Table of Contents

Index of abbreviations

Introduction

Chapter I

The Absurd: the State of the World without God

Introduction

I. The Feeling of the Absurd

1. The Arousal of Absurdity

2. Description of the Feeling of Absurdity

3. The Nature of this Feeling

4. The Discoveries of the Absurd

a) The Way of Sensitivity

b) The Way of Intelligence

II. The Notion of the Absurd

1. The Three Terms for the Absurd

2. The Confrontation of the Absurd

3. Examples of the Absurd

4. The Definition of the Absurd

5. The Properties of the Absurd

III. The Solutions to the Absurd

1. Physical Suicide

a) The Relationship of Suicide to the Absurd

b) The Causes of Suicide

c) The Complex Alternatives

d) The Refusal to Commit Suicide

2. Philosophical Suicide

a) The Leap to God

b) The Leap into Abstraction

3. Maintaining the Absurd

a) Revolt

b) Liberty

c) Passion

IV. Absurd Men

1. Without God

2. In Time and the Ephemeral

3. In Quantity and Innocence

4. In Lucidity

V. Absurd Creation

1. Its Commandments

2. An Absurd Creator : Dostoevsky

Conclusion

1. The Absurd : a Point of Departure

2. The Absurd and God

a) Explicit Affirmations

b) Implicit Nostalgia for God ?

c) Camusian Arguments

3. The Sense of the World and of Existence

a) The Sense of the World

b) The Sense of Existence

Chapter II

The Human Condition : the Situation of Man without God

Introduction

A. The Metaphysical Condition

I. General Characteristics

1. The Duality of the Human Condition

2. The Absurdity of the Human Condition

3. Pessimism towards the Human Condition

4. The Injustice of the Human Condition

II. The Condition of Being Exiled

1. Metaphysical Exile

2. Psychological Exile

3. Social Exile

4. The Consequences of Exile

5. Exile and God

III. The Condition of the Man Condemned to Death

1. The Order of the World : Death

2. The Anguish of Death

3. The Absurdity of Death

4. Death and God

IV. The Condition of Man Delivered to Evil

1. Metaphysical Evil

a) The Absence of Unity

b) The Absence of Explanation

2. Moral Evil

3. Evil and God

a) Metaphysical Evil

b) Moral Evil

B. The Historical Condition

I. "History"

II. Ideologies

1. False Reason

2. Historical Logic

3. Legitimizing Intelligence

4. A Typical Ideology

III. The Contents of History

1. Murder

2. The Death Penalty

3. Lying

4. Violence

a) Legitimized Violence

b) Dictatorship

c) War

Chapter III

Revolt against the Metaphysical and Historical Condition

Introduction

I. Revolt

1. Definition

2. Contents

a) Negatively : the NO

b) Positively : the YES

c) The Equilibrium between the YES and the NO

3. The Essential Dimension

4. Revolution

a) Nature

b) Types

II. Revolt against the Metaphysical Condition

1. Definition

2. Demands

3. Its Objects : God

a) The Existence of God

b) The Injustice of God

c) The Nature of God

d) Christ

e) Christianity and Christians

4. The Conduct of Revolt in the Face of Evil

a) Facing Metaphysical Evil

b) Facing Moral Evil

III. Revolt against the Historical Condition

1. Revolt against History

a) History and Values

b) Revolution and Values

2. Rejection of the Contents of History

a) Rejection of Legitimized Murder

b) Rejection of the Death Penalty

c) Rejection of Lying

d) Rejection of Legitimized Violence

e) Rejection of Terror and War

3. Action within History

Conclusion

Chapter IV

The Ethics of Revolt, Conduct without God

Introduction

I. The Nature of Camusian Ethics

1. Opportunity : Revolt

a) The Absurd and the Ethics of Quantity

b) Revolt and the Ethics of Value

2. The Nature of Morality

a) Morality without Transcendence

b) Informal Morality

c) Real Morality : Man

d) The Morality of Limits

aa) The Nature of Limit

bb) Limit and Revolt

cc) The Universality of the Limit

dd) Morality and Limit

II. The Foundation of Ethics : Human Nature

1. "Human Nature"

2. Man as a Person

3. Man as Body

4. Transcendence of Human Nature

III. Man's Rights

1. The Right to Live

2. The Right to Liberty

a) The Nature of Liberty

aa) Political Freedom

bb) The Freedom of Expression

b) The Asceticism of Freedom

c) Limits to Freedom

aa) The Rights of Others

bb) The Law

3. The Rights to justice

a) Social justice

b) Relative justice

c) Justice and Freedom

d) The Asceticism of justice

e) The justice of Means

IV. Camusian "Passions"

1. Nature

2. Species

3. The Limits to Passions

V. Camusian "Virtues"

1. "Virtue" and Virtue

2. Justice

3. Lucidity

a) Its Nature

b) Its Importance

c) Its Asceticism

4. Courage

a) Its Nature

b) Its Object

aa) The Human Condition

bb) Death

cc) Suffering and Illness

dd) Poverty

ee) Judgment

Nature

Conduct

c) The Resignation of Courage : Suicide

aa) Camus and Suicide

bb) Superior Suicide

d) The Acme of Courage : Heroism

aa) The Nature of Heroism

bb) The Heroic Life : Ordinary Man

cc) The Heroic Task : the Job Well Done

5. Hope

a) False Hopes

aa) God

bb) The Future Life

b) True Hopes

aa) The Present Life

bb) Life as Such

cc) Man dd) Nature

ee) The Collective Future

c) Despair

aa) Motives

bb) Refusal

cc) Struggle

VI. The Moral Ideal : Godless Saintliness

1. Concern with Saintliness

2. The Need for Salvation

a) Salvation

b) Divine Salvation : Unjust Grace

c) Human Salvation

3. The Godless Saint's Task

a) Subjectively

b) Objectively

VII. Godless Happiness

1. Happiness, the Universal Objective

2. Possibility of Happiness

a) A Demand of Human Nature

b) In an Absurd World and Absurd History

3. Happiness, a Human Work

4. The Nature of Happiness : Agreement

a) Agreement with the World

b) Agreement with Others

c) Agreement with Oneself

5. Asceticism for Happiness

General Conclusion

1. A Godless Wisdom

2. The Greek and Christian Influences

a) Greek Philosophy

b) Christian Thought

3. Camus and God

a) Evolution

b) Objections

c) Between YES and NO

Bibliography