Camus is Absurd

I see that many of you are unhappy with my portrayal of Camus as an existentialist, especially in the same sentence as calling Sartre an existentialist. Both men were friends for many years and developed their theories not in a vacuum, but by bouncing them off the other. At some point the two had a falling out over some trivial matter which eventually ended their little get-togethers and their friendship. The two liked to talk about how they were no longer friends with the other and how completely different their views were. At was at this point in his life that Camus denounced the idea that he was an existentialist, instead calling himself an absurdist, stating that all of his works had been illustrating the absurd nature of existence, *cough* existentialism *cough*.

The schism between Sartre and Camus came down to their view on solidarity in the human condition. Sartre thought it would lead to oppression and Camus thought that it would protect against oppression. Of course, both men were right. Their difference in thought on this topic came out of their life experiences and in many ways came down to the fact that Camus played football (soccer for all you Americans) and felt and enjoyed a real sense of camaraderie from it, while Sartre was the more intellectual type.These views would be manifested in both men's fight against the Nazis during World War II, and Camus' involvement with various Algerian causes.

When one reads the articles and statements by Camus and Sartre about their break-up, it is first evident that both men were intelligent and very articulate, perhaps too much so. This thought is closely followed by the idea that "the philosopher doth protest too much". I put forth that this whole falling out was really a very cleverly crafted public relations coup. How else could you get the press to talk about existentialism/absurdism/whateverism, even in France? Why you have a noted scholar and a Nobel Laureate have a falling out. Both men essentially hold press conferences to say they are no long agreeing with the other man.

I think that if Albert Camus had not died so tragically at such a young age, we would have continued to see this "discussion" between Sartre and he. I think it would very likely have become a modern-day Socratic dialogue.

Camus claimed that the nature of Absurdism was that it looked at and embraced the inherent paradox of existence, you know, like how you can become more of an existentialist by arguing that you are not one.