Existentialism Introductory Questionnaire

First questionnaire due Monday April 4 on Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus (through p. 28)

NAME __________________________

The short space given for your reply is intended to limit the time so that you do not work too much on questions that could possibly take a long time to answer well. So think about each question, and be selective in what you choose to write.

1. A religionist might say that life’s great Either/Or is the religious question and that the alternative to religious faith is despair; and the logical conclusion of despair is suicide. In a nutshell, what reply to this challenge does Camus project in his Preface (v-vi)? And does Camus in the Preface claim, presuppose, or argue that God does not exist or that there are no eternal values?

2. In the two introductory paragraphs on page 2 beginning with the quotation from Pindar, Camus proposes to take the absurd as a starting point rather than a conclusion. Please comment on the implications of that choice. It might help to ask about how that choice functions in Camus’ later criticisms (which you need not explore here) that existentialist philosophers evade the problem of the absurd by moving into religious thought?

3. Study pp. 3-27 and assemble data on Camus’ concepts of knowledge and truth. How could a critic argue that his concepts are incoherent? How could a defender reply by making distinctions and finding some consistent pattern of affirmation and negation? You are invited to use the reverse side of this sheet as you complete your answer.