Albert Camus | The Myth of Sisyphus (part 1) | Existentialist Philosophy & Literature

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  • Опубликовано: 14 окт 2012
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    In this first of three videos devoted to Albert Camus' essay "The Myth of Sisyphus," we examine Camus' early Existentialist philosophy of the absurd. We start with his guiding question: suicide -- yes or no? -- and delve into what he means by the absurd in order to arrive at an answer. We elaborate the different occasions or occurrences of absurdity experienced by human beings -- and work out Camus' triad of absurdity: human being, world, and the discordance between them
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Комментарии • 257

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад +165

    You know, I'm getting a lot of comments from people who are in the same boat, more or less -- they want to study philosophy, but for one reason or another they're not able to got to college/university -- either at all or at the time.
    So, there's a pretty serious desire out there, among a lot of people, to not only read and study philosophy, but to do so in some way kinda like what occurs in college/university.
    I've got to say that, on my end, that's pretty cool to see

    • @tbillyjoeroth
      @tbillyjoeroth Год назад +1

      You're filling a need. Many thanks!

    • @tbillyjoeroth
      @tbillyjoeroth Год назад

      Dr Sugrue did a lot of lectures about philosophy several decades ago, even prior to You Tube, and uploaded them. He also did a series about the Bible. He had health problems but is back on RUclips again.

  • @NinthCinemaDown
    @NinthCinemaDown 9 лет назад +103

    This video was suggested after my most recent song about Sisyphus, and holy crap, your channel is EXACTLY what I have been looking for - intellectually satisfying philosophy videos by someone who doesn't live in a bubble of musty sweaters and dusty armchairs. A RUclips channel of someone who understands what youtube is good for, the modern day, and even modern politics, and doesn't let that dumb down the subject being dealt with or let the subject being dealt with become too divorced from a modern audience. I didn't understand just how well you introduced the problem until the absolutely brilliant summation in the last ten minutes. The sociopolitical implications of different ways of dealing with "the absurd" is exactly what I was trying to get at in my book, Void. I will now add your channel to my list of videos to devour like I do with certain TED videos, which are also great in similar respects. As an aside, I think you may find it amusing to know you remind me a bit of Christian Bale, were he playing the part of a professor. Keep this channel going, and if you don't have a video about Schopenhauer yet, please make one. Thank you for doing this for everyone to see on RUclips.

    • @GregoryBSadler
      @GregoryBSadler  9 лет назад +19

      Thanks for the very nice -- and concrete -- evaluation here! Looks like an interesting book over on your channel.
      So. . . Schopenhauer. . . eventually. . . .

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад +48

    Camus is an avowed atheist, like some other Existentialists like Sartre, De Beauvoir, Nietzsche. He criticizes theistic Existentialists like Kierkegaard or Shestov.
    I'm not sure how there's confusion about this. If one is an Atheist, that doesn't mean that every single thing the person says comes out of or is an expression of atheism.

  • @ekstrajohn
    @ekstrajohn 7 лет назад +40

    Discovering the works of Camus made me feel not alone in the world, while watching your videos has a greater effect than months of psychotherapy.

    • @GregoryBSadler
      @GregoryBSadler  7 лет назад +4

      Glad that both of those have been so helpful for you!
      You might also check this out, along those lines - reasonio.wordpress.com/philosophical-counseling/

    • @user-pd1yr5ou2w
      @user-pd1yr5ou2w 5 лет назад +1

      "What counts is not the best living but the most living."

    • @Wojoood
      @Wojoood 3 года назад

      I agree with this comment so much. Reading this book I would say touched my heart not just my brain. I never cried this much reading a non- fiction book. I just felt less lonely and that there is another human out there who gets my views about this purposeless world. This also scares me as it makes me wonder how much of my believes and views are based on emotions rather than logic.

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад +21

    Glad you find the videos useful.
    I'm not a Camus follower myself -- when I teach anyone's works, I attempt to present their position as fully as possible, in such a way as to make it a plausible way to see things

    • @lorenzosimao6259
      @lorenzosimao6259 Месяц назад

      Hey professor, i loved your lecture very useful, why dont you subscribe to his ideas?

