AP+2015-16+Absurdism

Absurdism’s aim is to show that life has no meaning, a concept that man will be in conflict with, but there is still a means of deriving pleasure from a meaningless world. As one gentleman summarizes, “ Absurdism is the belief that a search for meaning is inherently in conflict with the actual lack of meaning, but that one should both accept this and simultaneously rebel against it by embracing what life has to offer” (Miessler). It is man’s natural instinct to find a purpose for his life. However, absurdism argues that there is no meaning in life. To represent this, absurdist works, such as those of Albert Camus, Eugene Ionesco, Franz Kafka, and Samuel Beckett, often depict characters struggling against impossible situations. The scenarios characters find themselves in tend to be both tragic and humorous. Their attempts to fight back against the meaninglessness of the world always end in disaster However, the characters’ struggle to find a happy end, and the pleasures they often do come across as they attempt to find meaning in the world, bring them pleasure. For instance, Meursault in Camus’ //The Stranger// takes pleasure from sex and smoking, though he holds the world itself in little value. As such, absurdism demonstrates that life can be pleasurable despite being meaningless while exploring the conflict between man’s inherent nature to find purpose and the inherent purposelessness of the universe.
 * __Aim:__ ** Blaire Krakowitz

Works Cited: Miessler, Daniel. "The Difference Between Existentialism, Nihilism, and Absurdism." //Danielmiesslercom.// N.p., 11 Dec. 2014. Web. 07 Nov. 2015.


 * __Audience:__ ** Camille Spendlove



The role that Absurdism is meant to play to the audience is the idea that there is really no meaning in life and that life is in fact chaotic. This conflicts with other ideals that suggest there is meaning or that life and death has no point. Instead, the belief of absurdism is the expression of accepting that life has no meaning. The intent of absurdism, as Muri puts it, is "inducing the audience to reexamine even their most basic assumptions" (Muri 2). The most fundamentally misunderstood part of absurdism is the assumption that since life has no meaning, it is not worth living. The difference between nihilism and absurdism is that instead of a lacking to construct meaning, absurdism is, as defined by Miessler, "one should both accept this and simultaneously rebel against it by embracing what life has to offer." Even though absurdism is grouped together with nihilism by the audience, the essence of the idea is meant to encourage the audience to look beyond set ideals. This belief accomplishes its intent by providing the audience with doubt in set circumstance, allowing for personal progression.

Works Cited: Muri, Brandon. "Waiting for Godot and the Modernist Roots of the Theatre of the Absurd." //Academia.edu//. N.p., N.d. Web. 7 Nov 2015. Miessler, Daniel. "The Difference Between Existentialism, Nihilism, and Absurdism." //Danielmiesslercom//. N.p., 11 Dec. 2014. Web. 07 Nov. 2015.

Though absurdism is a philosophy that has been around for centuries, it did not become fully developed and commonplace until right after World War II. The tragedy and aftermath of this war provided the environment that the absurdist movement needed to flourish. Not only did the value and meaning of life come into question after the immense death counts during the war, but “the global nature of this conflict and the resulting trauma of living under threat of nuclear annihilation put into stark perspective the essential precariousness of human life” (New World Encyclopedia). This event fueled people to question if there was even a meaning to their lives if they could be so easily dispensed. Those who lost friends and family members were depressed, frustrated, and could not see meaning in life. Thus, the absurdist movement came into full swing, largely in the form of theater. Absurdism impacted the people of the mid-20 th century, and thus modern society, by giving them an answer to their questions of existence, that there simply was no meaning to life. Today, absurdism has become a lesser accepted idea; however, had the tragedy of World War II not fueled the absurdist movement, it likely would not have become the philosophy that it is today.
 * __Historical:__ ** Courtney Crawford

"Absurdism." //New World Encyclopedia//, 15 Aug 2012, 15:51 UTC. 8 Nov 2015, 04:06


 * __Cultural:__ ** Natalie Marcantonio



In today’s modern society, every person deals with the conundrum of figuring out what their meaning in life is. However, according to the idea of absurdism, often used by Albert Camus, there is no meaning in life and that people should instead of looking for meaning in their lives rebel against the quest for finding meaning and take whatever life throws at them. This way of thinking often has one of three effects on people, one, thoughts of “suicide due to life being ultimately meaningless” two, people “embracing a meaning framework such as religion or spirituality” or three, people’s “acceptance of the lack of meaning, and living on in spite of it” (Miessler). Typically, people choose how to deal with situations according to the problems they have and how significant those problems are in their lives. For example, if a teen is being bullied at school or on the internet they could go into the thinking of not believing there is a meaning in continuing to live, and then start to have suicidal thoughts. Further, if that teen comes across the idea of absurdism they may become even more confused and feel an even bigger push to committing suicide because they are unable to accept that life, their lives specifically, have no meaning and that they should just embrace their sufferings because that is what life is offering them. However, absurdism is not a well known philosophy in today’s culture, therefore absurdism does not have a major impact on society today.

Wo rks Cited: Miessler, Daniel. "The Difference Between Existentialism, Nihilism, and Absurdism." // Danielmiesslercom // //.// N.p., 11 Dec. 2014. Web. 07 Nov. 2015.