The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays

**Title: A Captivating Image**

The image presented here is truly captivating. It shows a scene that immediately draws the viewer's attention. The colors are rich and vibrant, adding to the overall allure. The details are清晰可见, allowing for a closer examination and discovery of hidden elements. The composition is well-balanced, creating a sense of harmony and stability. This image has the power to evoke emotions and spark the imagination. It could be a moment frozen in time, a memory, or a vision of something yet to come. It invites the viewer to step into the画面 and explore its depths. Whether it's the expression on a face, the beauty of a landscape, or the mystery of an object, this image has something to offer everyone. It is a testament to the power of photography to capture and preserve the essence of a moment.

DNF 40% is a significant factor in the game.

It can have a major impact on a player's experience and progress.

For example, it might refer to a 40% chance of success in a certain action, such as upgrading equipment or performing a special skill.

This percentage adds an element of excitement and uncertainty to the game.

Players need to carefully consider their strategies and take risks based on this 40% probability.

Sometimes, a successful outcome with a 40% chance can lead to great rewards and advantages.

On the other hand, a failure can set a player back and require them to重新evaluate their approach.

In conclusion, DNF 40% plays an important role in shaping the gameplay and challenges in the game, making it a crucial aspect for players to understand and manage.

Albert Camus presents a profound and thought-provoking perspective on the fundamental question of life. He believes that the only truly important philosophical problem is suicide. Deciding whether life is worth living or not is the core issue of philosophy. His reasoning is quite straightforward. Given that this is the crucial problem, it is absurd to think further. Why? Because if the answer is "no," all subsequent reasoning becomes null. This is in the context of the daily absurdity. However, Camus also dedicates a chapter to "philosophical suicide." He views this not as a physical death in itself but as a way to get rid of one's consciousness based on regrets. The existentialist, the absurd man, should never have regrets. If he made a mistake in the past, in the future, he will only project the situation with the appropriate correction.

Camus also refers to Kirilov in Dostoevsky's "Demons." The idea in Dostoevsky's novel is given by the suicidal condition. Kirilov feels that God is necessary and must exist, but at the same time, he knows that God does not exist and cannot exist. His reasoning is clear. If God does not exist, Kirilov is God. If Kirilov is God, he must commit suicide. So, "The Myth of Sisyphus" represents the basis of philosophy and the existentialist current. Although Sartre may have his own philosophical terminology, he cannot express ideas as fluently as Camus. Camus clearly defines the principles of existentialism, in contrast to previous currents of thought.

Finally, Camus defines the existentialist as someone who believes that all moralities are based on the idea that an act has consequences that either legitimate or annul it. A mind filled with the idea of the absurd only considers that these consequences should be regarded with serenity. He is willing to pay. In other words, for him, there can be responsibility, but there is no guilt. At most, he will agree to use past experience to base his future actions on it. This makes a distinction between general (or universal) morality and individual morality. In existentialism, individual morality is above universal morality precisely because the latter does not exist.

Likewise, in the unremarkable days of an ordinary life, time is the one that propels us forward. Every day passes, and we are carried along by its current.

However, there always comes a moment when the tables turn, and we have to take charge of time. We tend to live with our eyes fixed on the future, constantly uttering phrases like “tomorrow,” “later on,” “when you have made your way,” or “you will understand when you are old enough.” These words,看似无关紧要, are actually quite significant because, in the end, our existence is finite, and it all boils down to the reality of dying.

One day, a man suddenly realizes or remarks that he is thirty. In that instant, he asserts his youth, but at the same time, he becomes acutely aware of his relationship with time. He recognizes his place within it, understanding that he is at a particular point on a path that he must traverse to its conclusion. He belongs to time, and the horror that grips him makes him face his worst enemy. He had been longing for tomorrow, yet everything within him should rebel against it. This revolt of the flesh is what Camus refers to as the absurd.

Descending a step further, a sense of strangeness infiltrates. We begin to perceive that the world is “dense,” and we become aware of how foreign and unyielding a stone can be to us. We feel the intensity with which nature or a landscape can reject us. At the core of all beauty lies something inhuman. In this very moment, these hills, the softness of the sky, and the outline of these trees lose the illusory meaning that we had imposed upon them. They become more distant than a lost paradise. The primeval hostility of the world confronts us across the ages. For a brief second, we fail to understand it because for centuries, we have only seen in it the images and designs that we had previously attributed to it. Now, we lack the ability to employ that artifice. The world eludes us because it reverts to its true self. The stage scenery that was once masked by habit now reveals its true nature. It distances itself from us. Just as there are days when, beneath the familiar face of a woman, we see the stranger that she was months or years ago, perhaps we will come to desire what suddenly leaves us so alone. But that time has not yet arrived. For now, there is only one thing: the denseness and strangeness of the world, which is the essence of the absurd.

I am clearly not an absurdist, and thus I do not concur with a great deal of what is presented in this book.

Nevertheless, I firmly believe that Camus is a highly talented writer. This small collection of essays has the potential to provide anyone who peruses it with a profound understanding of existentialism and absurdism.

His actual essay on Sisyphus is truly captivating. It neatly builds upon the nihilistic philosophy of Nietzsche in a concise and yet thought-provoking manner.

Camus manages to explore complex themes and ideas in a way that is accessible to a wide range of readers.

Even though I may not agree with all of his viewpoints, I cannot deny the power and beauty of his writing.

This collection serves as a testament to his literary prowess and his ability to engage readers in a deep and meaningful way.

It is a must-read for anyone interested in philosophy, literature, or the human condition.

