8/9/2019 Camus v Lewis

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Brent Matheny

3rd Term SIA

1. C. S. Lewis is the quintessential late-in-life con ert to Christianity. In the s!irit of St. Au"ustine

and Thomas Aquinas# he was an a!olo"ist and attem!ted to rationali$e the e%istence of &od. This is

enforced 'y his defense of the (true sciences) inThe Screwtape Letters . Lewis thou"ht that 'y

o'ser in" the world as it was# it*s di ine nature would 'e re ealed. Con ersely# he thou"ht that

(heuristics) such as +conomics# ,hilolo"y# and ,ost-Modernism o'scure the wor s of &od in the eyes

of men and should 'e a oided.

Lewis*s Christianity can 'e 'est descri'ed as a (quiet) Christianity or# !erha!s# mere

Christianity. It is one at !eace with oneself# at one with the natural world# and free radicalism.

. Al'ert Camus# in star contrast to Lewis re/ects the inherent meanin" of life that Lewis*s theism

allows him to ta e for "ranted. In Camus*s iew# man is in a constant stru""le a"ainst the a'surd and is

constantly held in the "ri! of searchin" for meanin" while the oid refuses to e en stare 'ac . 0ot an

e%istentialist# Camus thou"ht that to attem!t to create meanin" would entail a sort of (!hiloso!hical

suicide) that would 'e a oidin" the !ro'lem of a'surdity# rather than sol in" it. 0ot a nihilist# he also

thou"ht that re"ular suicide was also out of the question as# li e life# death was also meanin"less and

therefore would still 'e a oidin" the !ro'lem of the A'surd.

Because of this# he ad ocates for a sort of straddlin" 'etween the two to continue li in" 'ut to

'e in constant awareness of its futility and meanin"lessness. This is seen inThe Stranger when

Meursault finally acce!ts the indifference of the uni erse in the final !a"es. Sur!risin"ly# throu"hout

his wor # recurrin" themes of coo!eration and solidarity come u!# such asMeursault*s fast friendshi!

with 2aymond. rom alues such as these# Camus seems to draw some sort of meanin".

3. I thin that Camus ma es a stron"er case# !erha!s not in the s!ecific wor s at hand# 'ut rather

in The Myth of Sisyphus. 4fun fact# a son" entitled (Sisy!hus) from the 1555 Myths and Hymns /ust

8/9/2019 Camus v Lewis

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Brent Matheny

came on my S!otify as I*m writin" this# its !retty cool6. A'surdism s!ea s to me !ersonally more than

Lewis*s Christianity# at least at this !oint in my life. This may 'e 'ecause I*m sad a lot and can*t "et a

'oyfriend or the fact that as a youth in modern education# I am ta in" !art in what is ery much ana'surd system that doesn*t seem to care much for rules or consistency. The one !art that is concernin"

to me a'out Camus*s !hiloso!hy is the de"ree of a!athy that it seems to# to a de"ree# ad ocate. As nice

as a summer in Al"iers sounds# I am not en ious of Meursault*s life# e en e%ecution not withstandin

Thou"h I am aware that Meursault was not an 7'ermensch that Camus thou"ht all !eo!le should

attem!t to emulate# I am not ready to em'race that a!athy that so much of Camus*s wor seems to 'e

'ased on.

There are elements of Lewis*s world iew that I do find a!!ealin". Much of what he tal s a'out

in the realm of inter!ersonal relations can 'e ta en without the reli"ious tint. Be aware of how some

!eo!le are to%ic to you. Be aware that small im!olitenesses can "row to a destroyed relationshi!. As I

currently see it# life may not ha e any a!!arent meanin"# 'ut it can 'e made a lot more en/oya'le 'y not

'ein" a dic to !eo!le as much as !ossi'le.