ibid pg 79-80
82
Ibid 88
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 64

Sisyphus are similar, we are condemned of an absurd fate but our

similarity with him does not end here. Both are lovers of this earth when

he has the chance to return to this world, he remembered the beauty of

this world which made him no longer want to go back into the infernal

darkness83, but the gods came for him and snatched him away from his

joy84. The love of Sisyphus for the world depicts the affirmation of the first

realization. The beauty of the world and the happiness that it may bring to

a person is our immediate desire, Sisyphus recognizes this and so he

does put aside the absurd in chase for these things, only for it to be

snatched again by the gods.

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Camus has always contradicted the existence of a transient god in

his works, so why and how does a god have significance in the myth. This

is the beauty in Camus literature, Sisyphus was living in a world with god,

a world with appeal. However after his condemnation we will realize that

he has learnt to live without appeal. Camus is portraying an irony here; in

Sisyphean world he has learned to live without appeal even though he is

genuinely sure of an existence of a god, One still manages to live without

appeal. It is a hard critique of the current society as we have no solid claim

on whether these transcendental beings really exist yet we still find it hard

to live without appeal. If Sisyphus has managed, we also need to conquer

83
Ibid 89
84
Ibid 89
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 65

what he has done. The metaphor for Sisyphus’ absurdity is also more

evoke a compared to ours. He was condemned to roll a rock forever. All

faces the absurd in different intensity; Camus provides Sisyphus the worst

of case to show that even in his state he can manage to create happiness.

He is conscious of his state; however it does not mean that he dwelled in

it. Sisyphus is rebelling against the gods that has condemned him to

suffer, he knows that there is more for him, so even if he acknowledges

the consciousness of an absurd he still chooses to rebel, after all the gods

has no power over him- his rebellion is his own. (This) is what he thinks

during his decent.85 The descent is his moment of contemplation. He

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
realizes:

“For the rest, he knows himself to be the master of his days. At the
subtle moment when man glances backward over his life, Sisyphus
returning toward his rock in that slight pivoting he contemplates that the
series of unrelated action, which becomes his hate, created by him,
combined under his memories eye and soon sealed by his death 86”
Looking back at his life, he was the master of it, no regrets and no

more expectation. He concludes that, all that he is and all that he has is

what corresponds to his world. The absurd is not his enemy, the gods

have no power over him and he knows that the only thing which hinders

him from happiness is himself. His fate is his, and so is the choice to be

happy. All is well according to Camus, but it is not a conclusion served by

85
Ibid 90
86
Ibid pg 91
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 66

the world for Sisyphus, it is a conclusion that Sisyphus has arrived to,

through his discourse with the absurd.

Solitude is an essential point that needs not to be overlooked. The

introduction of this concept completes Camus’ guidelines on how man can

possibly attain happiness. Man’s realization is often mediated by solitude

as it helps man revisit and reinterpret life, the moment of solitude is

necessary as it helps man re-establish its self or sometimes in other cases

destroys his identity.

“Only today did his solitude become real, for only today did he feel bound
to it, and to have accepted that solitude, to know that henceforth he was
master of all his days to come, filled him with melancholy attached to all
87
greatness”
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
Melancholy interpreted in Camusian lenses means, that the loved

object no longer exist and to proceed to demand all libido should be

withdrawn from its attachment88. To know when to let go is the ultimate

value of melancholy. It is the reminder of the beautiful and the good but at

the same time a reality that which speaks of ephemerality of human

experiences, to be reminded of what was loved is decent for Camus, he

actually identifies it as a necessary act as Solitude can bring forth the

moment of lucidity, however one must also recognize how melancholy can

affect the decisiveness of the mind. Melancholy is not sadness for Camus

but rather a moment of being.

87
Richard Howard, trans., A Happy Death(NewYork: Random House, Inc, 1972) ,pg 135
 Emmanuelle Vanborre, The Originality And Complexity Of Albert Camus's
88

Writings (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012). pg70

 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 67

“Find meaning. Distinguish melancholy from sadness. Go out for a walk.

It doesn’t have to be a romantic walk in the park, spring at its most

spectacular moment, flowers and smells and outstanding poetical

imagery smoothly transferring you into another world. It doesn’t have to

be a walk during which you’ll have multiple life epiphanies and discover

meanings no other brain ever managed to encounter. Do not be afraid of

spending quality time by yourself. Find meaning or don’t find meaning but

'steal' some time and give it freely and exclusively to your own self. Opt

for privacy and solitude. That doesn’t make you antisocial or cause you

to reject the rest of the world. But you need to breathe. And you need to

be.”89

However, although melancholy and solitude are necessary to

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
rediscover what life truly is, man must still be careful for he might end up

being swallowed by retrospection. If this case happens a possibility of

despair may enter as he will only view the past as his good reality and all

present is nothing compared.

