True Freedom

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True Freedom

Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre shared more than a similarity in their conceptualization of the absurdities in this life . These two great offered much in terms of their review of each other 's works with a passion that was uncommon . They also both enjoyed similar passions in life that ranged from writing , reading and the theatre . They have uniquely and aptly tackled the issue of freedom and how it is elusive in a world full of absurdities . To them , true freedom

lies within the ability of man to make individual choices with little regard to the societal expectations , also most importantly , according to Sartre taking responsibility for such choices

The key focus to this would be the views of freedom in the eyes of two important Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre . Special focus will be given to their two greatest works Absurdity and Suicide and Being and Nothing

Camus and Sartre are both faithful adherents of existentialism Existentialism is simply a school of thought in philosophy that posits that human beings should search for their own meanings in life and pursue them instead of following the rules as laid down by a supreme being . It is in line with these thoughts that they both coin their idea of freedom

In his work , Camus understands the elusive nature of freedom . It is inconceivable , individual in nature and cannot be generalized I can experience only my own freedom (pg 4 81

To explain the entanglements that man finds himself in to , he brings the dominant idea in his works absurdity . Human life is absurd . Mankind has for long been trying to understand the nature of the world Humanity is still trying to decipher the various aspects of the world In his work , The Myth of Sisyphus , Camus says that the helplessness that man finds himself in the world evokes a feeling of absurdity , as the world seems quite irrational . This absurdness and the inability of men to understand the ways of the world leaves people with three choices only . He says that a world that can be explained even with reasons is a familiar world . But on the other hand , in universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights , man feels an alien stranger (pg 443

To Camus , suicide is one of the solutions to the absurdities in this life . When one kills himself , it is a form of confession that life has just become intolerable . Through suicide , a person admits categorically that there is a glaring lack of any reason to live . Through suicide , man is accepting the absurdities in life and his inability to comprehend this is seen where he says that suicide , like the leap , is acceptance at its extreme , everything is over (p 443

It is these thoughts that later leads to his conceptualization of what freedom to him is . His views of true freedom are unconventional . It is not in line with the thoughts of the orthodox perspective...