    • @GregoryBSadler
      @GregoryBSadler  Месяц назад

      @@lorenzosimao6259 Good question for an AMA, perhaps not as a comment on a comment from 11 years ago

    • @lorenzosimao6259
      @lorenzosimao6259 Месяц назад

      @@GregoryBSadler ill be on the lookout for that AMA

    • @lorenzosimao6259
      @lorenzosimao6259 Месяц назад

      @@GregoryBSadler found on your website your next AMA will be july 6th 12pm-1:30pm. I will be there if im able to find where this will take place

    • @GregoryBSadler
      @GregoryBSadler  Месяц назад +1

      @@lorenzosimao6259 We do them every month. Announced ahead of time in my social media, monthly update video, and on my ReasonIO events calendar

  • @annieevolve2716
    @annieevolve2716 10 лет назад +15

    Gregory, thankyou for your generous gesture of making Philosophy accessible to all.
    Loved this series on Sisyphus. Understanding more of the themes has benefitted me greatly- thankyou.
    I really appreciate your energy and effort in putting together this fabulous resource.
    Cheers!:) Annie

    • @GregoryBSadler
      @GregoryBSadler  10 лет назад

      You're very welcome. Glad the series has been helpful. In the next few months, I'm going to be shooting some additional Camus-related videos for my Existentialism playlist

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад +5

    I certainly have -- one of my first contacts with existentialism, back in high school -- one off the works that made me want to read more from and know more about Camus.
    I'll be devoting a lecture to The Stranger in the next month or so -- but I'll be concentrating even more (with multiple lectures) on The Plague, The Rebel, and maybe even Camus' Notebooks

  • @mirovitch2000
    @mirovitch2000 9 лет назад +22

    It's worth noting that Sisyphus couldn't commit suicide or rely on illusion of an after life because he condemned to eternal futile labor. He had no choice but to accept his fate. We human can choose to commit suicide. If there's no go or afterlife, death is simply a painless non existence. From that point of view, death is not the problem, life is. We are all condemned to life. Suicide is end of all suffering.

    • @GregoryBSadler
      @GregoryBSadler  9 лет назад +8

      Yes, I suspect that Camus actually knew his mythology. . . so. . . that might just be off-point

    • @xeno126
      @xeno126 8 лет назад +3

      +Mir Haque If Sisyphus could accept his life, regardless of whether he can die or not, why can't we?

    • @yasha12isreal
      @yasha12isreal 7 лет назад +2

      Ken Dew you must be a Christian or something, huh?

    • @johnmiller7453
      @johnmiller7453 7 лет назад

      Amen Mir. It's our one Ace in the hole. Other than that we got nothing.

    • @Vooodooolicious
      @Vooodooolicious 27 дней назад

      This is a nihilistic and negative view of life. Yes, there is a negative side to life and there is suffering. But it is one side and it is not all of life.

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад +3

    Glad it was useful for you -- there's two other vids specifically on the Mtyh of Sisyphus

  • @AjLongsPiano
    @AjLongsPiano 7 лет назад +3

    Great video, Dr. Sadler. Thanks so much for posting these for us.
    Best,
    AJ

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад

    You're very welcome. I'm going to keep on with shooting and uploading free videos for a long time, I think (lots of stuff to shoot videos on) -- though you notice I do allow the ads.
    We're also in the process of putting together online courses that these videos are going to be components of. The "bare bones" class, which will have materials to go along with the videos, for self-study, will be free. The more intensive and instructor-interactive levels are going to be pay, but not expensive

  • @ismokereefer
    @ismokereefer 11 лет назад +2

    Your lectures are lucid, understandable and informative. Thanks a lot for doing all of this for free.

  • @yasha12isreal
    @yasha12isreal 6 лет назад +4

    20:33 I absolutely love that quote. When I was reading The Myth of Sisyphus that line stood out the most to me 😊

  • @DrugStabbingTime
    @DrugStabbingTime 5 лет назад

    These three videos make me feel closest to what I call the naked crises: the rush of nihilism, the Absurd, and existentialist angst/anxiety. Oddly enough, I've always wanted to experience these again in my lifetime and your elucidating, expounding and explicating of these kinds of philosophy, makes this the closest I've ever come! Thank you, professor!

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад

    new video in the Existentialist Philosophy and Literature sequence -- part 1 available as well: ruclips.net/video/_js06RG0n3c/видео.html

  • @TheFirstBlackEmoKid
    @TheFirstBlackEmoKid 11 лет назад

    Oh my, this is an excellent channel. I've always been meaning to get into philosophy. Your channel looks like it has a wealth of information; I don't know where to begin.