In Camus’ novel A Happy Death, he takes note of this problem and

showed us the wise way of entering Solitude and melancholy. The

character Patrice same as the other absurd heroes was acquainted with

the absurd, but through the course of his life he has managed to have a

happy death. The course of Patrice’s life was like any other man, repetitive

and dull. His life was actually different from our first absurd hero. Some

may consider Patrice life as better than many other people, yet the absurd
89
Philip Tody, trans., Selected Essays and notebooks (Harmondsworth:Penguin,1970) pg. 143
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 68

realization is not a matter of who lived comfortably or not, but rather a

matter of contentment or fulfillment-this is what initially was lacking in

Patrice’s life. Zagreus whom he killed has all the things that Patrice will

soon have, yet Zagreus deemed his life not worth living. Zagreus proves

the point as he utters “… I’ve been unable to have the experience of

certain happiness, this life which devours me – I won’t have it known it to

the full.”90 Camus has used this as a departure point to acknowledge that

happiness is not concrete in a sense that it cannot be realized in a

material form. However, Camus was being realistic when he recognizes

the advantage of material leverage in the quest for happiness, you see
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
(Meursault), for a man who is well born, being happy is never

complicated91. But it is to be noted that material leverage only serves as

an advantage. As he journey to rekindle his love of life he will realize that

his material gains cannot lead him to a happy death, this realization came

the moment he has undergone the moment of solitude, due to his solitude

he was once again reunited with the feeling of melancholy which helps

him re interpret the life he is taking. Melancholy is neither happiness nor

sadness, rather it is a moment of being, a lucid moment of selfness which

is conscious. This moment of consciousness decides man’s recreation of

what once he loved, what or how man would create his life, which path to

90
Richard Howard, trans., A Happy Death(NewYork: Random House, Inc, 1972) ,pg. 46
91
Ibid pg.43
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 69

take and what meaning to give to man’s only gem. The act of creation is

more necessary factor than anything else; Patrice wanted to hold his life

between his hands… the presence of himself to himself 92. Patrice end was

the happy death, as all that remain is a fate whose outcome alone is fatal.

Outside of that single fatality of death everything, joy or happiness is

liberty. Patrice has exhaust his life to its limit that he came to the point

where he was no longer afraid of death, because death, death is the

sanction given to their life which they have not been involved 93. At this

point we can say that happiness is the stepping stone in man’s completion

of his absurd life.

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92
Ibid pg.83
93
Ibid pg.147
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 70

Chapter 5

Summary

The content of this paper was a reevaluation of Camus philosophy.

While many of the paper’s aspect is heavily rooted in Camus concepts the

paper would sooner transform itself as an alternative toward interpretation

UNIVERSITY
of the absurd life. OF SANTOcontinuous
As the discussion TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL
it may seems like the PAGE

thesis is taking the path which Camus was heading but it is not. The

earlier parts of the paper are essential to establish the points critical in

reevaluating Camus philosophy. The second chapter was focused on

Camus fundamental concepts which are the absurd and its realities, the

discussion of the absurd has been essential as it will also be considered

as one of the basic reality of this paper, furthermore the investigation of its

origin and the understanding of it in the lens of camusian is necessary for

us to be able to stablish basic grounds for claims that will be made in the

conclusion. As the understanding of the absurd goes deeper the

introduction man’s ability to revolt was introduced. This revolt opens up a

new possibility for human life as it can translate into anything from nihilism
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 71

to happiness. Thus in the third chapter, we can see how the thesis uses

the absurd men used by camus as an example of transition from revolt.

However in the latter part of chapter three, we see a problematic scenario

that may lead to nihilism and loss of value, so it has been an importance

for this thesis to prove that camusian happiness is not impossible due to

possibility of absolute nihilism. This threat of nihilism shows threat to my

claim as happiness will only be viewed as a matter for selected few and

not for everybody, thus although Camus has not claimed an establish

ethics, the thesis offers a reason why Camus philosophy is not heading

into a nihilistic path. The fourth chapter is now a complex part where the
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
thesis tries to reevaluate Camus claims, as it reorients itself with the idea

that the absurd was the first realization, rather than agreeing with Camus,

the claim was discarded and introduced the idea that happiness was the

first realization, more than that the ability to perceive happiness is claimed

to be innate and natural among human being. However the thesis still

considers the absurd as important as happiness as it does not negate the

fact that both are two sides of the same coin.

Conclusion

Man is living for happiness and this is what I have been trying to

prove, man in a general sense wants to attain the state of being happy,

but in order to do so one must first understand the philosophy of Camus.

