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Post by gillianlaird on Jun 6, 2024 19:42:34 GMT
The myth of Sisyphus is a familiar one to me, and I have always pitied the title character for his punishment of repeatedly having to push the rock up the hill. However, I never stopped to think about that the fact that I, too, am Sisyphus. All of humanity is Sisyphus. We all wake up to live, what is essentially, the same day over and over again. Whether it be a child going to school every day, an adult heading to work, or a retiree bound to repeat the same routine of watching television on the couch, all of these tasks equate to Sisyphus's rock. I now wonder whether it is the human condition to look forward to summer break and vacation time, not because the task of learning/working is taxing, but simply because it exhausts us in its repetition. My question to everyone is this: do you think there is any escape?
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Post by Dr. Nemmers on Jun 6, 2024 21:02:53 GMT
Right on Gillian, and I think this is the valuable insight that you and Camus (hey, that rhymes!) are offering to us. (You're even casually term-dropping "the human condition"... bonus points!)
I suppose one key difference is that we feel that we're making progress--- would any of you keep taking class after class if it wasn't counting toward a degree? Similarly, when we read a novel there is some notion that, though it may be long and arduous, we will eventually finish it if we keep going.
But for Sisyphus, he knows there will be no progress; he knows there will be no end or accomplishment, and yet he continues to do so. For Sisyphus there is no escape, but Camus does believe there is a certain dignity and meaning in the futility of his effort...
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Post by reluedders on Jun 10, 2024 14:09:14 GMT
I agree with this, but I also want to add one thing. I think that we know we are making progress, but also, that our time will eventually end. As humans, we are aware of the fact that we are going to die. With Sisyphus, he's going to have to endure his punishment for eternity. We know that at some point, our routine is going to end, no matter what.
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Post by Dr. Nemmers on Jun 10, 2024 14:40:53 GMT
Very nice, Renee! Yes, you're hitting on a huge point of existentialist thought-- that humans are the only living being that can anticipate its own demise, and that we are accordingly imbued by things like dread, anxiety, despair, etc.
I'll have more on this in coming weeks, but this why the site of the Nazi concentration camp takes on such an outsized impact for many existentialists: it's the modern embodiment of death, a place to which all (rail)roads lead and no one returns.
How would one live in such a place, especially with the knowledge of what happens there? That's the struggle for many existentialists....
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Post by gillianlaird on Jun 11, 2024 17:43:30 GMT
I agree with this, but I also want to add one thing. I think that we know we are making progress, but also, that our time will eventually end. As humans, we are aware of the fact that we are going to die. With Sisyphus, he's going to have to endure his punishment for eternity. We know that at some point, our routine is going to end, no matter what. This is such a great point that I didn't think about when initially posting. I suppose in some way we are all aware of the fact that we are making progress, even despite the sometimes pesky persistence of "ground hog day." There is a strange dichotomy to this idea of progress, however, because while we are all counting down the days to retirement or vacation, or whatever the case may be, there is also a fear surrounding getting older and, eventually, death. Currently, I see this fear of aging as something quite prevalent on social media, especially among young people. I wonder how this all fits in with existentialism. |
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Post by connorswauger on Jun 11, 2024 22:56:09 GMT
I wouldn’t think that there is any escape but with each person, I feel like we are all able to make goals within our main goal of making it to the top of the hill. In an optimistic view, I would argue that we can achieve these small victories that way we are confirming progress in our own right. We as humans crave knowledge of new things that we already know or we haven’t encountered yet. Maybe success comes in the form of a new skill.
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