Whether or not Camus was an existentialist is an issue for some people. Some people say he is while others suggest he is an absurdist. Camus, like most people, did not like to be labelled. So why do people want to label him, either as an existentialist or an absurdist?
If it is a matter of filing, or compiling a directory then it’s perfectly reasonable to categorize Camus as an existentialist. His name is often thrown in with other philosophers already labelled existentialists, such as Sartre and Merleau-Ponty. When people think existentialism then often think of Albert Camus, and vice-versa. His work shares many themes with that of recognised existentialist. It is reasonable to assume that people interested in existentialism would be interested in Camus. Labelling Camus an existentialist for directory purposes seems harmless enough. What other reason would you have for wanting to label Camus an existentialist? Let’s have a look at what Camus thought about it and then hear what some commentators have to say.
Camus didn’t consider himself to be an existentialist But then neither did Kierkegaard, Nietzsche or Heidegger consider themselves existentialists. Do we want to label Camus an existentialist against his will? How important is the label writer’s give themselves? Let’s hear some of Camus’ thoughts on the subject:
Is he a existentialist?
“No, I am not an existentialist. Sartre and I are always surprised to see our names linked. We have even thought of publishing a short statement in which the undersigned declare that they have nothing in common with each other and refuse to be held responsible for the debts they might respectively incur. It’s a joke actually. Sartre and I published our books without exception before we had ever met. When we did get to know each other, it was to realise how much we differed. Sartre is an existentialist, and the only book of ideas that I have published, The Myth of Sisyphus, was directed against the so-called existentialist philosophers.”
From An interview with Jeanine Delpech, in Les Nouvelles Littéraires, (1945). Cited in Albert Camus: Lyrical and Critical Essays, Vintage (1970) |
<< back to Camus Thought
|
