the torn rebel, final essay camus

CAMUSrsquo TORN REBEL (LYRICAL AND) CRITICAL ESSAY ABOUT THE

INNER STRUGGLES OF THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO LIVE AS REBELS

CAMUSrsquo TORN REBEL

(Lyrical and) Critical Essay about the Inner Struggles of those who

Choose to Live as Rebels

Eacutemilie Bevers 3541802

Faculty of Philosophy

PHIL 3306

Dr D Ahern

December 8th 2015

2 CAMUSrsquo TORN REBEL (lyrical and) critical essay about the inner struggle of those who choose to live as rebels

In a cruel cruel society where lsquoour criminals are no longer helpless

children who could plead love as their excuse on the contrary they are adults

and they have a perfect alibi philosophy which can be used for any purpose-

even for transforming murderers into judgesrsquo1 the rebel has to stand up and

say no to what is not right while simultaneously saying yes to an alternative2

Camusrsquo essay lsquoThe Rebelrsquo (or lsquolrsquoHomme Reacutevolteacutersquo) can (very very roughly) be

summarized as such But what does a rebel look like Who are those rebels and

what does one have to do to become one of them Camus has written more than

three hundred pages about them Why is it so difficult to explain how and with

what motives the rebel acts And what is his significance in society If Camus

promotes rebellion how do we explain the following quote

ldquoThus the rebel can never find peace He knows what is good and despite

himself does evilrdquo3

The rebel seems to be torn Torn between doing what he knows is evil

and doing good but knowing the world will not change without him taking

action4 To understand Camusrsquo work it is important to explain the significance

and meaning of some of his key ideas first Early on in the book Camus explains

that to fully understand the motives of rebellion and the way the world works

one needs to accept the idea of lsquothe absurdrsquo5 What does Camus mean by lsquothe

1Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 32Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 133 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 2854 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 2855Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 5



absurdrsquo What does Camus mean by lsquorebellionrsquo And how are those two

concepts linked After having established a clear definition of these key

components of Camusrsquo essay we will discuss and take a better look at the inner

struggles the rebel deals with The struggle between doing what is good and

doing what will make the world better Finally we will discuss Camusrsquo goal in

writing this essay and the significance of his work for society nowadays

What is The Absurd

One of the most important and most complicated theories in Camusrsquo

work is the theory of the absurd The absurd according to Camus is the idea

that there is no higher authority dictating you how to act Life is absurd You

were born not to achieve a goal not to take place into a bigger plan You were

just born A random coincidence of events set you on this stunningly beautiful

fascinating earth that needs to be celebrated But how can love and revolt be

harmonized6 Camus struggles with this thought If life is absurd how can you

stand up against cruelty Shouldnrsquot everything including murder and child

sacrifice be permitted in an absurd world If there is no higher authority who

or what is preventing you from killing other human being7

One of the characters in Camusrsquo The Rebel that struggle with this

thought is Ivan Karamazov out of Dostoevskyrsquos The Brothers Karamazov8 Ivan

places human innocence above divinity and places God on trial9 He rejects God

6Camus Albert Lyrical and critical essays Vintage (2012) 1057Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 58 Dostoyevsky Fyodor The Brothers Karamazov ebookfreedom (1927)9Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 56-57


as the highest authority for if God places truth above the suffering of children

truth is not worth such a price10 Ivan struggles with letting go of God and

meaning in this life All or Nothing Everyone or No One11 Human sacrifice is

one step too close to No One If we allow the sacrifice of one person to get one

step closer to the truth we might as well be letting go of all moral rules But

without values or meaning what remains12 Is everything permitted13

Camus comes up with a solution for this seemingly problematic thought

He argues the same idea of the lsquoabsurdrsquo is preventing you from killing other

beings Killing other human beings would only be permitted if there was in fact

a higher goal to life But for life in itself is absurd killing is impermissible14

