The French Algerian philosopher, Albert Camus, expounded the philosophy known as absurdism. According to absurdism, although life is meaningless human beings are faced with the dilemma of hankering for meaning in a meaningless world. Camus says that there are three ways of resolving this dilemma:
1) Commit suicide. (Camus rejects this as cowardly.)
2) Believe in a transcendental reality beyond the absurd. (Camus rejects this as philosophical suicide because it amounts to the destruction of reason, which is just as fatal as the suicide of the body.)
3)Accept the Absurd. (According to Camus, this is the only real solution. One should continue living while accepting and even embracing life's absurdity. Life, according to Camus, can "be lived all the better if it has no meaning." )
In other words, according to Camus, man exists in an irrational and meaningless universe, and his search for order brings him into conflict with his universe. His view is that the absurdist, by accepting the absurdity of existence, comes into a state of harmony with his universe and is liberated from being in conflict with it by no longer trying to find order in it.
So is Camus' analysis of reality correct? While superficially his absurdism may seem to make sense, if we closely examine it, we will find it to be patently absurd and thus not worthy of being accepted. How so? The first obvious point is that if all is absurd, absurdism being part of everything must therefore also be absurd. And since absurd means ridiculously unreasonable, absurdism (borrowing the terms from its own philosophy) amounts to the destruction of reason and is as suicidal as the destruction of one's body.
Another point is that absurdism assumes on blind faith that there is no order, meaning, or purpose to existence. Where is the proof that life has no such meaning or purpose? Why would man hanker for meaning if meaning did not exist? If meaning did not exist, he would have no need for it. We see that by nature's way we only hanker for things which exist. The human being is not wired with any hankerings for things which do not exist. So why in the case of life's meaning should there be any difference? This is not logical. Rather it is logical to understand that since every perceivable human hankering is matched by its counterpart, i.e. the object which satisfies that hankering, the hankering for meaning must therefore also be matched by that which satisfies that hankering, i.e. that existence has meaning.
So with all due respect to Camus for trying to take us beyond the platform of gross sense gratification to the platform of the intelligence, we beg to point out that he has failed in his attempt to enlighten us with higher knowledge. If we want factual higher knowledge, we will need to look elsewhere to see if we can find someone who has clearly perceived what is the purpose and meaning of existence and who can enlighten us in this regard.
His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari is a world renowned spiritual master. He was born on November 7, 1947 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA during the most auspicious month of Kartik according to the Vedic calendar. During his student life he excelled not only academically, but also as a leader and an award-winning speaker. Because he was deeply troubled by a world society based on greed and exploitation, after finishing his university studies he fully dedicated his life to igniting a spiritual revolution on this planet for the peace and prosperity of all. He first endeavored to transform the human society through the writing and public performance of songs. Even though his songs were highly appreciated, he was dissatisfied with his own lack of spiritual realization and understood that he needed a spiritual master who could guide him to become spiritually enlightened. This understanding led him to take shelter of one of the greatest spiritual masters in history, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON (the International Society for Krishna Consciousness). Under Prabhupada’s expert guidance he became highly learned and realized in transcendental knowledge and was empowered by him to spread it all over the world.
Since 1971 Sankarshan Das Adhikari has been distributing this most sublime knowledge throughout the world through many mediums. In the year 2000, in obedience to his spiritual master's order, he received the blessings of ISKCON's Governing Body Commission (GBC) to make disciples all over the world. His Authorization continues uninterruptedly to this day. He has given thousands of lectures in universities and other educational institutions. He appears on radio and television. He publishes a daily internet-based self-realization newsletter which reaches over 11,000 subscribers in over 100 countries. In spite of his tremendously busy schedule and regular global travels, His Grace is never too busy to give compassionate, enlightened guidance to anyone who approaches him to seek it. You are welcome to sign up for his free course or consult him for spiritual guidance.
Free E-Course Sign Up: www.backtohome.com
Email: sda@backtohome.com
Phone: 1-512-835-2121
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