| This thesis extracts a liberating humanism from the novel, The Stranger, by the French Algerian, Albert Camus. According to Camus, the fundamental philosophical question is the decision of suicide; should or should not life be lived considering we all face the absurdity of death as an absolute? Although believing that life is absurd, Camus argued that humans can bestow value on life by recognizing the absurdity of life and choosing to live in spite of this absurdity. By choosing life, we are obligated not only to make the most of this life, but we must also grant the same value of life the other. Camus, therefore, created an intrinsic moral basis for life. This study takes Camus' argument even farther by explicating how the concept of a supernatural God as an extrinsic moral basis for life actually impedes human ideals such as freedom, compassion, and justice. |