  • @mezamax93
    @mezamax93 6 лет назад

    Great video, I appreciate your concise and lucid explanations. Thanks for the post!

  • @cianoregan347
    @cianoregan347 6 лет назад +1

    Gregory, Fantastic video ! You have a brilliant way of presenting Camus's idea's! I applaud you good sir.

  • @datz8926
    @datz8926 4 года назад

    How did it take me 3-4 years of being interested in philosophy on RUclips to find this channel, what a gem this is!

  • @tl9074
    @tl9074 11 лет назад +1

    Thank you for these helpful presentations, it really helps me to better understand what my English teachers are trying to convey.

  • @brunof.m3170
    @brunof.m3170 6 лет назад +3

    I am reading the book now and that is a really great video, thanks for the good work, from Brazil. :)

  • @GS-lp2up
    @GS-lp2up 3 года назад +1

    Excellent video, discussion on one of my favorite philosophers and one of my favorite books!

  • @victortheboss1474
    @victortheboss1474 4 года назад

    Hi, I really admire what you do! Your are helping many, just like my self, to get a better understanding of profound and philosophical books that not everyone can completely grasp. And in this case you’ve enormously help me clear Camus philosophy more that I woulda ever done alone. So I wanna thank you for this, and also ask you if you were planning on also doing any analysis on The Rebel, a book thar I find a hard time to get my head around to! And I’m sure you would’ve be able to help many with this masterpiece ! :)

    • @GregoryBSadler
      @GregoryBSadler  4 года назад

      Glad you enjoyed the video. The Rebel? Eventually

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад

    Given how many people there are on the internet, that's really high praise! Thanks!

  • @lukedmoss
    @lukedmoss 3 года назад +1

    Thank you for sharing this friendly and enlightening talk

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  10 лет назад +2

    You're welcome -- glad it was helpful

  • @flywheelshyster
    @flywheelshyster 9 лет назад +2

    I would like to thank you for this and all your videos which i'll be engaging now that I have discovered it. I had never read much existentialism other than the literary likes of Doestovesky, pardon the sure misspelling, Kafka and my favorite author, Camus. At the age of 17, when my brother was in college getting BA in philosophy, I experienced something for years i couldn't describe. When I read Camus' fictional works, I found a common thread. This experience took many turns, from its first exuberance (from a depression i had felt since puberty, roughly at age 10, which i would finally realize is definitely a chemical imbalance that we call bipolarism of the second type) to a loss that lead first to drug addiction then a suicide which i survived (attempt is such a sickly word to describe a full fledged decision). In and out of college for ten years, nearing my end of drug addiction with the occasional, functional, but still detrimental crystal meth (my last drug of choice, which it indeed is) I find myself looming back to my academic roots (I lack three electives and two spanish classes for my BA from GSU, unable to finish what is basically a semester due to the incredible rising cost of higher education) I am poet first, it often seems, and a man second. The absurd is something very real to me and very hard to cope with it but simultaneously lights a fire to an engine that means to learn, to engage, to discover, and hopefully one day to an acceptance (if not happiness, which is a feeling i have rarely felt in life) of this, my existence. I cannot wait to finish this series on Camus, go back and watch the entirety of Existentialism, and then go back and watch all of your lectures from day one. You and others such as you, not just teachers or professors but other artist, writers, and musicians, poets and brothers and sisters and information, data if you will, you inspire me. You help me say, this action of smoking meth is bullocks (as our cousins across the sea would say) and help a barely lit passion begin to burn. I must go forward. Thank you. All peace always amig@, aaron.

    • @GregoryBSadler
      @GregoryBSadler  9 лет назад

      Flywheel Shyster You're very welcome! I'm glad that the videos could be useful for you in working on your own life. That's less due to the videos, though, and more to the works the videos are about.
      That strikes me as as very good way to use the experience of the absurd

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад +1

    Good -- glad to hear it!

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад

    You're very welcome. Glad the videos are a useful source for you

  • @BERE198
    @BERE198 10 лет назад

    I've red this several years ago and now I noticed I missed a few points, I am grateful for this video.

  • @nyxdoc2801
    @nyxdoc2801 11 лет назад

    Hi Greg,
    Just wanted to thank you for taking the time and educating us. I am a physician and practice emergency medicine. I am faced with suffering and death many times per day and for 22 years...... I see the obsurdity of life and pondered the question of why so much pain and suffering ! You have added a new and different perspective ...... Not sure if a better one or not, nonetheless a new one...... Keep educating and I am sure we will benefit.. Best wishes.

