Albert Camus and the Human Condition
Andrew Sobanet is a professor of French and Francophone Studies at Georgetown University, where his research focuses primarily on the intersection of politics and literature and his interests include the twentieth-century novel, testimony, mass media, and European history. He has published widely on a variety of topics and is currently serving as Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs in Georgetown’s College of Arts & Sciences.
Overview
For generations, Albert Camus has been an existential and moral guide because of his basic belief in the strength of the human spirit. This course will explore the foundations of Camus’s thought, focusing on concepts that are central to his vision of the human condition, including the absurd, rebellion, and solidarity. We will trace his intellectual and political trajectory from the interwar period, through the Second World War, and the early Cold War era. In doing so, we will better understand how Camus became one of the most celebrated writers and public intellectuals of the twentieth century, and why his writing is so relevant for our times.
Recommended Reading:
By Albert Camus:
The Stranger
The Plague
The Myth of Sisyphus (essay)
“The Human Crisis” (essay)
Exile and the Kingdom (short story collection)
The Cambridge Companion to Camus, by Edward J. Hughes
Albert Camus: A Biography, by Herbert Lottman
Albert Camus: A Life, by Olivier Todd
Discussion Questions:
- How have you experienced the absurd, as defined by Camus?
- Camus’s thought is very much at the intersection of the political and the philosophical. How can Camus’s vision of the human condition be applied to our present circumstances?
- Are there other thinkers you have studied who are comparable to Camus? Who are they, and how are they comparable?