To explain how Camus came to his conclusions about the absurd and

what Camus means exactly by lsquothe absurdrsquo we need to go back to the

nineteenth century The nineteenth century was a century marked by two

terrible world wars which took place not very long after each other The

aftermath of these wars continued on for quite some time (and with recent

terrorist attacks fear of new wars will continue on being a part of reality)

These horrible world wars were for a lot of individuals a very scary

demonstration of what humans were capable of under specific circumstances

People began to think about how the world should change and how this

happened Apart from greatly received post-war literature (The Discovery of

10Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 5611Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 5712Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 5713Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 5714Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 58-61



Heaven by Mulish15 The Book Thief by Zuzak16) the rise of jazz and blues music

and the Hells Angels the result of this thinking was that western society

wanted to rethink their thinking17 Where philosophers had until that point in

time mainly been pre-occupied by describing what the essence of human life

was (lsquoCogito ergo sumrsquo18 lsquoOnly with reason can one exceed appearances so the

forms can be knownrsquo19 lsquoThe essence of every human is goodrsquo20) and prescribing

how a lsquogoodrsquo human should live21 now philosophers were not able to let go of

the thought that previous philosophies about humans using their cognitive

potential to make the world a good place did not work22 There was a new

theory needed the theory of the absurd

Camus defines the theory of the absurd as follows23 life has no pre-given

meaning this does however not mean that humans can slaughter one another

Killing your fellow human would in fact deny the principle of the absurd Saying

lsquolife is meaningless and therefore we can kill it without doing something wrongrsquo

would in fact mean the same thing as saying lsquolife is meaningful and therefore

you should life up to a certain goalrsquo Because according to Camus life has no pre-

15 Review The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Hulisch httpwwwcomplete-reviewcomreviewsmulischhheavenhtm (accessed December 6 2015)16 Review The Book Thief by Markus Zuzakhttpwwwtheguardiancombooks2007jan06featuresreviewsguardianreview26 (accessed December 6 2015)17Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 6518 Descartes Reneacute Principia philosophiae apud Ludovicum Elzevirium (1994)19 Bloom Allan David The republic of Plato Basic Books (1991)20 Kant Immanuel Fundamental principles of the metaphysics of morals Courier Corporation (2012)21 Aristotles Nicomachean ethics University of Chicago Press (2011)22Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 923Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 5


given meaning both of these statements make no sense Life is neither

meaningful nor meaningless life has no meaning at all

The Absurd and the Beautiful World

Camus wrote many shorter essays on the relationship between our

absurd existence and this stunningly absurd world Although many of these

essays do not lead to a strong conclusions and part of them doesnrsquot have a

conclusion at all these early essays and thoughts provide a valuable insight in

Camusrsquo thinking process and his view on this world It shines through in most

of his essays that Camus has a broad fascination for the beauty in this world

Even if most of his essays are not about the beauty of the world directly he

mentions terrestrial beauty as a contrast to human suffering in almost all his

essays One of the most illustrative examples can be found in one of Camusrsquo

earlier essays Irony24

ldquoNone of this fits together How very true

A woman you leave behind to go to the movies an old man to whom you

have stopped listening a death that redeemed nothing and then on the other

hand the whole radiance of the world What difference does it make if you accept

everything Here are three destinies different and yet alike

Death for us all but his own death to each After all the sun still warms

our bones for usrdquo

24 Camus Albert Lyrical and critical essays Vintage (2012) 29



Our beautiful world is indifferent of human suffering and irony in human

behaviour The sun will shine on the world will stay radiant no matter what

happens Meaning canrsquot be found in our world because the pre-given meaning

many humans are looking for does not exist Meaning can only be given to life

through human relationships and communication Give meaning to your life by

doing what lies in the essence of every human be a rebel25 Accept no child

sacrifice because there is no possible justification of that child sacrifice

Ivan Karamazov takes his nihilism too far he is torn between

unacceptable suffering and the longing for consistent moral rules26 By

accepting life had no meaning he let his father be killed because his nihilism

leads him to conclude that there are no rules He is tormented between being

virtuous and illogical or being logical and criminal27 He chooses the latter but

he as many rebels would struggles with his decision Is the only possible

consequence of the acceptance of the absurd total nihilism And does this mean

that only two worlds can exist in the human mind the sacred world where

children are sacrificed for the sake of truth and the world of rebellion where

logical criminals can defend themselves by saying life has no meaning Does

rejecting one of those automatically give us the other28

Nihilism

25 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 1826 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 57-5827 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 5828 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 21


