Plague is always with us, if what we mean is a susceptibility to sudden death and meaninglessness. Recognizing this absurdity should lead us not to despair but to a softening of the heart, a turning away from judgment and moralizing to joy and gratitude. https://t.co/xbGaNocswy— Phil Oliver (@OSOPHER) March 23, 2020
PHIL 3310. Exploring the philosophical, ethical, spiritual, existential, social, and personal implications of a godless universe, and supporting their study at Middle Tennessee State University & beyond.
Monday, March 23, 2020
Camus's Plague
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I just saved this article. I would love to read up on Camus a bit more. Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteThe last sentence really spoke to me: "He knew, as we do not, that 'everyone has it inside himself, this plague, because no one in the world, no one, is immune.'" Life is unpredictable and ever-changing. It is easy to get comfortable in our lives, but this pandemic is a reminder that every aspect of life can change so quickly. This is true all of the time, but we don't notice it as easily until something as big as a global pandemic hits.
Start with The Myth of Sisyphus. The Plague, obviously. The Rebel. The Stranger. Sarah Bakewell's "At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails"...
DeleteAnd for a contemporary novel (if that's not a bad word now!) that uses Camus's ideas as a backdrop, Richard Powers's "Generosity: An Enhancement"* -- the title comes from Camus's statement “Real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present.”
Delete*https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6346773-generosity?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=3w66ppOD2F&rank=1
Thank you!!
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