ABSTRACT
Albert Camus sees the universe as inherently meaningless, and human existence in it as absurd. He recognizes the common human desire to make sense of the senseless world and our place in it, but this juxtaposition of making sense and senselessness is precisely what renders our existence absurd. Those who can admit their absurdity and give up the need to find a deeper sense of meaning in the world will be free to appreciate life’s experiences, whatever they might be. This kind of freedom is not always easy to bear, though; it comes with anxiety, responsibility, and an inability to rest comfortably in the assurance of some absolute sense of what life adds up to. For this reason, people often flee their absurdity into either the “philosophical suicide” of faith or suicide of the less metaphorical sort. Rather than fleeing an absurd life, Camus advocates the rebellious step of demanding more of it. Thus, death becomes the enemy of the absurd individual who in some ways values quantity more than quality, and this conclusion makes Camus an interesting potential ally of life-extension aficionados. His famous discussion of the myth of Sisyphus further strengthens this connection.
