I’ve had the great joy of becoming reacquainted with Gramsci. It seems strange that a post inspired by his thinking will include very few references to his works.
Instead: Camus! One of Camus’ more famous contributions to philosophy was his construction of the Sisyphus myth. Sisyphus had angered the gods, so they punish him with a task: Sisyphus must roll a boulder to the top of a hill, then watch it roll down the other side, then rinse and repeat.
Camus wonders what Sisyphus’ punishment is. He decides that it’s not the physical labour which is the torture:
‘If this myth is tragic, that is because its hero is conscious. Where would his torture be, indeed, if at every step the hope of succeeding upheld him?’ (Myth of Sisyphus, trans. Justin O’Brien)
By understanding his condition, he is punished. The torture is not physical, but one of awareness.
‘Oedipus at the outset obeys fate without knowing it. But from the moment he knows, his tragedy begins.’ (ibid.)
Camus links the myth back to the real world:
‘The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks and this fate is no less absurd.’ (ibid.)
It is easy for the cynical person to recognise the truth of Camus’ point. We spend an exceptional amount of our lives at work, usually chained and caged by blind, irrational, oppressive forces which we cannot (easily) escape. Most of us are at the mercy of superiors and their whims. When we complete a task, there is little satisfaction as we realise that we have to descend in order to do the same thing yet again. Camus declares this to be the absurd: our actions are only justified by the context and setting and that the reasons we give for what we do fundamentally rest upon irrational foundations. (more…)
Only The Sangfroid 