Single Idea 6708

[catalogued under 23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 2. Nihilism]

Full Idea

Happiness and the absurd are two sons of the same earth; they are inseparable; it would be a mistake to say that happiness necessarily springs from the absurd discovery; it happens as well that the feeling of the absurd springs from happiness.

Gist of Idea

Happiness and the absurd go together, each leading to the other

Source

Albert Camus (The Myth of Sisyphus [1942], p.110)

Book Reference

Camus,Albert: 'The Myth of Sisyphus', ed/tr. O'Brien,Justin [Penguin 1975], p.110


A Reaction

I'm not sure that I understand this, but I understand the experience of absurdity, and I can see that somehow one feels a bit more alive when one acknowledges the absurdity of it all. Meta-meta-thought is the highest form of human life, I say.