Albert Camus

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Albert Camus:

Albert Camus Presentation By Daniel Svedberg

First Thing’s First….:

First Thing’s First…. Hello friends! I see that you all have iPads ! You may ask yourself, “why do I have an iPad ?” The answer is simple: this presentation is INTERACTIVE! To start, go to and search blahblahblah . Click on the first result and you can follow along slide by slide. I will also be asking questions! You may use your iPad to search for the answer. Since answering questions is BORING, I will be providing INCENTIVES in the form of CANDY. First person to shout out the answer gets the candy!

Albert Camus: Author:

Albert Camus: Author “An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself.”

Early Life:

Early Life Albert Camus was born on November 7 th , 1913 in Mondovi (modern day Dréan ), French Algeria. His mother, Catherine Hélène Sintés , was partially deaf and illiterate, working as a maid. His Father, Lucien Camus, was an agricultural worker. He died in 1914, fighting in the Battle of the Marne one year after Albert was born. Albert and his mother lived in relative poverty, a factor which would shape his ideas, works, and philosophies for the rest of his life.

Education :

Education Luckily, one of Albert’s teachers spotted his intellectual gifts, and helped him win a scholarship to the Lycée of Algiers, where he would finish his education. At the age of 17, Camus was struck by Tuberculosis, a disease he would suffer from throughout his life. Albert’s affliction with TB forced his to study part time and take on odd jobs. Nontheless , Albert completed his undergraduate education at Algires , earning his licence de philosophie in 1935. A year later, Albert presented his thesis on Neo-Platonism and Christian thought, earning his diplôme d'études supérieures .


CANDY QUESTION What sport did Albert play throughout his secondary education? Bonus piece if you say which position!


ANSWER Albert Camus played football-soccer as a goalkeeper during his secondary education Unfortunately, his tuberculosis forced Albert into long periods of bed rest, destroying his career. When asked if he preferred theater or football, he replied “football, without hesitation” .

Personal life during youth :

Personal life during youth In 1934, Albert married Simone Hie , a bohemian actress. The marriage dissolved 6 years later amidst infidelities and Simone’s morphine addiction. In 1935, Albert joined the Algerian communist movement. Subsequently, he founded Théâtre du Travail In 1937, Camus joined the Algerian’s people’s party, a move which resulted in his explusion from the communist association. Over the following few years, Albert would write for an Algerian paper while running his theater company.

Candy Question!:

Candy Question! #1 What does Théâtre du Travail translate to? #2 What play did Albert write during this period ? ( hint : performed in 1945, but written in 1938)


Answers #1: Workers Theater #2: Caligula “Some people talk in their sleep. Lecturers talk while other people sleep.”

The War Years:

The War Years In 1940 Albert moved to Paris, despite the ongoing war, mainly in search of employment. In 1942, Camus published his most famous work, The Legend of Sisyphus , as well as his first novel, The Stranger, which was well received in the literary community. Around this time Albert also married Francine Faure, another marriage short lived in affairs. Camus was soon evacuated from Paris, and ended up in Lyon where he became an editor for Le Combat , an underground newspaper and French resistance movement. Camus spent the rest of the war writing and publishing numerous plays and working for Le Combat.

Post War Literary Career:

Post War Literary Career In 1945 France was liberated. That same year, Camus befriended Jean-Paul Sarte , a fellow literary writer and existentialist philosopher with a drastically different background. The two would become “study partners” in philosophy. Two years later Camus resigned from Combat , and took up writing full time. He would later contribute much to human rights activism through organizations such as UNESCO In 1951, Albert published The Rebel . The essay was a miserable failure because of politics, and would be the breaking point in his friendship with Sarte . During this period Camus grew increasingly frustrated with politics during the Algerian revolution, which were extremely polarized. Camus refused to pick a side.

Candy Questions!:

Candy Questions! Each correct answer gets a piece of candy! #1 Albert Camus earned the Nobel Prize in literature. In what year did he earn it? #2 For what written work was Camus awarded the Nobel Prize? #3 To whom did Camus dedicate his acceptance speech to?


Answers Albert Camus earned his Nobel Prize in 1957 He earned the title for his extended essay Reflexions sur la guillotine (Reflections on the Guillotine.) a work criticizing capital punishment. Camus dedicated his speech to Jean Germain , his teacher who helped him gain his scholarship. Camus felt that he was not fit to receive the award, as he viewed the prize largely as one given to authors close to the end of their career. Albert still felt that he had much writing to do.

Death :

Death Camus died on January 4 th 1960 at the age of 46 in a car accident. He had a train ticket in his pocket, and two unfinished works in his briefcase. The unfinished autobiography in his briefcase was later published in 1995.

Absurdism Candy:

Absurdism Candy What is absurdism ? What philosophical belief is Camus commonly (and mistakenly) associated with? What philosophical belief did Camus fight?


Absurdism : Absurdism : “In philosophy, ‘The Absurd’ refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any. In this context absurd does not mean ‘logically impossible,’ but rather ‘humanly impossible.’” In other words, it would be impossible for humans to find the meaning of life. There is meaning, but we cannot know it. One finds happiness in accepting this fact and living life to the fullest Camus was commonly mistaken to be an existentialist, a result of his relationship with Sarte Camus fought against the philosophy of nihilism, the idea that life is meaningless and there is not intrinsic morality.

Camus Philosophy :

Camus Philosophy Camus frequently rejected the notion that he was a philosopher, and preferred to be referred to as a writer. Camus was deeply political. He rejected the political polarization of the time, favoring neither communism or capitalism after the war. Camus believed cultural assimilation did not consist of transformation of cultures, but rather acceptance of a culture. Camus was strongly anti-totalitarianism, anti-colonialism, and anti-capital punishment. Camus considered himself an atheist, stating religion is only a form of intellectual suicide into the psychological comfort which comes with perceived salvation. Much of the ideas discussed in Camus’s works involve the meaning of life, rebellion, and guilt. “ What is a rebel? A man who says no.” “ Man wants to live, but it is useless to hope that this desire will dictate all his actions.” “Virtue cannot separate itself from reality without becoming a principle of evil.”

The Legend of Sisyphus :

The Legend of Sisyphus The Myth of Sisyphus is a reflection on absurdist philosophy, relating the pointlessness of Sisyphus pushing his stone around to finding the meaning of life Sisyphus is a Greek myth of a son of Oedipus who cheated death, angering the gods, especially Pluto. He was sentenced to push a rock up a mountain and then push it down for eternity. Albert’s essay eventually determines that toil and life is as meaningless as pushing the rock, since we are all doomed to die eventually. Sisyphus is glorified for living life to the fullest and defying the Gods

Bonus Candy!:

Bonus Candy! Bonus candy to whomever can name a play, novel, and non fiction/essay work by Camus!

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