 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 72

The fact that happiness was the first realization ultimately strengthens the

fact that we are compelled to it. To understand man’s immediate focus is

happiness is to see the ability of everyone to find beauty and good in life.

This first realization is the first moment of creation, man’s union with the

world translates into the joy of being alive, and for life itself is a

manifestation of beauty homogenous to the absurd. Because Camus does

not believe in a transcendental god, it is to say that we are an absurd

accident. A question of why to exist rather than not to exist, the moment of

existence presupposes a moment of consciousness and in this

consciousness a necessity of creation, the moment the world and man

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
meets man will realize how fortunate he is to live- thus a moment of

happiness. It is our consciousness that deicdes ro acknowledge what

makes us happy first.

Yet due to man’s inescapable awareness with the absurd he is

deemed to forget, and in the cycle of life it is normal, nothing extra

ordinary in having a dance with the absurd, it is even essential in some

cases at it helps awaken the rational and sensible man with in us, but one

must not consign to oblivion, the absurd reality is not to be lived with but

rather to be lived in. In the daily routine of man it has been a constant

process of absurd and happiness, it is to be affirmed that in day to day

action of man, it is undeniable that the interchanging realization of the two

 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 73

is constant, some might say that the quest for happiness is useless as it is

fleeting, and sometimes can be forgotten but this should not be the case.

Falling into despair is man’s fault, and should not be blamed to

anyone; it is in his complete rationalization that he forgets to reinterpret

the world. The victims of absurd varies, the worker who feeds six children

in minimum salary can be a victim, a professor which is known for his

intellect, a rich business man with everything material luxuries and a

powerful leader, these people can be consumed by the absurd, it does not

choose as it is everywhere, it can penetrate anyone, anytime as it is a

realization only man can defeat-No, not in a conquering way but rather in
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
a battle of passion to live. Being alive does mean living a life, some men

gets cemented in an absurd reality they forget all their capabilities. Why is

there a prosperous person who sees life as unworthy of living yet still

some poor boy who lives in faraway corner of this country enjoys the

exuberance of life? All the answer is in his ability to create, and his

freedom to act. Some men has the ability to create but never had the

freedom to act, they are probably the people who has let the chains of

system control their life. A great young artist who chooses to change

career to pursue a living, a student who tries to study but never

understand learning or a desperate man who surrenders himself to death,

all of them share the same fate, these people lost chance to experience
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 74

the first bliss of life. Everyone has the ability to create, but not everyone

has the realization of man’s freedom. Most of us has learned to live a life

with appeal, afraid and uncertain of what will happen. Yes, there is

uncertainty but one must not be afraid of tomorrow for we all share the

same end which is death. To understand this is to understand the point of

life. For Camus, there is no second chance, no afterlife, no going back.

This is all that we have got and all that there is.

There is no difference between absurd and happiness, it is one with this

world as this world is one with us. The absurd is happiness and the

happiness is the absurd. The joy of one might be absurd of some. The
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
realization of both will not be possible without the other; one will not

identify black if all he has known in his life was black. A beauty of a tulip

can be of great joy for a young lover as it symbolizes his beloved lady, in

the same way this tulip can be an absurd representation of an uncalled

death of a widow’s husband or vice versa. One might say that happiness

is subjective but it is not, it is everything that makes this world worth

living. Material things are essential to live, but created experience this is

what makes us alive. He who has understood the value of life must

understand the necessity of death. For only in this realization one can

embrace the totality of being. This is what Patrice has realized, his

solitude and melancholy was the moment of lucid thought and then the
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 75

quest of happiness follows, but not everyone is a Patrice, fact is many of

us has no luxury like Patrice and yet so we still can be happy.

This is the generation of modern Sisyphus, repetitive, systematic,

monotonous and absurd. Wake up in the morning, eat, go to work, check

out of work, eat, sleep repeat. Our era is a perfect representation of

Camus myth, we are Sisyphus yet we are also not Sisyphus but unlike

Sisyphus most of us are defeated consumed and forgotten, we have

embraced the absurd that we forget the actual possibility of the other side.

To rebel against this is to regain what we thought is rightfully ours.

