(One might argue that “the workman of today” is less likely to accomplish something meaningful, in the course of earning their living.)
Even if everything was meaningless—which it isn’t, in my opinion, but Camus does seem to have thought so—and everyone must work or starve—which, as you note, is not true because people are compassionate—surely that merely makes the comparison to Sisyphus that much more relevant? How does it undermine the quote?
Indeed, if it’s that hard to escape, surely comparing starvation to the inescapable will of the gods is that much more accurate?
Indeed, if it’s that hard to escape, surely comparing starvation to the inescapable will of the gods is that much more accurate?
That depends on the strength of one’s transhumanist faith. :)
One can repurpose Camus as much as Camus repurposes Sisyphus, but the original passage does go on to say, “Sisyphus, proletarian of the gods, powerless and rebellious...” So Camus is not talking about us all, certainly not intellectuals like himself, but about the proles.
(One might argue that “the workman of today” is less likely to accomplish something meaningful, in the course of earning their living.)
Even if everything was meaningless—which it isn’t, in my opinion, but Camus does seem to have thought so—and everyone must work or starve—which, as you note, is not true because people are compassionate—surely that merely makes the comparison to Sisyphus that much more relevant? How does it undermine the quote?
Indeed, if it’s that hard to escape, surely comparing starvation to the inescapable will of the gods is that much more accurate?
That depends on the strength of one’s transhumanist faith. :)
One can repurpose Camus as much as Camus repurposes Sisyphus, but the original passage does go on to say, “Sisyphus, proletarian of the gods, powerless and rebellious...” So Camus is not talking about us all, certainly not intellectuals like himself, but about the proles.