In his Science of Logic Hegel argues that things need to reach a state

lsquobeyond finitersquo to become real29 Inspired by Platorsquos idea of forms30 Hegel

accepts the idea of lsquothe absolute knowledgersquo31 the idea that every society acts

as the means to a logical end in nature Every event on this serves a purpose in

the logical self-perfecting whole Because for Hegel the world did no longer

need to find grace or meaning in a divine world32 moral rules about human

behaviour were no longer needed Stirner follows Hegel in saying human power

is the only form of freedom33 According to Stirner everything a human can

make use of is good and everything a human is capable of doing is legitimately

authorised34 The divine world is rejected and the cruel logical world is

accepted

Nietzsche crowning himself as lsquothe first complete nihilist of Europersquo35

took nihilism to a new level After practising methodical negation36 to declare

lsquoGott ist totrsquo37 he asked himself the question if it is possible to live believing in

nothing38 For Nietzsche the answer was yes the world continues on at random

so God is useless for if He exists He wants nothing in particular39 The freedom

29 Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegels science of logic (1969)30 Bloom Allan David The republic of Plato Basic Books (1991)31 Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegels science of logic (1969)32 Drs Nietzshe and Hegel The Antidote to Postmodern Nihilism from Hegel and the Solution httpskenfoldeswordpresscom20150408drs-nietzsche-and-hegel-the-antidote-to-postmodern-nihilism-from-hegel-and-the-solution (assessed on December 6 2015)33 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 6434 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 6435 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 6636 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 6637 lsquoGod is deadrsquo Nietzsche Friedrich Also sprach Zarathustra ein Buch fuumlr alle und keinen Goldmann Verlag (2010)38 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 6639 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 67



getting rid of Gods brings is not an easy one Every violent act of mankind

becomes one we are responsible for There is no justification for human

suffering anymore Freedom can only exist in a world with restrictions

Lawlessness does not lead to freedom but to slavery40 Nietzschersquos nihilism

turns Karamazovrsquos lsquoif nothing is true everything is permittedrsquo into lsquoif nothing is

true nothing is permittedrsquo41

For Camus nihilism cannot be the only possible consequence of the

acceptance of the absurd for all forms of nihilism end in the acceptance of

human suffering Maybe accepting the absurd alone is not enough

What is Rebellion

To get an idea of what other characteristics are needed in order to be a

rebel it is useful to have a closer look at what exactly Camus means by

lsquorebellionrsquo First of all it is important to note Camus is discussing rebellion

primarily as a(n essential) human characteristic and not as an action or

political rebellion What makes this matter confusing (not only to the reader

but to the rebel himself too) is that where political rebellion is often times the

only way for rebels to reach their goals it is also political rebellion that often

times calls for extraordinary measures including human sacrifice and suffering

Ultimately to prevent all unnecessary human suffering human suffering seems

to be unpreventable42

40 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 7141 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 7142 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 286

10

CAMUSrsquo TORN REBEL (lyrical and) critical essay about the inner struggle of those who choose to live as rebels