  • @rashidmohdamin8324
    @rashidmohdamin8324 6 лет назад

    Great video, Dr. Sadler. Thanks so much

  • @nobitaification
    @nobitaification 11 лет назад

    I just want to say thank you for doing this lesson sir. I've been wanting to learn about Camus and your video help me a great deal.

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад +5

    new video in the ongoing Existentialist Philosophy and Literature series

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад +1

    I'm very glad that it has helped you out with learning about Camus -- a guy I've always liked, though not necessarily agreed with

  • @charlesring9579
    @charlesring9579 3 года назад +1

    Amazing, you’re really good educator in many ways. You make me pick up a New thought every time. Very entertaining aswell. Never really felt like Reading Camus, dont know why, untill I watched this, so thank you cause I have a new favorite!

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад +1

    That's a good librarian. Glad you had someone like that to suggest Camus to you!

  • @sinky187
    @sinky187 Год назад

    This lecture is so clear and helpful. I am so grateful that you give these for people like myself.

  • @OldFlatTopp
    @OldFlatTopp 6 лет назад

    Thank you so much for this video! Really enjoyed it.

  • @limjim92
    @limjim92 11 лет назад +1

    Excellent lecture, thank you! The Myth of Sisyphus is a very dense read that I've been struggling with so I appreciate your insights and look forward to checking out other lectures in your series.

  • @philipcarpenter6718
    @philipcarpenter6718 11 лет назад

    Well, this Carpenter from NY thanks you. I'm not sure what your goal is in making these but I hope you continue to make these high quality videos (no, I don't mean resolution but content).
    Gotta go to bed. Have a great weekend.

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад

    Thanks! -- well, I guess it depends on what you want to get into first. I'd suggest looking at the available playlists and seeing which ones draw you most

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад

    You're very welcome. As to how technical they are -- I'm not a particularly of judge of my own work. Some viewers seem to think they're not overly technical, but it's hard for me to say.

  • @el-mehdibenchaib9950
    @el-mehdibenchaib9950 7 лет назад +1

    Thanks for the video, it helps me to understand the book and the idea of absurdity of life.

  • @TheLordmewtwo
    @TheLordmewtwo Год назад

    I love your voice. It's how the fatherly voice in my head sounds like now. I first watched your videos 8 years ago.

  • @RationalTheist4
    @RationalTheist4 11 лет назад +1

    Yeah i read it my freshman year! the librarian noticed i checked out many of the books in the humanities section so she recommended this books I enjoyed it!

  • @IgnerantOne
    @IgnerantOne 11 лет назад

    A very illuminating presentation. Thank you.

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад

    Very sorry to hear that -- you might try taking one with a different instructor, different texts, sometime down the line. There's good reasons why people have been drawn into philosophy throughout the ages.
    But, I see this quite often, that someone gets turned off from philosophy as a whole because of the representatives of the discipline which they get stuck with -- and then see as typical of the discipline

  • @thedevelopmentproject5686
    @thedevelopmentproject5686 7 месяцев назад

    Wow. Thank you for this.
    Recently I came to the conclusion (via my own independent thinking, w/ no aid of a spiritual teacher nor philosopher), that there are only two options one has when they enter this world: 1) commit suicide, or 2) live.
    I had no idea that this very view on things has been thought through by a philosopher, or any other human (although I of course suspected it had, as it seems glaringly obvious to me).
    All that to say - I am comforted to see this view being addressed in this lecture, and to discover that other humans too have realized this “absurd” human predicament we all face.
    I feel less alone now.
    Thank you again.

