Camus' Philosophy Of The Absurd "and Its Creative Practice

Albert Camus (1913-1960) is one of the important representatives of existentialist philosophy and French existentialist literature. Considered as a thinker who gives the most comprehensive and systematic exposition on the Absurd in academic and critical circles, he enriches and develops its theory with his Philosophy of the Absurd about which one can find many typical presentations in his literary works such as in his novels and dramas, especially in his novels.With regard to the Absurd, many philosophers and thinkers, neither have put forward distinct concepts nor have made clear definitions, however, they all have produced relative thoughts and different expositions on it. Among all of these, the statements by Camus in his philosophical informal essays: the Myth of Sisyphus and the Rebel are particularly definite.From the view of Camus, there are four reasons causing human to realize the Absurd: 1. mechanization of everyday life which makes him doubt values and aims of his existence and further the existential states; 2. the recognition that time is a kind of devastating power; 3. the realization that death is inevitable; 4.the feeling that he is abandoned into a aliening world.Camus defines the Absurd as a kind of relations. On one hand, this kind of relations shows as two contradictory factors different in nature breaking up from each other, specifically, the positive, i.e. human' s unanimous strive for harmony, breaking itself from the negative, i.e. separation. On the other, it shows as a link combining the positive with the negative and holding their co-existence. As for the former, it contains 3 levels: the breaking up of human from this world, from others, and from himself. And as for the latter, it conveys human' s pursuit forration and understandability of this world. Combining man himself with this world, he identifies himself and confirms the world' s existence, and thus a relation between human and this world is set up.In his the Myth of Sisyphus, after a systematical exposition on the its coming into being and concept, Camus puts forward that what he pays attention to is human' s attitudes towards it. Towards the absurd, there may exist two attitudes: suicide and revolt. After differentiating physical suicide which makes human eliminate the Absurd with the price of his life from philosophical one which makes human pitch his hope on future and thus gives up struggle in his life, Camus concludes that both of the two attitudes are avoidance in essence and are negated by him. The only attitude approved by Camus is revolt. He sets absurd as the starting point for his philosophical inference. Taking the absurd as his starting point, Camus derives three conclusions: 1. revolt (sober recognition and challenging attitudes); 2. freedom (assumption all by oneself); 3. enthusiam (maximal enjoyment of life). Facing to the absurd, the rebel creates values and meanings with his choice and action by basing himself upon the reality. Employing such four figures as Don Juan, Dramatic Actor, Military Conqueror, and artists, Camus expounds Absurd Man and depicts his attitudes and actions towards the Absurd such as keeping sober understanding about the absurd, not believing in meanings and values, never escaping from actual life, refusing mental comfort, advocating diversity, and pursuing quantitative ethics.The rebellious attitude and the three above-mentioned conclusions from the Absurd provide the answer to the question how human control himself in front of the Absurd. All of them form and develop the theory of revolt. In his the Rebel, Camus affirms rebellious attitude and squares metaphysical revolt from historical revolt. In his opinion, both of the two revolts go on under the lead of some theory that legalizes homicide.Adapting equilibrium, appropriation and harmony as its principles, Camus sets forth Mediterranean thought, and makes it the resource of his theory of revolt. Moreover, his theory of revolt is not immutable but changes from individual' s solitary revolt based on sober realization to collective' s action revolt and at last to appropriate revolt. As two communicative theories in logic, the theory of the Absurd and the theory of revolt organically make up Camus' philosophy of the Absurd.Tentative to comb out and grasp Camus' philosophy of the Absurd, this paper explains his works, aiming to acquire a relatively correct understanding about Camus' philosophy of the Absurd.