Sisyphus

One of the most influential works of this century, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays is a crucial exposition of existentialist thought. Influenced by works such as Don Juan and the novels of Kafka, these essays begin with a meditation on suicide; the question of living or not living in a universe devoid of order or meaning. With lyric eloquence, Albert Camus brilliantly posits a way out of despair, reaffirming the value of personal existence, and the possibility of life lived with dignity and authenticity.

Consciousness lies at the core of being human. Therefore, to understand ourselves, we need a theory of consciousness. In Sisyphus's Boulder, Eric Dietrich and Valerie Hardcastle argue that we will never get such a theory because consciousness has an essential property that prevents it from ever being explained. Consequently, philosophical debates over materialism and dualism are a waste of time. Scientific explanations of consciousness fare no better. Scientists do study consciousness, and such investigations will continue to grow and advance. However, none of them will ever reveal what consciousness is. In addition, given the centrality of consciousness in philosophy, Dietrich and Hardcastle claim that philosophy itself needs to change. That the central problems of philosophy persist is actually a profound epistemic fact about humans. Philosophy, then, is a limit to what humans can understand. (Series A)

Jonathan Slovanco finds comfort and safety in his large family and in the Catholic Church. But as he matures, he realizes that a fundamental difference between him and other boys may alienate him from both his family and the Church. Coming to self-acceptance is difficult enough. Coupling that with the courage needed to reveal his genuine self to his family feels like a Sisyphean effort.

"The myth of Sisyphus symbolizes the archetypal process of becoming without the consolation of absolute achievement. It is both a poignant reflection of the human condition and a prominent framing text for classical, medieval, and renaissance theories of human perfectibility. In this unique reading of the myth through classical philosophies, pagan and Christian religious doctrines, and medieval and renaissance literature, we see Sisyphus, "the most cunning of human beings," attempting to transcend his imperfections empowered by his imagination to renew his faith in the infinite potentialities of human excellence."--BOOK JACKET

Verena Kast refers to Sisyphus as the myth of the forty-year-olds, who often experience their lot in life to be a Sisyphus task. Are our human efforts all in vain, or is there some meaning to be found? In the end, it is a struggle with death itself. Dr. Kast interprets everyday events, fairy tales and psychotherapy issues in light of the Sisyphus theme, rendering it a kaleidoscope through which we can look deeply into ourselves. Verena Kast deals with a problem that also fascinated Nietzsche and Freud. This book is packed with down-to-earth experience, clinical anecdotes, wit and insight. - Murray Stein

Unlock the more straightforward side of The Myth of Sisyphus with this concise and insightful summary and analysis! This engaging summary presents an analysis of The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus, a philosophical essay which focuses on the issue of suicide in an absurd world. Camus uses Greek mythology to highlight why life, in spite of its inherent pointlessness, is still worth living, coming to the conclusion that revolt is the only way to live in such an absurd world. First published in France in 1942, The Myth of Sisyphus is a part of Camus’ cycle of the absurd and can be seen as a companion to The Stranger. Camus himself was born in French Algeria in 1913 and, despite often being liked to Sartre, never identified as an existentialist. He was highly regarded as a prominent absurdist philosopher, and in 1957 won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Find out everything you need to know about The Myth of Sisyphus in a fraction of the time! This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you: • A complete plot summary • Character studies • Key themes and symbols • Questions for further reflection Why choose BrightSummaries.com? Available in print and digital format, our publications are designed to accompany you on your reading journey. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time. See the very best of literature in a whole new light with BrightSummaries.com!

A celebration of the importance and significance of The Myth of Sisyphus, this collection of essays, from some of the world’s leading Camus scholars, examines the impact on philosophy that Camus’s The Myth has had in the past 80 years.

A Glance into Ilja Kostovski’s Selected Poetry It is a slightly smirking smile that accompanies the voice calling on Muses in Ilja Kostovski’s epic poetry and final book, Sisiphus and I. In this seminal production of the poet’s work, an eager, if slightly sarcastic, voice cries out from the woodpile of modernity: Don’t tarry You envious God This minute I will go Into the deep forests And will chop for you Firewood in piles. As for Kostovski’s readers, they are the “connoisseurs of sorrow,” the “suicide...leaning on the railings of bridges,” the “self-despisers,” for he is a poet of the lone wolves, the melancholy wanderer we read about in Blake and imagine among the happy crowds at Coney Island in the 1920s, or among the tripping multitudes of Haight Ashbury in the 1960s, or in the city where he made his last residence, the throngs of the upright and enraged of Washington, D.C. Kostovski’s verse is prayer to a God who is or is not there, a nearly desperate, repeating “Come unto me.” It is not merely exhortation to the deity. He invokes, too, the gathering crowds of the lost and broken-hearted, as though the divine could only be conjured by those numbers, or as if the dead God of Nietzsche could be resurrected by a hoard whose suffering is the very thing that binds them. In that case, instead of a savior, the hero of these poems is a common wound: “Come unto me those/Who have turned your roads/Into hazardous games.” The language is straight out of the book of Micah (whose own anaphoric language begins each chapter with “Hear”), an Old Testament prophet no one believes, but the language pops with contemporary hideousness: “Come, candidates for oval offices/ Come, candidates for electric chairs.” In what is perhaps the most powerful poem in the collection, “Sermon at the Washington Monument,” Kostovski the poet recalls his association with Ferlinghetti, who “Told me once/The Anglo-Saxons speak the truth/with half-closed mouths...” From a formal angle, the collection Sisyphus and I is Kostovski’s open-mouthed song to a universe that may or may not be listening. Like the fledgling with mouth turned upward, Kostovski’s poetry is both artistic hallelujah and hungry yawp, whose overarching tone is a kind of “gallows praise”: “I hear America is not singing anymore/All songs are dead/And you are the executioner.../Have you ever known Francois Villion/ Who multiplied his life on the gallows?” The poet calls on writers to awaken—rather like Micah, standing on his street corner—if not to save anything, then to attend it as it passes, flares out, at the height of its beauty. Kostovski, born in the Macedonian province of Greece, is the author of Dostoevsky and Goethe: Two Devils, Two Geniuses. Like his poetry, his scholarship sought out the insight of the outsider, as he himself carried the burden of his generation through exile during Communist overthrows, until he settled in Washington, D.C. The prophetic insight is this: a monument does not memorialize a country, but rather a misinterpreted ideal. The best remembrances are those that serve a human purpose. And the best invitation to the gods, in Kostovski’s reckoning at least, is to chop some firewood, good for burning. This is a poet whose voice at once harkens back to the Tanakh while it recalls the beatniks of San Francisco, the homeless, and the insidious white power structures and silent mausoleums of Washington D.C. We are reminded in these pages that life is to be sung open-mouthed, if at all. David Keplinger December, 2017