Thursday, May 23, 2013

Camus on Suicide

There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. All the rest – whether or not the world has three dimensions, whether the mind has nine or twelve categories – comes afterwards. These are games; one must first answer. 

-Albert Camus

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I love existentialism, but generally, I'm too cheery to be bogged down with such doleful stuff. If I were to answer the question of what makes life worth living honestly, I'd say good food and good drink, duh. (I have a streak of Epicureanism in me, what can I say?)

Anonymous said...

I will never understand existentialists or theists who think that you need god to give you a reason to live. How pathetic.

Jacob said...

And this is my question too. Why is life better than death? Every moment of my life i have a choice. To continue or end it. What rational reason do I have to continue living? The answer everybody gives are emotional ones..like love, good experiences.. But all these are just emotional stuff. Is there any actual rational reason? And i genuinely do not know how to compare being alive and being dead. If death is the end, you dont actually lose anything. you cease to exist. How can that be rationally compared to anything else . I just dont get it...
My point is not that death is better than life. it is that the choice between the two seems completely arbitary to me. Then why do people, including myself keep prefering life over death

Anonymous said...

Jacob,

I don't suppose you can rationally say that life is better than death, although there are circumstances when you can rationally say that death is better than life. But barring those circumstances, life is something we have, and as long as we have it, it seems a rational choice to try to make the most of it.