Camus’philosophy

According to Camus, a human being cannot find a reason for existence, and life is meaningless. Human beings should embrace life's absurdity. Camus suggests that the only valid solution to thrive in life is to acknowledge its absurdity and continue finding a viable meaning and value for life to be resilient and not to despair or commit suicide. Camus's arguments are also against the criminal justice system's capital punishment. However, I agree with Camus's arguments about the absurdity of life and against capital punishment and suicide.

Camus states that people should live passionately despite the absurdity of life, as suicide or capital punishment do not solve life's challenges. Camus admits that the only challenge with the absurdity of life was suicide, as people could find it the most rational way to escape the cruel world (Aronson). It could be difficult for one to establish life's meaning from one aspect, such as religion, family, society, and economy. Most people in the world are depressed, but suicide is not the ultimate solution as, according to Camus, death is not more meaningful than life. Therefore, the best solution is to learn how to live in an uncertain world and create happiness and meaning, although one could fail to find an appropriate one (Aronson). Also, Camus's argument is against injustice and unfair punishment, such as capital punishment, as he states the world is already unjust, filled with sorrows and uncertainty. Thus the criminal justice system should focus on serving justice instead of enhancing life's absurdity. The major strength of Camus's argument is his emphasis that people should learn to live absurdly and find joy and happiness without thinking of suicide as it does not solve them but increase the absurdity (Aronson). However, the weakness in his argument lies in his emphasis that it is difficult for one to find meaning in life as people have different perceptions of life and what quality life entails. Thus, I concur with Camus's arguments on suicide and capital sentence, as although he finds no meaning in life, he values human life.

However, in allowing someone to die by capital sentence or suicide, it is crucial to consider the impact of such acts on the crime rate. According to Camu, trying to understand the world and the meaning of life only leads to unhappiness, and death does not solve the problem either (Aronson). For instance, a death sentence could increase rather than reduce the crime rate. When the society loses one of their own due to a death sentence, they could resolve to more criminal activities to revenge, increasing insecurity, "both presence and absence of life (i.e., death) give rise to the condition: it is absurd to continually seek meaning in life when there is none"(Aronson). Thus, the government could use other strategies to deter crime, such as providing employment and rehabilitation. Therefore, it is crucial to consider the repercussions of suicide or a capital sentence in solving life's absurdity.

I concur with Camu's arguments about the absurdity of life and against capital punishment and suicide. He states that trying to understand the world and the meaning of our only leads to unhappiness, and death dies not solve the problem either. It is difficult to find the true meaning of life through either a death sentence or suicide. Hence, people should strive to establish happiness and live absurdity by continuously creating meaning for life.

Works cited

Aronson, Ronald. “Albert Camus.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 13 Dec. 2021, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/camus/.