Albert Camus : from the absurd to revolt

346 Pages·2008·2.91 MB·English

by  Camus

ALBERT CAMUS
Albert Camus
From the Absurd to Revolt
John Foley
First published 2008 by Acumen
Published 2014 by Routledge
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© John Foley 2008
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For my mother and for Farah
It may be that the ideal of freedom to choose ends without claiming eternal validity for them, and the
pluralism of values connected with this, is only the late fruit of our declining capitalist civilization: an
ideal which remote ages and primitive societies have not recognized, and one which posterity will regard
with curiosity, even sympathy, but little comprehension. This may be so; but no sceptical conclusions
seem to me to follow. Principles are not less sacred because their duration cannot be guaranteed. Indeed,
the very desire for guarantees that our values are eternal and secure in some objective heaven is perhaps
only a craving for the certainties of childhood or the absolute values of our primitive past. “To realise the
relative validity of one’s convictions,” said an admirable writer of our time, “and yet stand for them
unflinchingly, is what distinguishes a civilised man from a barbarian.” To demand more than this is
perhaps a deep and incurable metaphysical need; but to allow it to determine one’s practice is a symptom
of an equally deep, and more dangerous, moral and political immaturity.
Isaiah Berlin, “Two Concepts of Liberty” (1958)
Contents
Acknowledgements
Notes on the text and abbreviations
Introduction
1 The absurd
The Myth of Sisyphus
The Outsider
Caligula
Between nihilism and hope
2 Camus and Combat
Camusian rebellion and political engagement
Letters to a German Friend
Camus and Combat
"Neither Victims nor Executioners"
The Plague
3 The Rebel
Introduction
Metaphysical rebellion
Historical rebellion
Hegel
Marx, history and state terrorism
Unity and totality
4 Camus and political violence
The scrupulous assassin
"Reflections on the Guillotine"
5 Camus and Sartre
The "revolted soul"
"Hostile to history"
"Freedom without brakes"
Camus and Sartre on violence
6 Camus and Algeria
A new Mediterranean culture
A civilian truce
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index