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад +2

    I would say that at bottom, I'm a Christian Platonist -- which would make my stance more like that of Gabriel Marcel, along the various existentialists, than Camus (who I do like better, though, than Sartre).
    When you get down to it, though, I do draw quite a bit from the Aristotelian tradition, from the Stoic tradition, and from the Existentialists (even some of the atheists, in part)

  • @gv3870
    @gv3870 2 года назад +1

    Thank you so much for putting the efforts Professor. Your videos help me a lot. Great...great channel. Much needed. Regards from India. 🙏

  • @ayou55
    @ayou55 11 лет назад

    Hello Dr Sadler, I just found out about your channel, And I love philosophy so much .. Hope your lectures arent too technical, I am only a high school Maths student, from a little country of the third world called Morocco .. Anyway, All I wanted to do is to thank you, so thanks :)

  • @moonstonelullabystudios
    @moonstonelullabystudios 2 месяца назад

    Incredible. Thank you so much for giving this to people for free🎉

  • @JonGodric
    @JonGodric 11 лет назад

    I would highly recommend doing so, I feel that Stirner's work is indispensable in a course on Existentialism. Published in 1844, The Ego and Its Own obviously predates most mainstream existentialist works, but in many ways it anticipates many existentialist themes. In my opinion it is one of the most in depth analyses of the consequences of being a conscious individual.

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад

    I'll check him out. Thanks!

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад

    Well, not in the Existentialism sequence, but perhaps in a later sequence on post-Hegelian dialectical thought, which as far as I understand is where Stirner fits best. I have to admit though, that I'd need to immerse myself in his work before I'd shoot a video on it

  • @marianomanto
    @marianomanto Год назад +1

    Reading this book and watching your lectures on it I can begin to understand why my cousin took his life 20 years ago.
    I was 14, and he was 24. He tried to get close to me to have someone to talk to but I wasn't mature enough to understand what he needed at the moment.
    I didn't have the tools.
    Being raised in a catholic school, suicide was just "a sin", not very different than murder in the eyes of god. I stand with C. Hitchens in his opinion that religion poisons everything.
    I wish philosophy was taught in schools since 1st grade. This would equip people with the knowledge necessary to live a healthy, kind, and virtuous life.
    But well, here I am! Deep into your content and these wonderful books. At least I know my children will be educated on the topic as soon as they start yapping! Thanks!

    • @GregoryBSadler
      @GregoryBSadler  Год назад +1

      Glad you enjoy the videos. Someday hopefully you’ll get past that Hitchens phase. Even Camus has a more prudent attitude towards religion

  • @JoaquinArguelles
    @JoaquinArguelles 3 года назад

    Thank you Dr. Sadler.

  • @deb1847
    @deb1847 3 года назад +1

    Outstanding breakdown

  • @yasha12isreal
    @yasha12isreal 6 лет назад +3

    24:07 "The Feeling of Absurdity"

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад

    You're welcome!

  • @josephwichman1702
    @josephwichman1702 10 лет назад +2

    It was fascinating to discover this philosophy in Camus' early novella 'A Happy Death', to see it come to life through narration. Thanks to your lecture I could understand his argument which enriched my experience of the story.

    • @GregoryBSadler
      @GregoryBSadler  10 лет назад

      Glad the video was useful for you

    • @MonkeyButler300
      @MonkeyButler300 10 лет назад +2

      'A Happy Death' was an earlier manuscript - which Camus discarded, and was only published after his death. If you haven't already delved into the complexities of The Outsider', I recommend you give it a look. The one 'perfecting' the other. Albert Camus has - and still does, give me much reading pleasure. No happening, in his novels, is quite what it seems. While his philosophy on life may well have been 'absurd', he was a 'humanist' of the highest order. Keep pushing that stone, Sisyphus.

    • @jwichmann1306
      @jwichmann1306 10 лет назад +2

      MonkeyButler300 Yes, I have read The Outsider, but of course these texts always demand a re - reading. I guess this why they endure time so well.

    • @MonkeyButler300
      @MonkeyButler300 10 лет назад +1

      itsjustskinsteven stevens I agree with you. I have been reading Camus - and those associated with him, for the best part of twenty years. As you rightly say, each new reading reveals a detail previously not seen. I think that people miss something when not prepared to play the long game. To seek, to strive, to find, and not to yield?

    • @jwichmann1306
      @jwichmann1306 10 лет назад +2

      MonkeyButler300 Yes, well I guess that striving that you speak of goes back to Aristotle. In the case of novels, I've began to consider them as works of philosophy in motion, where, like you said, their points can be lost when we don't read them with a philosophic mind or eye for the 'long game' as you i put it.

  • @xeo929
    @xeo929 11 лет назад +2

    Great lecture! Black marker next time, please?

