Camus Resources
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged
to change ourselves.”
― Viktor
E. Frankl, Man's
Search for Meaning
Albert Camus (1913-1916) works off of the same assumptions as
Sartre but tests the same philosophy by asking whether we could still create a
meaningful life when we are denied choice of action, that is, how can we create
meaning in a world in which we cannot act? His essay
Plague Reading: Father Paneloux.
The same question is addressed in non-fiction terms by psychologist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl in Man's Search For Meaning (1946) Reading: Attitude.
What binds these philosophers together (including Sartre) is their belief that the most important thing we all must do is first confront and then overcome the inherent absurdity and meaninglessness of existence. Nihilism and suicide represent these facts defeating us. Whether in reality (life in a death camp, confronting one's own inevitable death, loving someone who is about to die) or in fiction (life during a plague), the characters all struggle to overcome their existential despair over having lost their freedom and to create meaning in a meaningless universe.
Relevant films:
Shadowlands
Diving Bell and Butterfly