Philosophy of Pragmatism: Absurdism

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Over the last few posts, we explored some of the concepts underpinning idealistic thinking. Now, let’s talk about a pragmatic idea.

Absurdism is the belief that the prime reality has no intrinsic meaning or purpose.

All the idealistic models we discussed in previous posts see the universe as fundamentally orderly. Absurdists see it as chaotic. Perhaps it had no prime cause; perhaps it was an accident. However it came to be, it doesn’t have a reason to be this way. The order that we see in the universe is an illusion: our adamant denial of the heartless truth.

“Man stands face to face with the irrational. He feels within him his longing for happiness and for reason. The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.” - Albert Camus

Absurdism can be terrifying and depressing. If you are not an absurdist, you might feel pity for absurdists who have to go through life without any sense of meaning. But that doesn’t do the philosophy justice. Just because the universe doesn’t have any meaning doesn’t mean you don’t.

But before we talk about personally-created meanings, we need to talk about one of the most misunderstood concepts in all of philosophy: nihilism.

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Stay tuned for more.

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