  • @wadahadlan
    @wadahadlan Год назад

    the lecture that started it for me, here's to another ten years

  • @enbe2003
    @enbe2003 10 лет назад +1

    This is a great video

  • @joejaspers3571
    @joejaspers3571 7 лет назад

    Hey Greg, i've been enjoying your videos a lót: I think they're ideal (without sacrificing any depth ) for moods in which people like me are just too intimidated (lazy?) to confront the great authors your videos deal with themselves. Alas, I figure this same quality attracts people like me plaguing you with annoying questions like the following. :)
    So, while reading The Myth of Sisyphus I cannot shake the feeling that, while I can follow Camus conceptual framework to a good extent, i'm always left a bit uncertain about what exactly constitutes the (essential) conclusion that the world ''doesn't make sense'' or ''is irrational''. (While I can really grasp the ''feeling'' of the absurd, i'm interested here in what precisely is the intellectual content of that conclusion.) I have a few intuitions but still cant really make out which one is close to Camus' starting point (or if they share a common shape). So I know Camus talks about the lack of a great all-encompassing/unifying principle that gives sense to the world. I keep however feeling that i'm still unclear about what that means precisely. In other words, when camus' awakened person is screaming for ''the Why of it all'', what is the thing that precedes that why? What kind of answer is hoped for? Does a irrational world mean a world that is undesirable: a world where suffering is omnipresent and death makes all struggle in vain? Does a irrational world mean a world which we cant understand in it's entirety? Or does a irrational world mean a world where life itself has no purpose (such that a God in whose service and image we lived would solve that problem)?
    So in short: what are we talking about precisely when we say that the world doesn't make sense? Do you have any suggestions in the form of passages, other lectures, essays etc zooming in on this fundamental element in his structure ?
    (It's not that I don't agree with existential thought and Camus' starting point: to the contrary. What's bothering me is that intuitively I recognize the feeling wholeheartedly, while I know I couldn't explicitly explain in clear terms and without existential jargon why the world ''doesn't make sense'')
    ps i've read up to the chapter ''absurd freedom'' but don't want to read further while this notion is still so muddy to my mind.
    Sorry for the dense blabbering, bad English and superfluous amount of digital ink.
    I'd love to hear from you/ receive some tips!

    • @GregoryBSadler
      @GregoryBSadler  7 лет назад +1

      I've got a core concept video on Camus and his concept of the absurd. I'd start with that

  • @shotasiradze2261
    @shotasiradze2261 8 месяцев назад

    Hello Gregory, as l get it you see all comments, l listen to you from Georgia, and i would like to say that you are really great person. I just want to share my appreciation to you.
    I'm studying on the political science, but i totally interested philosophy and your videos help me to learn more.

    • @GregoryBSadler
      @GregoryBSadler  8 месяцев назад

      I'm glad the videos have been helpful for you!

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад

    Well, that could certainly be another way in which we come face to face with the Absurd

  • @EmperorGarm
    @EmperorGarm 11 лет назад +2

    "What kind of life should I live?"
    Let's turn that around in regards to suicide...
    "Should I live a kind of life?"

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад

    Yep, switched to that in the later ones -- and now that I've got my own chalkboard, not really an issue

  • @tommeadley4864
    @tommeadley4864 9 лет назад +1

    philosophy fresher at oxford, these videos make it easy to pick up dense concepts, cheers

  • @michaelwalton1079
    @michaelwalton1079 11 лет назад

    You're my favorite internet guy.

  • @sash0047
    @sash0047 4 года назад

    Best one so far

  • @chrissherer2786
    @chrissherer2786 11 лет назад +1

    Hi Greg, I have really enjoyed your classes on Camus. I read The Stranger years ago, and recently read the Myth of Sisyphus. However, I have a question. You refer to it as Atheistic Existentialism. I'm a little confused...how is it Atheism when Camus says that he can not know if there is meaning to the world but he knows that it is not possible to know? To me that seems a little different than Atheism. Am I just splitting hairs?

  • @MichaelPolios
    @MichaelPolios 11 лет назад +1

    Sometimes I read the paper; I read terrible stories of rape victims in foreign countries being flogged for adultery. Then I flick the page over and read about some hero who risked his life to save someone. And I think...what! What is going on? I think this is absurd.

