Why shouldn’t we commit suicide?
In his Essay the Myth of Sisyphus, the French-Algerian philosopher Albert Camus asks us to contemplate
just this sort of question. Deciding whether or not to commit suicide, Camus thinks, is
‘the only serious philosophical question.’ But why DO people commit suicide?
According to Camus life is absurd, which is to say, it’s meaningless. Humanity exists
in a constant struggle between expectations and reality—between our ideals—and how
things really are. And sometimes we realize this absurdity—all too clearly.
No one particular event triggers this realization. Any mundane or shocking event may disrupt
our everyday ways of thinking.
The instance where the universe reveals its indifference to your particular goals—the
tear in the fabric of our constructed lives—this, for Camus, is the absurd.
To illustrate this point Camus recreates a famous myth.
Sisyphus was condemned to an eternity of rolling a rock up a mountain for his belief that he
was more cunning than the gods. As punishment, the rock would magically fall every time Sisyphus
neared the summit.
Camus claims that like Sisyphus, we’re cut off from a purpose.
Mario may jump over a thousand fireballs and collect all of the umbrellas—but none of
that matters if he never saves Pauline.
Our reality is without a defined end goal.
This is the fate that we are condemed to.
There are a few options when confronted with absurdity. Like Kierkegaard we can interpret
absurdity as part of God’s, larger plan, but for Camus, thinking like this only distracts
us from the world that we actually live in.
Suicide is NEVER the answer. For killing yourself only negates the problem rather than solving it.
So, the answer resides, rather, in chaining ourselves to absurdity—to making conscious
choices to revel in it. Instead of finding solace in the hope of another world—we ought
to revolt against our condemnation and create art that reflects our human condition.
Now as bleak as this may seem, Camus, however proposes an alternate ending to the myth.
As the rock rolls down the mountain, Camus asks that we imagine Sisyphus happy, in this
act Sisyphus revolts and thereby creates meaning in his absurd punishment.
After all it’s the act of creating itself that ought to matter, right?