Albert Camus and his Idea of Religion

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Albert Camus was an existentialist. He was also not a religious person and even though he was born and raised a Catholic; he soon quit his religious faith and turned into an atheist, believing that religion was “philosophical suicide”. He described his attitude toward religion in the lines “I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't, than live my life as if there isn't and die to find out there is.” Yet, it is seen that even though he denied being an existentialist, he is seen to have ‘brooded over such questions as the meaning of life in the face of death.’ “Men are convinced of your arguments, your sincerity, and the seriousness of your efforts only by your death.” This quote shows that Camus believed death was what created people in society and brought their life into the spotlight.

In Camus’s book The Outsider, one of the major themes is religion, and the protagonist, Meursault, has unwavering views on religion; he refuses to acknowledge the existence of God even before his death. According to Camus, religion is a failed attempt at giving life meaning. As soon as you know that death waits, you start living to the fullest so as not to waste another day doing something you dislike. But there is no fear of death having an effect on Meursault because he is already doing what he wants to do. Through the book, Camus strives to test the efficiency of religion as an antidote for human mortality.

The thought of Albert Camus creating a character like Meursault is absurd because ‘The Outsider’ was published in 1942, midway through the Second World War. Also with economies falling and poverty reigning, people turned to God for hope and it took everything they had to hold onto that faith. Amidst thi...

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...eve in any concept such as an ending, brings the belief that one thing leads to another; therefore refuting the entire concept of human mortality to think of it instead as a never ending cycle and how death leads to another life somewhere else is preposterous. Nonetheless, the idea of immortality is no more than what it was, is and always will be - merely an idea.

Works Cited:

1. Aronson, Ronald, "Albert Camus", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = .

2. "Albert Camus Biography." About.com Agnosticism / Atheism. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.

3. "World War 2 Casualty Statistics." World War 2 Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.

4. BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.

5. Camus, Albert. “The Outsider”. England: Penguin Classics 2000

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