Camus defines rebellion as the ability and duty of every human being to

identify himself with others and surpass himself43 A rebel does not try to

conquer but rather to impose He is fighting for integrity of the part in his being

that longs so badly for solidarity and fairness in the world44 Rebellion

according to Camus may appear negative because it creates nothing but is in

fact positive It reveals a part of man which must always be defended45 A part

that embodies the essence of love the ability to see beauty and pride not only in

the world but also (and especially) in other people

How does his rebel concerned with the wellbeing of his fellow man deal

with the absurd This question is a difficult one Ivan Karamazov tried to be a

good rebel but when he accepted the absurd the consequences were that he

did not see how in an absurd and non-divine world it could be defended that

not everything would be permitted And as a consequence he let his father be

killed46 Comparably the relationship between idealistic rebellion and practical

rebellion is complicated Idealistic rebellion asks of people to be concerned

with fellow humans and to assure they are not harmed47 Practical rebellion

asks of people to start a political revolution to ensure the world becomes a

better place for all and suffering is completely gone48 Rebellion is not realistic49

and contradictory50 Therefore it is not surprising that the rebel is torn

43 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 1744 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 1845 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 1846 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 7147 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 1748 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 28649 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 1750 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 283



Significance of the Torn Rebel

We established that Camus stated rebellion is contradictory51 and

unrealistic52 The rebel ideally wants to do harm to nobody and stay true to his

beliefs but knows that to establish a significant change in human suffering he

must use political revolution as his tool For political revolution allows human

sacrifice for the greater good to be able to say lsquoyesrsquo to a better world53 a rebel

has to cut the world in two to be able to strike54 To act as a rebel means to give

up your identity as a rebel55 This is the ultimate sacrifice a rebel can deliver

What justifies this sacrifice as a means according to Camus is the end56 A

world in which rebellion is no longer needed And the end than again gets

justified by the means57

Is a world in which rebellion is no longer needed realistic According to

Camus not Rebellion (as art) will die only with the last man58 The goal of the

rebel is not to solve the world it is to confront what is wrong in it59 To realise

other humans of flesh and blood are breathing the same air and marching the

same fields60 To accept earth absurd as she may be in all her glory with all that

lives on it To (try to) be in peace and let others be in peace

51 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 28352 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 1753 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 1354 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 28155 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 28156 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 29257 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 29258 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 30359 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 30560 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 306

12


Further Thoughts

Camusrsquo The Rebel has influenced philosophers for decades after his

death One of the contemporary philosophers he influenced Paul Berman used

Camusrsquo ideas about the world we must say lsquoyesrsquo to even if in extreme cases this

might lead to the sacrifice of onersquos rebellion61 to argue in his book Terror and

Liberalism62 that following the attacks on 911 2001 democracy in the Arab

world and the defeating of Al Qaeda are an essential cause that justifies

invasion of the Arabic world and potential death of thousands The fact Camus

was of inspiration for Berman and others that used his ideas to promote similar

ideologies is concerning Although Camus would certainly have agreed with

Berman that the attacks on the World Trade Centre were tragic and that

rebellion requires us to say lsquonorsquo to the reality in which attacks like this one

happen and lsquoyesrsquo to an alternate one Camus would certainly not have agreed

that the correct response to these attacks was to start bombing Afghanistan If

anything this course of action ended with more violence

Camus has had a lot of influence on Western thinking Especially when

something terrible happens in the Western world (the second world war The

Rebel itself is inspired by the attacks on 911 and who knows people might be

writing about him again after the attacks in Paris) That is when Camus seems

to enter philosophersrsquo minds again This fact leads to a tragic paradox Camus

seems to be reminded only after tragedy strikes For the first edition of his

61 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 28162 Berman Paul Terror and liberalism WW Norton amp Company (2004)



essay only appeared in 1954 eight years after the end of the Second World

War we can safely assume Camus carefully thought about the exact definitions

and nuances of what he wanted to publish One of the reasons it is difficult to

find examples of Camusrsquo rebel in action is that where rationally his theory is

very well thought of and elaborate it is also complicated to get a grip of

Because people come back to Camusrsquo work in times of crisis and terror and

scientifically this is not the best time to be reminded of complex nuanced

elaborate theories63 it is not surprising Camusrsquo essay is not interpreted by all

with all the care and attention it deserves This makes Albert Camus tormented

as a rebel that wanted to do good but conflicted between action and ideology

tragic Camusrsquo goal in writing The Rebel was to explore how rebellion could lead

to a world where man would walk hand in hand fighting injustice Sadly the

interpretation of his works is not fighting it but multiplying it If Dimitri

Karamazovrsquos cry of lsquowhyrsquo will continue to resound64 so will Albert Camusrsquo