Happiness is at hand as long as we desires it to be, the repetitive cycle

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
holds details that can help us regain our understanding of our ability to

create. To create in an absurd world is a freedom we must not forget, life

as we know it is an Orobro . We must live for today yesterday will not

count, and future is uncertain.

for creation provides man of overcoming his phantoms and approaching

a little closer to his naked realiy, work may seem to devoid of interrelation
to acertain degree contradictory but reviwed all together they.... from
death, for instance they derive their definition of significance 94
To be happy in this kind of life is to live it trying to create without

expecting anything. To create only for the joy of meaning is like to be able

to direct one’s own story. In his struggle man exhaust his limits, his

creation is not his for he knows the impermanence of life, but then he

realizes that his creation is for him. To know that in you death bed you

94
Ms 85
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 76

have exhausted all your possibilities despite the repetitive world, to be

able to say that I’ve done all I can and to conclude that I have reach all my

possibilities is to conclude a life worthy of existing. Contentment has filled

their hearts ,and one must assume that these people die a happy life. Like

wisdom and sensibility happiness is immanent in man, but what we lack is

awareness. If Elizabeth Gilbert summarizes life and happiness in three

words- Eat, Pray. Love; let I with the help of Camus say my version-Live,

Create, Die.

Recommendation
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE

Happiness is a vital part in the development of man’s life and as

this world continuous to grow even more advance, it is no doubt that the

evolution of human kind and its society will be riding the waves of

modernization. Thus through the course of time factors that will determine

the happiness of man will continuously vary. Due to this case I suggest

further philosophical studies should focus on developing a more in depth

analysis of human psychology in which might able to support my claims.

Furthermore the study of happiness with reference to Camus can be

applied in Philippine context to analyze our identity as a nation when it

comes to our outlook in life. This kind of research will be timely as it was

announced that Philippines placed 5th again on ranking when it comes to

 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 77

positive experience index95. We could also explore the philosophical

implications of psychological researches, the paper could work with

reaserches like those of “Exploring Filipino adolescents’ conception of

happiness” by Jana Patricia Valdez. This thesis might also help interpret

how happiness further affect human growth in relation to their progress in

society which was already presented by Mr. Romulo A. Virola and Ms.

Jessamyn O. Encarnacion.

Living in a new era where the simplicity of life is getting more

complex and complex as new standards for living are being imposed as

society evolves it will be a essential to continuously prove that Camus

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
point can still hold water despite capitalism forming this world into a

materialistic world. And lastly succeeding studies can benefit if they would

not only use pure philosophy in analyzing the matter, it would be essential

if they would take account the contributions of other human sciences and

some statistical data to be further analyzes with the use of Camustian

lenses.

95
Garcia, Pia. CNN Phiippines. july 23, 2015.
http://cnnphilippines.com/lifestyle/2015/03/23/pinoys-among-the-worlds-
happiest.html (accessed March 23, 2016).
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 78

Bibliography

Main sources
Camus, Albert. A Happy Death. Translated by Richard Howard. NewYork:
Random House, 1972.
—. Lyrical and Critical Essays. Edited by Philip Thody. Translated by Ellon
Conroy Kennedy. NewYork: Knopf, 1968.
—. Myth of Sysphus and other essays. New York: Random House inc.,
1955.
—. Selected essays and notebooks. Translated by Philip Thody.
Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1970.
—. Selected Essays And Notebooks. Translated by Philip Thody.
Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1970.
—. The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt. NewYork: Vintage book, 1956.
—. The Stranger. Translated by Richard Howard. NewYork: Random
House, 1973.
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL PAGE
Journal Articles
Baltzer-Jaray, Kimberly. "Absurdism: the second truth of Philosophy."
Journal of camus tudies, 2013.
Gibbons, Andrew. "Like a Stone:A happy death and the search for
Knowledge." Educational Philosophy and Theory, 2013.
Mikics, David, and Robert Zaretsky. "From solitude to Solidarity." Virginia
Quarterly Review, 2013.
Roodt, Vasti, and Isabelle wienand. "Editors introduction: the question of
Happiness." South african journal of philosophy, 2014: 337-338.
Smith, Steven R. "Melancholy and Happiness." South Afrincan Journal of
Philosophy, 2014: 447-458.
Verhoef, Anne H. "Sysphus, Happiness and Transcendence." South
African Journal of philosophy, 2014: 537-546.
Wienand, Isabelle. "Is happiness the supreme good? Some Philosophical
objections." South african Journal of Philosophy, 2014: 395-405

Secondary Sources
Foley, John. Albert Camus; From Absurd to Revolt . Stocksfield: Acumen ,
2008.
Sagi, Abraham. Albert Camus and the Philosophy of the Absurd.
Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2002.
 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS PAGE 79

Vanborre, Emmanuelle. The Originality And Complexity of Albert Camus's

Writtings. NewYork: Palgrave Macmillian, 2012.

Online sources
Garcia, Pia. CNN Phiippines. july 23, 2015.
http://cnnphilippines.com/lifestyle/2015/03/23/pinoys-among-the-worlds-
happiest.html (accessed March 23, 2016).

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