Most of Albert Camus' writings focus on the philosophy of the absurd. His main character in the novel, The Stranger, exemplifies what an absurd man is and his essay The Myth of Sisyphus guides readers through his reasoning for his belief and the conclusion he reaches. Camus' life philosophy according to him is that life has no meaning as there is an infinite circular path of meaning which can only be ended by suicide. By this he means that if someone found meaning in life, they would eventually lose that reason to live and would have to make a choice. This is whether to commit suicide or try to find another meaning. The only end to this cycle is death, otherwise it would be suicide. Camus believes that the absurd is irrational in its form. Camus also shows that absurdity is an unstoppable force. Even the absurd does not think or consider the future with his actions. Next, the circular argument about the meaning of life has only two options to follow. Furthermore, Camus describes the absurdity of man's relationship with time. Finally, Camus sees suicide as a response to the absurdity of life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayCamus believes that the universe acts irrationally or absurdly. As Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray states, “The absurd, for Camus, has two sources: the universe and death. The first is the idea that absurdity lies in the chaos and irrationality of the universe” (Baltzer-Jaray) The universe can stick to its laws; however, he acts irrationally in certain situations. It does not rationalize events like a human will. If a soldier is captured as a prisoner of war and succumbs to brutal torture at the hands of enemies. That soldier would consider that situation absurd. What need was there for him to be tortured as a prisoner of war? It could be explained that the enemy wanted information for their own benefit; however, the soldier would not be so willing to forgive the poor treatment received and would consider the event absurd. Camus explains this as the universe acting irrationally. Just as the absurd is irrational and unpredictable, the absurd is also unstoppable in its effects. Camus believes that absurdity does not take into account the future. The absurd doesn't stop and wonders if what he does now will affect what might happen in the future. Camus' main character in the novel The Stranger exemplifies absurdity. Meursault does not act in preparation for future events. As stated by Dilek Baskaya in his essay, “Another peculiarity of Meursault that makes him absurd is that he perceives and lives only in the present time while in a society people are expected to have the concept of all three phases of time ” (Baskaya) . He states that as a society people consider all three phases of time: past, present, and future. People will consider past mistakes and work not to make them again, they will consider what is happening in the present and plan accordingly, and people will prepare for their future with a retirement fund. Meursault does not think in terms of the past or future, he only considers what is happening in the moment. Throughout the novel he never plans any activities with people. He simply accepts everything that is proposed to him. The novel follows his thoughts and rarely mentions how his past has affected the present or will affect the future. He rarely thinks twice about his actions such as killing a man. There was almost no time for reflection between the moment Meursault sees the Arab and the moment he kills him. Meursault is not thinking rationally at this moment, butabsurdly. The absurdity that Camus is trying to describe is shown in Meursault's trial. Any sane human being would try to plead their case to be acquitted or receive the least severe punishment possible. This type of thinking is not what Meursault does. Instead of defending himself he remains silent and shows little to no emotion just as he did at his mother's funeral. The prosecutor even uses it against him during the trial: “I accuse the prisoner of having behaved at his mother's funeral in a way that showed that he was already a criminal at heart” (Camus 60). Meursault's absurd way of thinking is demonstrated during the trial with his attitude and responses. The whole point of the defendant's testimony is to defend your reasons for committing the crime to the best of your ability; however, Meursault does not take full advantage of this opportunity to explain himself to the jury. Although Camus believed that absurdity was present in everything; believes there is an end to life. This end that Camus discovers is death. One of the greatest questions of philosophy: “To be or not to be”. Camus believes that every human being desires to find the meaning of life to feel a sense of purpose and determination. This meaning of life is what motivates people to engage in whatever they do, whether it is teaching, healing people, or building buildings. Without this meaning humans lose sight of what to work on. Camus believes that there is no meaning in life. He explains that life is reduced to a circular discussion that can only end with death. In Camus' “The Myth of Sisyphus,” he states, “in a universe suddenly stripped of illusions and lights, man feels like a stranger, a stranger. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost homeland and the hope of a promised land” (Camus 497). Camus explains that when the universe becomes transparent man experiences an exile and there seems to be no hope for a better future like heaven. This is the moment when man is faced with the decision proposed by Camus to end it now or continue on the endless circular path until death. Camus also sees an irrational way of thinking when a man thinks about his position in time. Camus describes depending on and placing our hope in tomorrow as absurd. As children we always wish we could grow up or as adults we wish we could retire so we could stop working. Camus states: “He belongs to the time and from the horror that grips him he recognizes his worst enemy. Tomorrow he desired tomorrow, while everything in him should reject it” (Camus 503). Camus realizes that tomorrow is not what humans should live for because he will never stop until it is too late. When you are on your deathbed, you will realize that tomorrow is not what you should hope for. Why would people want to reach death faster? Camus explains that this realization is absurd since it is ridiculous to wish for a time closer to death. People are supposed to fear death and not want the uncertainty associated with it. Camus also explains that suicide is not just the end of the circular path. Camus interprets the act of committing suicide as a confession of defeat. The man contemplates suicide because he cannot continue and does not possess the strength necessary to continue. As stated in an article by Ronald Aronson, “Camus sees the question of suicide as a natural response to an underlying premise, namely that life is absurd in various ways” (Aronson). Suicide is caused by the absurdity of life and our inability to deal with it. A man who loses every loved one sees his situation as absurd, so he commits suicide to escape.