The Myth of Sisyphus The Myth of Sisyphus is a philosophical essay by Albert Camus. It comprises about 119 pages and was published originally in 1942 in French as Le Mythe de Sisyphe; the English translation by Justin O'Brien followed in 1955. In the essay, Camus introduces his philosophy of the absurd: man's futile search for meaning, unity, and clarity in the face of an unintelligible world devoid of God and eternal truths or values. Does the realization of the absurd require suicide? Camus answers: "No. Summary[edit] The essay is dedicated to Pascal Pia and is organized in four chapters and one appendix. Chapter 1: An Absurd Reasoning[edit] Camus undertakes to answer what he considers to be the only question of philosophy that matters: Does the realization of the meaninglessness and absurdity of life necessarily require suicide? He then characterizes a number of philosophies that describe and attempt to deal with this feeling of the absurd, by Heidegger, Jaspers, Shestov, Kierkegaard, and Husserl.
15 Books to Add to Your 2014 Reading List Year-end book lists can sometimes seem like a giant homework assignment you totally forgot about until the week before finals. You meant to read the one that your friend recommended, or the other after your favorite author tweeted about it, but you never had the chance. Try not to think of this 2013's literary wrap-up as something you didn't finish this year. Image: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Molly Horan Molly Horan was an editorial intern at Mashable.
The Rebel (book) Vintage International's 1991 reissue of Anthony Bower's translation of The Rebel. The Rebel (French title: L'Homme révolté) is a 1951 book-length essay by Albert Camus, which treats both the metaphysical and the historical development of rebellion and revolution in societies, especially Western Europe. Camus relates writers and artists as diverse as Epicurus and Lucretius, Marquis de Sade, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Friedrich Nietzsche, Max Stirner, André Breton, and others in an integrated, historical portrait of man in revolt. Examining both rebellion and revolt, which may be seen as the same phenomenon in personal and social frames, Camus examines several 'countercultural' figures and movements from the history of Western thought and art, noting the importance of each in the overall development of revolutionary thought and philosophy. One of Camus' primary arguments in The Rebel concerns the motivation for rebellion and revolution.
Teaching “The Odyssey” at San Quentin The opening of “The Odyssey” describes Odysseus as polytropos, a man “much turned” and “much turning.” He makes much happen, and much happens to him. When I selected “The Odyssey” as the first text for my English 101 course at San Quentin Prison, I worried about the choice. The theme of the course was life as a story, and at the first class, I asked them to tell a story from their own lives. When we first see Odysseus, he is gazing across the sea, weeping for home. Their points of resonance with Odysseus were many. Plotting against the suitors occupying his palace, Odysseus lies awake in doubt, reminding himself, “Bear up, old heart.” They recognized the undisciplined ego from which Odysseus proclaims his identity to the Cyclopes, thus inviting the wrath of Poseidon. Homer never tires of reminding us that when Agamemnon returned home, his wife had betrayed him and conspired in his murder, the better for the reader to appreciate the loyalty of Penelope.
Categories (Aristotle) The text begins with an explication of what is meant by "synonymous," or univocal words, what is meant by "homonymous," or equivocal words, and what is meant by "paronymous," or denominative (sometimes translated "derivative") words. It then divides forms of speech as being: Either simple, without composition or structure, such as "man," "horse," "fights," etc.Or having composition and structure, such as "a man fights," "the horse runs," etc. Only composite forms of speech can be true or false. Next, he distinguishes between what is said "of" a subject and what is "in" a subject. What is said "of" a subject describes the kind of thing that it is as a whole, answering the question "what is it?". Of all the things that exist, Some may be predicated of a subject, but are in no subject; as man may be predicated of James or John, but is not in any subject.Some are in a subject, but cannot be predicated of any subject. A brief explanation (with some alternative translations) is as follows:
The ThinkProgress Year In Culture: The Best -- And Worst -- Books Of 2013 By Alyssa Rosenberg "The ThinkProgress Year In Culture: The Best — And Worst — Books Of 2013" One of the greatest things about being a critic, particularly one who writes about all kinds of media, is just how many good books, television, movies, and music come into the world every year. Lightning Rod: Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg and Nell Scovell: It’s entirely possible to concede every single critique of Lean In–that it’s irrelevant to working-class women, that it ignores the disparate importance of women of color and LGBT women, that it buys into a corporatized feminism that cheers developments like the appointments of GM’s first female CEO while failing to challenge our assumptions about work–and still think it’s a good thing to have more career advice books aimed at women. Most Revealing Non-Fiction: The Skies Belong To Us, By Brendan I. Big Novel: The Flamethrowers, By Rachel Kushner: Kushner’s novel has been the subject of a kerfuffle over sexism and literary criticism.