This edition of the book features 5 additional essays. First, I'll mention them before delving into my review of the title essay from the other edition. In ‘Summer in Algiers’, 23-year-old Camus pens about his hometown, Algiers, Algeria. ‘The Minotaur or The Stop in Oran’ and ‘Return to Tipasa’ are his observations on two other distinct Algerian cities, Oran and Tipasa. These essays are the kind one reads out of curiosity or compulsion when their crush or spouse (respectively) writes. I must admit, I was rather bored reading them. My highlight from these essays is the line in ‘The Minotaur or The Stop in Oran’ where he writes, “There are no more deserts. There are no more islands. Yet there is a need for them. In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion; in order to serve men better, one has to hold them at a distance for a time. But where can one find the solitude necessary to vigour, the deep breath in which the mind collects itself and courage gauges its strength? There remain big cities. Simply, certain conditions are required.” I, like any other lover of solitude, concur with this. Although I have heavily highlighted ‘Helen’s exile’ where Camus writes about the way ancient Greeks enforced limits, the context of this essay is not entirely clear to me. ‘The Artist and his time’, which is an interview of Camus on the life of an artist and politics, is the best of these five essays.

The Myth of Sisyphus

In this essay, Camus introduces the philosophy of absurdism. Absurdism can be defined as the conflict that humans encounter in attempting to find meaning in an inherently meaningless world. Why is this attempt to search for meaning absurd? Camus elucidates it with the position of the “man armed only with a sword attacking a group of machine-guns". The situation of the individual who searches for meaning in the irrational universe is similar. Human nature, bound by its consciousness, desires to give meaning to everything. It strives to seek an absolute. In that endeavor to add meaning to our lives, we tell ourselves stories. It keeps us in the comfort zone. But when we face the absurd, we are stripped bare of all stories. "Seeking what is true is not seeking what is desirable". And here emerges the question of suicide. If nothing has meaning and death terminates everything we do, what's the point in living? Why not kill oneself? Through his intellectual inquiry, Camus concludes that even in a meaningless world and if one doesn't believe in God, suicide is not a legitimate option. Even when none of the experiences ultimately matter, it is the acceptance of the meaninglessness that liberates the absurdist. The absurdist is not preoccupied with finding meaning or creating a story by escaping through the route of faith and hope.

The title of the essay is based on the Greek mythological character Sisyphus, who is condemned for eternity to roll a rock to the top of the hill, only to watch it roll back down. Camus suggests that Sisyphus must be happy. He is the absurd hero because he has accepted that there is no grand purpose to his toil apart from the toil itself.

Another concept that the absurd philosophy discusses is the rejection of an afterlife. For the absurdist operates with what she knows and she is not certain of the afterlife. So instead of hoping to live a glorious afterlife, as many religious texts promote, the absurdist focuses on experiencing the present life to the maximum. How to live life to the maximum? Absurdism suggests having "the greatest quantity of experiences" with the awareness of the fact that nothing matters. One may question that since nothing matters, why bother treading the virtuous path? Camus writes, "Everything is permitted does not mean that nothing is forbidden.” “It does not recommend crime, for this would be childish”. Although the absurd person may not necessarily reject the idea of a Higher Power, she would assert that she can only work within the limits of what she knows and she doesn't know if any Higher Power exists. She is aware that if she persists in living in the hope of a higher meaning, she will miss the experience that the present has to offer.

Camus constructs a beautiful philosophy in this essay, but he doesn't make it easy for the readers to apprehend it. Some paragraphs in this essay have only added to the wrinkles on my face due to prolonged squinting. I've come across two Zen cartoons which I believe are relevant to the context of Camus’ ideas.

Cartoon 1: The Search for Happiness

http://www.chrismadden.co.uk/cartoon-...

Cartoon 2: Zen Pencils: Less is More

https://www.zenpencils.com/comic/69-b...

When going back to school and finishing reading "Sisyphus", we often joke with each other and ask: What kind of music does Sisyphus play? The whole group will grin and shout: "Rock and roll".

Well, "The Myth of Sisyphus" is a story about a young man who tirelessly rolls a boulder up a mountain, then stands and watches it roll down, then wearily descends the mountain, goes to drink a beer, takes a bath, and goes to sleep to regain his strength for the next day to come out and roll that boulder up the mountain again, and then stands and watches it roll down and everything repeats as it did the day before, day after day, month after month. Life is originally absurd, but can labor / struggle / exertion fill the empty heart of an absurd person? Who knows? Being human is like this, just trying to find pleasure in pain.

This story makes us think deeply about the meaning and value of life. Sisyphus' endless task seems meaningless, but perhaps in his repeated efforts, he finds a certain kind of satisfaction and purpose. It also reminds us that in our own lives, even when facing difficult and seemingly endless challenges, we can still find meaning and value in our efforts and struggles.

My reading of the myth of Sisyphus has come to an end, and with it, my long years of depression seem to have lifted somewhat.

I find myself highly considering the idea of building a shrine for Camus in my bedroom.

Camus' exploration of the absurdity of human existence and Sisyphus' eternal struggle have deeply触动 my soul.

It's as if through this reading, I've gained a new perspective on life's hardships and the meaning we can find within them.

The act of building a shrine would be a way for me to honor Camus and his profound insights.

It would serve as a constant reminder that even in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges, we can still find a sense of purpose and dignity.

Perhaps this shrine would become a place of reflection and inspiration for me, a haven where I can retreat and find solace in the words and ideas of Camus.

Who knows what impact this simple act might have on my future journey through life?