This document provides an overview of absurdism and existentialism. It explains that absurdism, as defined by Albert Camus, sees an inherent contradiction between the human search for meaning and the reality of a meaningless universe. Existentialism, associated with philosophers like Sartre, holds that while the world has no objective meaning, people can create their own subjective meaning through free will and responsibility. The document outlines key differences, such as absurdism not valuing meaning as much as existentialism, and concludes that while similar, Camus departed from existentialism in unique ideas about how to live in light of reality.

1. Absurdism vs Existentialism
Vs
Absurdism
Presented by Khushbu Makwana
Smt.S.B Gardi Department of English MKBU
Presentation topic – Absurdism vs Existentialism
Paper no-110A: History of English Literature -
From 1900 to 2000
M.A sem-2
Roll no-13
Enrolment no-4069206420210019
Batch-2021-23
Email id- khushbumakwana1239@gmail.com

2. Just to clarify, this person was referring to the
philosophy of Existentialism associated with
20th-century European philosophers —
particularly John Paul Sartre, who popularized
the term. Some scholars extend the term back
to Sorin Kierkegaard, and others extend it as
far back as Socrates. This quick article will
explain and contrast the Absurdism of Albert
Camus and the Existentialism of John Paul
Sartre.

3. # What is Absurdism?
So, what about Absurdism? First, we’ll go over what
Absurdists believe, and then we’ll contrast the major
differences.
According to Absurdism, it’s only natural for humans
to seek out meaning in life. However, conflict occurs
when we go to do so and find the universe is really
cold, chaotic, and utterly devoid of any meaning at all.
It’s this contradiction between our mind’s search for
meaning and the reality of nature that Absurdism’s
founder Albert Camus calls ‘The Absurd.’

4. Camus’ Absurdism is about working within
our human limitations, but without
abandoning our respect for ourselves or the
truth. Absurdists often either adopt or
construct a belief structure that provides a
day-to-day reprieve from the crushing
impossibility of true meaning. Such
constructs allow us to trick our evolution-
soaked brains into extracting meaning from
the universe, while never forgetting that the
system itself is a trick.

5. For those who come to accept that life is without
intrinsic meaning, there are three main ways to react.
Philosophical Suicide, such as completely embracing a
religion or a spirituality framework—because one believes
it’s too hard to sad or difficult to live on without one
Physical Suicide, due to life being ultimately
meaningless and therefore either too boring or too painful
to continue
Acceptance, which means continuing on despite
knowing that ultimate meaning is not possible
Camus’ Absurdism as the most satisfactory response, as it
takes the third option of acceptance and works from
there.

6. # What is Existentialism?
First, let’s go over what Existentialism is.
Existentialists believe that the world intrinsically
has no objective meaning, but through a
combination of free will, awareness, and
personality responsibility, we can create our own
subjective meaning.
The basis of Sartre’s Existentialism is the phrase
‘existence precedes essence,’ meaning no general
account of what it means to be human can be
given, and that meaning can only be decided and
constructed through existence itself.

7. # What Are Key Differences?
Absurdism isn’t as set on the value of
meaning in one’s life as Existentialism is. For
Sartre, constructing meaning was ontological; it
was your essence and being. Plus, the pursuit of
meaning can have meaning in itself.
While Existentialism’s goal is the creation of
one’s essence, Absurdism is just about
embracing the Absurd or meaningless in life and
simultaneously rebelling against it and
embracing what life can offer us.

8. For Absurdists, meaning is more transient, and
that meaning is always nullified by death. In the
end, for Absurdists, any meaning we construct is
ultimately meaningless since the universe is an
Absurd place we can’t even begin to fully
comprehend. The pursuit of created meaning is
possible with Existentialism, and that is its goal.
Also, Existentialists believed in free will and that
we have a duty to pursue freedom, while
Absurdists aren’t so set on the concept of free
will. They believe that people should just try their
best to live in defiance to and in spite of the
psychological tension of the Absurd.

9. # Conclusion :
So although both constructs are similar,
you can see how Camus departed from the
Existentialist crowd and went his own way,
with some unique ideas about how to live
life and what reality is.

10. Resources :
• https://iep.utm.edu/existent/
• http://reidynotes.weebly.com/existentialism-and-
absurdism

11. Thank you