Philippine E-Journals

Camus on a Disquietude That Cannot Be Distilled!

Robert C. Trundle Jr.

Discipline: Philosophy, Religion

 

Abstract:

Camus's apparent flirtation with Catholicism is rooted in his notion of absurdity. Paradoxically, an absurdity of existence both unites us to the world and alienates us from it. Whereas the alienation was avoided by a traditional philosophy that improperly imposed reason on reality, ultimate reality was construed by religion as a God who passes understanding. And though limitations on understanding are embodied by such things as a paradox of Christ who is both man and not man, Camus's profound insights on man's absurd condition may have been remiss because he imposed an understanding of rational philosophy on religion.