63 Isen Alice M On the relationship between affect and creative problem solving Affect creative experience and psychological adjustment 3 (1999) 6964 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 303

14


Bibliography

Aristotles Nicomachean ethics University of Chicago Press 2011

Berman Paul Terror and liberalism WW Norton amp Company 2004

Bloom Allan David The republic of Plato Basic Books 1991

Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage 2012

Descartes Reneacute Principia philosophiae apud Ludovicum Elzevirium 1994

Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegels science of logic 1969

Kant Immanuel Fundamental principles of the metaphysics of morals Courier

Corporation 2012

Isen Alice M On the relationship between affect and creative problem

solving Affect creative experience and psychological adjustment 3



(1999) 69

Nietzsche Friedrich Also sprach Zarathustra ein Buch fuumlr alle und keinen

Goldmann Verlag 2010

Review The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Hulisch

httpwwwcomplete-

reviewcomreviewsmulischhheavenhtm (accessed December 6 2015)

Review The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak

httpwwwtheguardiancombooks2007jan06

featuresreviewsguard

ianreview26 (accessed December 6 2015)

Drs Nietzshe and Hegel The Antidote to Postmodern Nihilism from Hegel and

the Solution

httpskenfoldeswordpresscom20150408drs-

nietzsche-and-hegel-the-antidote-to-postmodern-nihilism-from-hegel-

and-the-solution (assessed on December 6 2015)


In a cruel cruel society where lsquoour criminals are no longer helpless

children who could plead love as their excuse on the contrary they are adults

and they have a perfect alibi philosophy which can be used for any purpose-

even for transforming murderers into judgesrsquo1 the rebel has to stand up and

say no to what is not right while simultaneously saying yes to an alternative2

Camusrsquo essay lsquoThe Rebelrsquo (or lsquolrsquoHomme Reacutevolteacutersquo) can (very very roughly) be

summarized as such But what does a rebel look like Who are those rebels and

what does one have to do to become one of them Camus has written more than

three hundred pages about them Why is it so difficult to explain how and with

what motives the rebel acts And what is his significance in society If Camus

promotes rebellion how do we explain the following quote

ldquoThus the rebel can never find peace He knows what is good and despite

himself does evilrdquo3

The rebel seems to be torn Torn between doing what he knows is evil

and doing good but knowing the world will not change without him taking

action4 To understand Camusrsquo work it is important to explain the significance

and meaning of some of his key ideas first Early on in the book Camus explains

that to fully understand the motives of rebellion and the way the world works

one needs to accept the idea of lsquothe absurdrsquo5 What does Camus mean by lsquothe

1Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 32Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 133 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 2854 Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 2855Camus Albert The rebel An essay on man in revolt Vintage (2012) 5









What is The Absurd


































































































Nihilism













accepted


















What is Rebellion












10










































12


Further Thoughts







































14


Bibliography








Corporation 2012





(1999) 69




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the Solution












What is The Absurd


































































































Nihilism













accepted


















What is Rebellion












10










































12


Further Thoughts







































14


Bibliography








Corporation 2012





(1999) 69




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the Solution























































































Nihilism













accepted


















What is Rebellion












10










































12


Further Thoughts







































14


Bibliography








Corporation 2012





(1999) 69




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the Solution















accepted


















What is Rebellion












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12


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Bibliography








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(1999) 69




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the Solution















What is Rebellion












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Further Thoughts







































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Bibliography








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(1999) 69




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the Solution




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Further Thoughts







































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Bibliography








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(1999) 69




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Further Thoughts







































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Bibliography








Corporation 2012





(1999) 69




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14


Bibliography








Corporation 2012





(1999) 69




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(1999) 69




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the Solution




the torn rebel, final essay camus

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