What is the meaning of life?

There is no meaning.

So what?

Life is absurd because it has no external justification. There is no reason for us to be alive, nor any absolute meaning in our lives. The only remedy for this is to deny the absurdity, which I unfortunately am not stupid enough to be able to do, or to accept and revel in it. Action for the sake of action, living for the sake of living.

What is the meaning of life?

There is no meaning.

So what?

Meaning exists. It is simply an arbitrary value we, as individuals, project onto something cold and unfamiliar. I think that's what Camus was getting at; that absurdity lies in the eternal human struggle to personalise the universe.

Though to be honest I don't see much merit in that label. To constantly title things as absurd is absurd and counterproductive. There's probably a huge evolutionary advantage in our tendency to see things as meaningful - it allows us to prioritise the objects in our surroundings, things we can discard, things we can cherish.

Maybe we cannot escape absurdity, but that does not mean we have to create it, or perpetuate it .

The meaning of what is "an arbitrary value"? If the meaning of dark clouds is that it will rain, that isn't arbitrary. It is the result of observation.

If absurdity is inevitable in all things, isn't it absurd to try to not make it or perpetuate it? If it is inevitable why not strive for the absurd?

Camus posed the question, Why live?

For him, this was the primary question to answer in all of philosophy. I think he has a point. However, while I think his question is very strong, I think the possible answers he suggests are weak.

But living certainly seems absurd with some overarching view of life and death. Religions attempt to provide these views, though for me they are wanting, since they still do not provide the answer to Why live?

Rich

His answer seems to have been, "why not?", on the grounds that there is no point in doing anything, not even committing suicide.

"How do you know there are no reasons and thus no reasons behind those reasons, how do you know that?
Thanks."

" We can escape absurdity. We can choose to be ignorant. "

"However, absurdism carries with it a pessimistic tone."

Technically, there's one way one can escape absurdity; that is to die.

The process of dying is probably absurd...
And depending on how you view death and a possible afterlife, the thereafter may also be absurd! Can you imagine?

Hi there,

Yes, it all seems rather absurd and laughable until I get into piss poor sadness dumps.

Anyway, the way I make sense of it is seeing it as part of a continuum of the soul that is constantly expanding its awareness and evolving through many lives. What is the soul learning? Well, it is kind of like a baby looking into a mirror. The baby is amused at the sight if itself.

Cya,
Rich

i am not sure the baby knows it is looking at itself...isnt that part of the absurdity of it all!

Camus, in his essay, The Myth of Sisyphus, suggests that all is well and to imaging Sisyphus happy in his toils of life. This I feel may suffice for Camus. As for myself, I see a single physical life as just one part of a larger cycle of exploration, learning, and creating. All for the amusement of doing so. Though sometimes it doesn't feel all that amusing - but neither is are games of football or chess. But that is the nature of games.

Rich