Camus, Albert

Abstract

Abstract Albert Camus was a French writer, philosopher, novelist, and playwright. He was born in 1913 in Algeria, and died in France in 1960. His position during the Algerian war of independence was highly controversial, as he fiercely opposed the independence of Algeria, while also criticizing French colonialism. This resulted in his being rejected by Algerians, and, at the same time, being misunderstood by his fellow citizens, the pieds‐noirs . Camus was also hated by the proponents of French colonialism and was forced to leave Algiers under special protection. L’Étranger ( The Stranger ) remains his most famous novel. Its main character, Meursault, can be read as an anthem of existentialism and alienation. Camus's philosophy is centered on the question of the absurd, the meaninglessness of life to which man is confronted when looking for a justification for his own existence. The absurd is not a knowledge; it is the result of the discrepancy between two opposite forces. Camus built his philosophy in opposition to Marxism and existentialism, after he broke up his friendship with Jean‐Paul Sartre, and relentlessly fought the various ideologies that deter philosophy from the human. At only 43, Camus was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.