1. Quick-Write WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE? What is my purpose here?
Where am I going?
Is life logical and ordered or just random?
Is there life after death?

2. True Story…
It’s January 4, A passenger (one of four) sits in a car being driven by a friend. Going at a relatively high rate of speed, the car (for no apparent reason) veers off the road and hits a tree.

3. True Story (continued)…
The passenger dies instantly; the other 3 walk away. This man was 46. He should have had decades of work, thought, experiences ahead of him.

4. True Story (continued)…
A railroad ticket found in his pocket indicated his being in the car that day was a last minute change of plans.

5. WHAT QUESTIONS ABOUT LIFE DOES THIS STORY RAISE?

6. The passenger was Albert Camus

7. The philosophy of absurdity

8. “The Myth of Sisyphus”

9. 5 Features of Absurdity

10. Prezi on Philosophy

11. 1. CENTRAL CONFLICT
Humans long for immortality but know death is inevitable. Is it hard to imagine yourself dead?

12. 2. MECHANICAL EXISTENCE Humans’ reaction: a mechanical life in denial
Obsessed by the future; miss the present (all they really have)
“Go through motions” as if they will live forever
In reality, life is very short

13. 3. ILLOGICAL RANDOMNESS OF EXISTENCE
The world is not logical and ordered; much of life is random.
Humans seek answers where there are none.
Much of life cannot be explained, so humans become frustrated because they expect things to make sense.

14. 4. HUMANS ARE ALIENATED
Self Others Nature God

15. 5. Solution: Only Hope?...Freedom
Since there is no ultimate victory over death, one has great freedom to act.
Social codes are irrelevant—one must feel what one feels,
Live in the present in solidarity with other humans who share your fate.
Life is worth living because it is finite.

16. ABSURDITY—20TH CENTURY PHILOSOPHY

17. Why would this be popular?
World deprived of illusions (atomic bomb, world wars, holocaust, etc,)
No certainty or hope—all morals collapse—one experience is as good as another
All that counts is the present, the sensual, the concrete (no God)
Life has value if lived to the fullest accepting your fate (death)