“There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. The answer to this question is not obvious; yet suicide is an admission of defeat.”
Camus opens his essay with this stark pronouncement: given the absurd, why not kill ourselves? But he argues suicide is an evasion, an admission that the absurd defeats us. To live despite the absurd is to maintain dignity and freedom.
He extends this logic: if suicide is wrong, then murder is also unjustifiable. You cannot kill others any more than you can kill yourself on the grounds of meaninglessness. The absurd does not justify violence; it demands restraint and solidarity.
Commentary
Camus opens his essay with this stark pronouncement: given the absurd, why not kill ourselves? But he argues suicide is an evasion, an admission that the absurd defeats us. To live despite the absurd is to maintain dignity and freedom.
He extends this logic: if suicide is wrong, then murder is also unjustifiable. You cannot kill others any more than you can kill yourself on the grounds of meaninglessness. The absurd does not justify violence; it demands restraint and solidarity.