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The Myth of Sisyphus

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1942 essay by Albert Camus

For mythology regarding the Greek character Sisyphus, see Sisyphus. For the TV episode, see The Myth of Sisyphus (Fargo).

[[Absurdism]]"},"published":{"wt":"{{plainlist|\n* 1942 ([[Éditions Gallimard]], in French)\n* 1955 ([[Hamish Hamilton]], in English)\n}}"},"media_type":{"wt":"Print"},"pages":{"wt":"185 (''original French edition'')"},"ISBN":{"wt":"0-679-73373-6"},"external_url":{"wt":""}},"i":0}}]}'>The Myth of Sisyphus Cover of the first edition<br>AuthorAlbert CamusOriginal titleLe mythe de SisypheTranslatorJustin O'BrienLanguageFrenchSubjectsExistentialism<br>AbsurdismPublished<br>1942 (Éditions Gallimard, in French)

1955 (Hamish Hamilton, in English)

Publication placeFranceMedia typePrintPages185 (original French edition)ISBN0-679-73373-6<br>The Myth of Sisyphus (French: Le mythe de Sisyphe [lə mit də sizif]) is a 1942 philosophical work by Albert Camus. Influenced by philosophers such as Søren Kierkegaard, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Friedrich Nietzsche, Camus introduces his philosophy of the absurd. The absurd lies in the juxtaposition between the fundamental human need to attribute meaning to life and the "unreasonable silence" of the universe in response.[1] Camus claims that the realization of the absurd does not justify suicide, and instead requires "revolt". He then outlines several approaches to the absurd life. In the final chapter, Camus compares the absurdity of man's life with the situation of Sisyphus, a figure of Greek mythology who was condemned to repeat forever the same meaningless task of pushing a boulder up a mountain, only to see it roll down again just as it nears the top. The essay concludes, "The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."

The work can be seen in relation to other absurdist works by Camus: the novel The Stranger (1942), the plays The Misunderstanding (1942) and Caligula (1944), and especially the essay The Rebel (1951).

History<br>[edit]

Camus began the work in 1940, during the Fall of France, when millions of refugees fled from advancing German armies. While the essay rarely refers to this event, Robert Zaretsky argues that the event prompted his ideas of the absurd. He claims that both a banal event and something as intense as a German invasion will prompt someone to ask "why?" [2] The essay was published in French in 1942.

The English translation by Justin O'Brien was first published in 1955. Included in the translated version is a preface written by Camus while in Paris in 1955. Here Camus states that "even if one does not believe in God, suicide is not legitimate".[3]

Philosophical context<br>[edit]

Camus wrote The Myth of Sisyphus against the backdrop of early twentieth-century European philosophy, particularly existentialism and phenomenology. Although often grouped with existentialist thinkers, Camus consistently rejected the existentialist label, insisting that his philosophy of the absurd was distinct from both Kierkegaard's leap of faith and Heidegger's ontology of Being. Instead, Camus argued that the confrontation between humanity's "appetite for meaning" and the universe's "unreasonable silence" constituted the absurd, which must be lived with clarity rather than resolved by appeal to transcendence.[4][5]

Scholars note that Camus diverged sharply from Soren Kierkegaard and Lev Shestov, who posited that faith provided the only way beyond despair. Camus considered such responses forms of "philosophical suicide," since they abandon reason in favor of religious or metaphysical hope.[6] Similarly, he critiqued Husserlian phenomenology and Hegelian rationalism for elevating reason into abstract systems that obscure the absurd rather than confront it directly.[7]

Commentators have also situated Camus in dialogue with Friedrich Nietzsche. While Nietzsche's notion of eternal recurrence and affirmation of life informed Camus's emphasis on revolt and freedom, Camus rejected Nietzsche's metaphysical implications and instead grounded his thought in the lived experience of the absurd.[8][9]

In later interpretations, philosophers such as Thomas Nagel and Ronald Aronson have highlighted how Camus's concept of the absurd continues to shape debates in existential ethics, modern humanism, and the philosophy of meaning.[10][11]

Summary<br>[edit]

The essay is dedicated to Pascal Pia and is organized in four chapters and one...