Existentialism and Humanism Existentialism and Humanism (French: L'existentialisme est un humanisme) is a 1946 philosophical work by Jean-Paul Sartre. It is widely considered one of the defining texts of the Existentialist movement. The book is based on a lecture that Sartre gave at Club Maintenant in Paris, on October 29, 1945, which was also called "Existentialism is a Humanism". Overview[edit] In his essay, Sartre asserts that the key defining concept of existentialism is that the existence of a person is prior to his or her essence. Criticism[edit] The essay has been criticized by philosopher Thomas C. References[edit] Jump up ^ Foundation and Structure of Sartrean Ethics By Thomas C. Sources[edit] Jean-Paul Sartre, L'existentialisme est un Humanisme, Éditions Nagel, Paris, 1946, ISBN 2-07-032913-5 (1996 ed., Gallimard)Jean-Paul Sartre (tr. External links[edit]
Top 10 Classic Books Which May Change Your Life - List Ogre Not all books are created equal, so without further ado here are 10 books which may significantly alter your perception of life. The best Vonnegut book is usually considered to be Slaughterhouse-Five. I agree, but Cat’s Cradle makes you ask all the right questions, like how absurdly powerful weapons today have become, the problems of religion, human stupidity, the futility of everything in the end and so it goes. The story is about a guy named Jonah who is planning on writing a book about Dr. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance This is one of the best philosophy books I have ever read. It’s a book which after reading it you will feel the need to not only try to improve your life but also enjoy it more in general; not many books can claim to do the same. Cosmos by Carl Sagan is one of those books which everyone should read at least once. One Hundred Years of Solitude Its another philosophy book, hidden inside a normal story. Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius
The Sickness Unto Death The Sickness Unto Death (Danish Sygdommen til Døden) is a book written by Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard in 1849 under the pseudonym Anti-Climacus. A work of Christian existentialism, the book is about Kierkegaard's concept of despair, which he equates with the Christian concept of sin, particularly original sin. Summary[edit] Anti-Climacus introduces the book with a reference to Gospel of John 11.4: "This sickness is not unto death." This quotation comes from the story of Lazarus, in which Jesus raises a man from the dead. However, Anti-Climacus raises the question: would not this statement still be true even if Jesus had not raised Lazarus from the dead? To not be in despair is to have reconciled the finite with the infinite, to exist in awareness of one's own self and of God. Relation to other works[edit] The Sickness Unto Death has strong existentialist themes. In popular culture[edit] References[edit] External links[edit] Commentary
19 Quirky Conundrums Only Book Lovers Understand An avid reader is one of the best things a person can be. Not only does reading literature enhance your brain's connectivity (because, science!), it also allows you to experience other cultures, and avoid making embarrassing grammatical errors. There are, however, a handful of irksome situations that book lovers have to face. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. Being and Nothingness Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology (French: L'Être et le néant : Essai d'ontologie phénoménologique), sometimes subtitled A Phenomenological Essay on Ontology, is a 1943 book by philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre.[1] Sartre's main purpose is to assert the individual's existence as prior to the individual's essence. His overriding concern in writing the book was to demonstrate that free will exists.[2] In Sartre's much gloomier account in Being and Nothingness, man is a creature haunted by a vision of "completion", what Sartre calls the ens causa sui, literally "a being that causes itself", which many religions and philosophers identify as God. Born into the material reality of one's body, in a material universe, one finds oneself inserted into being. Consciousness has the ability to conceptualize possibilities, and to make them appear, or to annihilate them. Overview[edit] Part 1, Chapter 1: The origin of negation[edit] Part 1, Chapter 2: Bad faith[edit] Sex[edit] and