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Albert Camus and the Phenomenon of Solidarity

Purdue, Zachary James

Abstract Details

2011, MA, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Philosophy.
In an interview, Albert Camus once said, “I am not a philosopher. I don’t believe enough in reason to believe in a system. What interests me is knowing how one ought to conduct oneself. And more precisely, how to conduct oneself when one believes neither in God nor in reason.” Can we cull a traditional ethic from Camus’ corpus? Despite a seeming admonition in the previous quote, some authors have answered this question positively. Focusing on works from Camus’ self-described “Rebellion Series,” such as The Plague, The Rebel and State of Siege, I answer the question negatively. While nominally on the issue of whether Camus left behind something resembling a well-formed ethic of the traditional variety, this thesis is in large part a response to the work done on the topic by David Sherman in his 2009 book entitled Camus. In this book, Sherman claims that Camus has an ethic, which starts at virtue ethics, moves toward “phenomenological ethics,” and ends up back at a virtue ethics “of sorts.” In this thesis, I summarize and evaluate Sherman’s claims in Camus. I disagree with Sherman's position regarding Camus’ ethic and argue that one cannot extract a traditional ethic from Camus' work.
Linda Williams, PhD (Advisor)
Deborah Barnbaum, PhD (Committee Member)
Lewis Fried, PhD (Committee Member)
Jeffrey Wattles, PhD (Committee Member)
79 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Purdue, Z. J. (2011). Albert Camus and the Phenomenon of Solidarity [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1305753098

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Purdue, Zachary. Albert Camus and the Phenomenon of Solidarity. 2011. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1305753098.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Purdue, Zachary. "Albert Camus and the Phenomenon of Solidarity." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1305753098

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)