Albert Camus and the Political Philosophy of the Absurd

Compared to the unmistakable impact of absurd theatre, literature, and art on

contemporary European and American cultures, the philosophy, morality, and politics

of the absurd have remained relatively obscure. Few interpretations of Albert Camus'

philosophical contribution have successfully defined the meaning of absurdity, its

components and dynamics, or its moral and political consequences. This dissertation

attempts to clarify these areas of absurd thought by applying the logic of ambivalence

to Camus' philosophy of the absurd, revealing its compelling diagnosis of extremism

and indifference, its experiential grounding for post-traditional values, and its unique

appeal for moral and political maturity.

After reviewing the recent history of the concept of absurdity in Nietzsche,

Kierkegaard, Sartre, Nagel, and elsewhere (Chapter 2), I offer detailed analyses of

Camus' absurd and the contributions of his scholarly critics (Chapter 3). I introduce

the concept of ambivalence in the work of Eugen Bleuler, Sigmund Freud, Melanie

Klein, Otto Kernberg, and relevant sociological and political researchers (Chapter 4)

to argue that the absurd is best understood not in skeptical or existential terms, but as

an ambivalent ‘position' with respect to countervailing desires, primarily a desire for

unity and a kind of principium individuationis (Chapter 5). These ambivalent desires

are