Papers Gallery

individual knows he cannot win but to do this with grace, wit and compassion gives a sense of mission and to face and accept the Absurd with the true spirit of heroism. Camus in the most paradoxical form affirms that, “I In a nutshell, the purpose of the essay is to portray that the meaningless life does not only take an individual to the conclusion of suicide and self-destruction, instead it at times helps an individual to live the life to the fullest, in a much better way than before. It majorly wants to portray that the acceptance of the Absurd is much more helpful than trying to find temporary ways to hide away.
During the period when he was much concerned about his Absurdist Philosophy, he at many occasions explicitly rejected the label of being an Existentialist. Even in his more mature works that he developed after the Second World War, he if not explicitly then in indirect and implicitly rejected being an existentialist. Through his very famous philosophical essay, Myth of Sisyphus, Camus at many occasions try to make it clear that he is not an existentialist and does not support the existential position. As he states in an interview on 1945,
Camus to reaffirm that he is not an existentialist, he states in an interview in 1945, Camus stood against being called as an existentialist because he believes that existentialism is the philosophical suicide because the existentialists reduce the life of a human being to history, as in an entry in his Carnets from 1946, he wrote, and he also wrote, After the previous discussion about the great existential philosopher’s views on the major themes of existentialism like, individuality, anxiety regarding life and death, authenticity, meaning and absurdity, social criticism and importance of social relations, we are lead to a number of directions, where few insist that it concerns with what is right and what is wrong in the moral chaos of the world, whereas the others claim that living a meaningful life in a world where everybody talk about the purpose has become obscure. Secondly, the threat of non-being i.e., death and life, both the extreme chances and events cause anxiety, which is understood through Heidegger’s Being-in-the-world and Tillich’s Being-Itself. Thirdly, Sartre’s opposition to the concept of bad-faith, i.e., self deception for the temporary relief from the suffering of an individual is an example of authenticity though well explained by Heidegger. Fourthly, the existentialists criticise the social conventions, specially Camus in his works tries to unmask the social conventions, as they are believed to be the expressions of ignorance and the forms of hiding.
Along with Camus, Sartre projects the nature of absurdity in detail as Camus was the prominent figure in the development of the philosophy of absurdity through his works. He holds that life is absurd and the hope to find meaning in life is absurdity. As Roquentin in Nausea, throughout the novel strives to find meaning in life or the meaningful existence. As for Sartre, being-for-itself is nothingness, which he perceived as the source of both absurdity and meaningfulness. As being-for-itself finds it absurd finding meaning or purpose of their existence and gives meaning too their existence. It is paradoxical yet meaningful.
Also in this research, the philosophical positions of Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus will be related to their fictional works within the issues of alienation, isolation, absurdity and meaninglessness. It will further deal with how the issues like alienation and isolation could be dealt, as it becomes the weakness of a person thereby leading the individual towards suicidal tendencies in the works of Albert Camus and bad faith in the works of Jean-Paul Sartre, which temporarily help the individual to escape from the sufferings and difficulties of life. This research will help in understanding that how the issues like alienation and isolation could also be seen in the optimistic light and can lead a person to explore the meaning of life which will help him redefine his existence.
In this present study, a comparative framework will be built at three levels. The dissertation will attempt to track the succession of Dualism, Individuality and Meaning within the fictional works of Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. The first objective of this dissertation aims at understanding existential dualism in the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus through the explication of the key concepts- ‘Being-in-the-World’, ‘Being-in-Itself’, ‘Being-for-Itself’ and ‘Being-for-Others’ – in their selected fictional works. Secondly, the dissertation will attempt to study Individuality through the concepts of Freewill and Freedom and by relating the philosophical positions of Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus within their selected works of fiction. The