  • @asumazilla
    @asumazilla 11 лет назад

    Thanks for video and reply, I haven't read any Camus yet. :)

  • @summerphotodiary
    @summerphotodiary 11 лет назад

    hi! sorry if this sounds a bit bizarre or what not, but I have a presentation on Camus and one of my chosen themes is existentialism, and while i have found virtually nothing on Camus's existentialism in the biography we have had to read, before I sit through your three hour lecture (which I will after this is due im just a bit caught on time) do you think this could help me argue Camus was an existentialist? (p.s. your videos are amazing, i watched a few others! thank you for posting)

  • @philipcarpenter6718
    @philipcarpenter6718 11 лет назад +23

    One of my professors used to call Camus "the only honest atheist."

    • @burritodog3634
      @burritodog3634 4 года назад

      what about Ayn Rand

    • @burritodog3634
      @burritodog3634 3 года назад

      @@noahkarpinski1824 how is that

    • @standowner6979
      @standowner6979 3 года назад

      @@burritodog3634 That comment is 8 years did you honestly thought they would answer?

    • @burritodog3634
      @burritodog3634 3 года назад

      @@standowner6979 u just answered buddy

    • @standowner6979
      @standowner6979 3 года назад

      @@burritodog3634 yeah😅! But It's different

  • @milascave2
    @milascave2 10 лет назад

    Yes, I read the essay a long time ago, ut still remember it.
    Life is absurd in that everything we do comes undone and must be done over and over. We die, so future generations must take up the same tasks. How does one not become overwhelmingly depressed by this situation?
    By learning to enjoy the tasks themselves. By learning to "love the rock."
    I think that was the point he was making.

    • @GregoryBSadler
      @GregoryBSadler  10 лет назад +1

      Well, not exactly. That might be one of the several ways of dealing with the absurd -- Camus sets out several different "ethics" of the absurd later in the piece, and suggests that there could be many more

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  10 лет назад

    You're inquiring about individual tutoring, which I in fact do -- but I'm not taking on new clients at present

  • @sanbartabanerjee5435
    @sanbartabanerjee5435 5 месяцев назад

    Thank you sir, I find it incredibly difficult to interpret his works, this made it somewhat sound to me, still a long way to go if there is a way at all

  • @frattaro
    @frattaro 11 лет назад

    I'd say that a soft nihilism is a necessary and sufficient condition to understand the absurd. As long as you have a belief to cling on to (hope), then there is reason to the universe (in your mind).

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад

    Well, first off, we don't generally teach Philosophy as a subject in High School here -- unfortunate, but that's the case.
    Second, we've got a lot of people who simply can't afford to go to college -- unless they want to take on massive debt (which our governments, both Republican and Democrat have been pushing for years) -- particularly if they already have children, a fairly reliable job, etc.
    Third, even if you do go to college, a Philosophy class is a crapshoot, as far as instructors go

  • @merel181
    @merel181 9 лет назад

    Dear mr Gregory B. Sadler,
    I am writing my bachelor's thesis on an Israeli poet, trying to discover whether Camus could have used this poet (or at least, the persona poetica I can discover in the poems, the lyrical poet so to speak) as an example of his philosophy of the absurd.
    I watched your movies on the myth of sisyphus a couple of weeks ago, loved them, but now I have a question on the book:
    Why do you think does Camus say in the myth about a mother (page 101 in French, about Don Juanism) that "a mother, a passionate woman, have necessarily a dry heart, because it is turned away from the world". Do you think Camus says this because he thinks mothers think their maternal love is eternal? That they forget to think about the absurdity of their lives? That they do live with some kind of hope?
    This part about maternal love, which is quite short, is important to me, since the poet I am studying has a lot of poems about a lost child and a yearning for this child.
    Thank you in advance!
    Kind regards,
    Merel

  • @mitzyfrankz
    @mitzyfrankz 10 лет назад

    the stranger was good, and my personal favorite would have to be The Rebel; I liked it even better than Fromms escape from freedom. (which was a good one as well.)

  • @philipcarpenter6718
    @philipcarpenter6718 11 лет назад

    Maybe if you went to your local food court and demanded free food that would help? Hehe. jk. Thanks for these videos. I went to college to study philosophy but due to circumstances outside of my control I had to leave and start working. Your videos really give a very thorough and clear cut outlook on various thinkers, many of which I never had the time to study in school or on my own. I compare your videos to things like The Teaching Company and I must say in many ways I prefer your lectures.

  • @thomasgant5979
    @thomasgant5979 4 года назад

    Hi Gregory, this video was really informative thanks. Would you suggest that an individual experiencing this denseness and strangeness of the world becoming aware of the absurd similar to the experience of Nausea felt by Roquentin in Jean-Paul Sartre's novel?

