Editing Absurdism (section)

== Definition ==
Absurdism is the [[Philosophy|philosophical]] thesis that life, or the world in general, is absurd. There is wide agreement that the term "absurd" implies a lack of [[Meaning of life|meaning]] or purpose but there is also significant dispute concerning its exact definition and various versions have been suggested.<ref name="Gordon1984"/><ref name="Nagel2012"/><ref name="Pölzler2014"/><ref name="Fox2019"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Merriam-Webster |date=16 May 2023 |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/absurdism}}</ref> The choice of one's definition has important implications for whether the thesis of absurdism is correct and for the arguments cited for and against it: it may be true on one definition and false on another.<ref name="Belliotti2019Introduction">{{cite book |last1=Belliotti |first1=Raymond Angelo |title=Is Human Life Absurd? A Philosophical Inquiry into Finitude, Value, and Meaning |year= 2019 |publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-40879-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Up4hxwEACAAJ |language=en |chapter=Introduction}}</ref>

In a general sense, the absurd is that which lacks a sense, often because it involves some form of [[contradiction]]. The absurd is paradoxical in the sense that it cannot be grasped by [[reason]].<ref name="MetzlerAbsurd">{{cite book |editor1-last=Mittelstraß |editor1-first=Jürgen |title=Enzyklopädie Philosophie und Wissenschaftstheorie |date=2005 |publisher=Metzler |url=https://www.springer.com/de/book/9783476021083 |chapter=absurd/das Absurde}}</ref><ref name="Bertman1971">{{cite journal |last1=Bertman |first1=Martin A. |title=Education and Absurdism |journal=The Educational Forum |date=January 1971 |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=239–241 |doi=10.1080/00131727109340469 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00131727109340469 |language=en |issn=0013-1725|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The American Heritage Dictionary entry: absurd |url=https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=absurd |website=www.ahdictionary.com |publisher=HarperCollins Publishers |access-date=21 April 2022}}</ref> But in the context of absurdism, the term is usually used in a more specific sense. According to most definitions, it involves a conflict, discrepancy, or collision between two things. Opinions differ on what these two things are.<ref name="Gordon1984"/><ref name="Nagel2012"/><ref name="Pölzler2014"/><ref name="Fox2019"/> For example, it is traditionally identified as the confrontation of [[Rationality|rational]] man with an irrational world or as the attempt to grasp something based on reasons even though it is beyond the limits of rationality.<ref name="Blomme2013"/><ref name="OxfordAbsurd">{{cite book |editor1-last=Honderich |editor1-first=Ted |title=The Oxford Companion to Philosophy |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/HONTOC-2 |chapter=absurd, the}}</ref> Similar definitions see the discrepancy between [[intention]] and outcome, between aspiration and [[reality]], or between subjective assessment and objective worth as the source of absurdity.<ref name="Gordon1984"/><ref name="Pölzler2014"/> Other definitions locate both conflicting sides within man: the ability to apprehend the arbitrariness of final ends and the inability to let go of commitments to them.<ref name="Fox2019"/> In regard to the conflict, absurdism differs from [[nihilism]] since it is not just the thesis that nothing matters. Instead, it includes the component that things seem to matter to us nonetheless and that this impression cannot be shaken off. This difference is expressed in the relational aspect of the absurd in that it constitutes a conflict between two sides.<ref name="Fox2019"/><ref name="Gordon1984"/><ref name="Nagel2012"/>

Various components of the absurd have been suggested and different researchers often focus their definition and inquiry on one of these components. Some accounts emphasize the practical components concerned with the individual seeking meaning while others stress the theoretical components about being unable to [[Knowledge|know]] the world or to rationally grasp it. A different disagreement concerns whether the conflict exists only internal to the individual or is between the individual's expectations and the [[World#Philosophy of mind|external world]]. Some theorists also include the [[Metacognition|metacognitive]] component that the absurd entails that the individual is aware of this conflict.<ref name="Nagel2012"/><ref name="Pölzler2014"/><ref name="Baltzer-Jaray2014"/><ref name="Fox2019"/>

An important aspect of absurdism is that the absurd is not limited to particular situations but encompasses life as a whole.<ref name="Nagel2012"/><ref name="Gordon1984"/><ref name="Simpson">{{cite web |last1=Simpson |first1=David |title=Camus, Albert: i. The Absurd |url=https://iep.utm.edu/albert-camus/#SSH5ci |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |access-date=25 April 2022}}</ref> There is a general agreement that people are often confronted with absurd situations in everyday life.<ref name="MetzlerAbsurd"/> They often arise when there is a serious mismatch between one's intentions and reality.<ref name="Nagel2012"/> For example, a person struggling to break down a heavy front door is absurd if the house they are trying to break into lacks a back wall and could easily be entered on this route.<ref name="Gordon1984"/> But the philosophical thesis of absurdism is much more wide-reaching since it is not restricted to individual situations, persons, or phases in life. Instead, it asserts that life, or the world as a whole, is absurd. The claim that the absurd has such a global extension is controversial, in contrast to the weaker claim that some situations are absurd.<ref name="Nagel2012"/><ref name="Gordon1984"/><ref name="Simpson"/>

The perspective of absurdism usually comes into view when the agent takes a step back from their individual everyday engagements with the world to assess their importance from a bigger context.<ref name="Fox2019"/><ref name="Nagel2012"/><ref name="Hamer2020"/> Such an assessment can result in the insight that the day-to-day engagements matter a lot to us despite the fact that they lack real meaning when evaluated from a wider perspective. This assessment reveals the conflict between the significance seen from the internal perspective and the arbitrariness revealed through the external perspective.<ref name="Fox2019"/> The absurd becomes a problem since there is a strong [[desire]] for meaning and purpose even though they seem to be absent.<ref name="MetzlerAbsurd"/> In this sense, the conflict responsible for the absurd often either constitutes or is accompanied by an [[existential crisis]].<ref name="Belliotti2019Preface"/><ref name="Hamer2020"/>