    • @GregoryBSadler
      @GregoryBSadler  4 года назад +1

      I think those Nausea (essentially phenomenological) descriptions are one way to get at it - one of many

  • @denisvanderhaeghen148
    @denisvanderhaeghen148 4 года назад

    Please use a black whiteboard marker in the future; for better visibility.
    I like your lectures!!! All the best from a Belgian fan !!!

    • @GregoryBSadler
      @GregoryBSadler  4 года назад

      ruclips.net/video/bl1Ny77mkRw/видео.html

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад

    You mean like living a life that's not entirely -- one's view -- "a life", i.e. not what one wants it to be? That would fit in with Camus' ethics

  • @RationalTheist4
    @RationalTheist4 11 лет назад +2

    Dr. Sadler! have you read albert camus's book "the stanger"

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад

    You're welcome

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад

    I'd say that one of the things you'll want to do is focus on what he meant by "Existentialist", then look at the broader meaning of the term, and see why he fits the second.
    If you search, you'll find lots of web-resources out there about Camus and existentialism.

  • @bigbossmatt
    @bigbossmatt 9 лет назад +1

    Would the realisation of ones own mortality inspire the notion of the absurd? At 25:00 you say a professior might want to show their students the full weight of the absurd feeling, but couldn't. I wonder if people lucidly acknowledged their own inevitable death and eventually fade into nothingness, wouldn't that be a way of illuminating the absurd viewpoint?

  • @JonGodric
    @JonGodric 11 лет назад

    Have you considered a lecture on Max Stirner's The Ego and Its Own?

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад

    Well, no end in sight for video-production for me.. . not anytime soon. Originally, I was just shooting them for my enrolled students at the places I was teaching (FSU, then Marist).
    Then I started to realize I could shoot videos on pretty much anything I liked in Philosophy. I had viewers requesting certain thinkers, so I did a poll, and then decided to shoot Existentialism videos for a while.
    Then, I started shooting shorter Core Concept videos to help out students and lifelong learners

  • @nasherbuenafe253
    @nasherbuenafe253 2 года назад

    Hello professor which translation is this and year of the book? Thanks

  • @teamhot8396
    @teamhot8396 10 лет назад

    I'm trying to write and essay for my philosophy class and I chose the plague by camus. I am kind of lost because I have to relate something about the book to a topic we discussed in our class. Could you give me some assistance ?

  • @wallykaspars9700
    @wallykaspars9700 8 лет назад +12

    Shoot me now! I've read 52 pages of the book (English translation by Justin O'Brien) and have to admit I hardly understand any of it. Am I that stupid? Should I avoid anything more complicated than Mickey Mouse comic books? Then the thought occurred to me; the essay is intentionally absurd. Pick any sentence, often the previous sentence does not relate to it, nor does the following sentence. If the translation is true to the French original, Camus uses vague, flowery, poetic words, and a lot of "it". I have the feeling Camus had some interesting thoughts and packaged them among many absurd phrases and poetic expressions. Like a poem , what the author meant is anybody's guess. This essay probably can have 50 million different interpretations. However, I will finish reading the essay, it's stimulating. I like Nietzsche; he writes concisely, clearly, and to the point. Or should I discard my brain and shop for a better one?
    How would you like to rely on an instruction manual for Microsoft Windows written by Camus?

    • @hkheyreddine
      @hkheyreddine 8 лет назад +4

      +Wally Kaspars No. The translation sucks. That is all.

    • @GregoryBSadler
      @GregoryBSadler  7 лет назад +16

      Yes, it's pretty straightforward prose, both in the original French and in every translation I've seen. Camus says somewhere that he deliberately wrote in a style as unadorned as possible

    • @yasha12isreal
      @yasha12isreal 7 лет назад

      Gregory B. Sadler how many pages are there?

    • @johnmiller7453
      @johnmiller7453 7 лет назад

      Wally consider yourself lucky.

  • @rbruce63
    @rbruce63 3 года назад

    Outstanding! I’m buying the book! However, should I start with The Rebel or should I go directly to The Myth of Sisyphus?

    • @GregoryBSadler
      @GregoryBSadler  3 года назад +1

      The Myth of Sisyphus is the earlier work

  • @GregoryBSadler
    @GregoryBSadler  11 лет назад

    That could be a good retort by K to Camus