Abstract
This chapter outlines Camus’ critique of abstract moral reasoning and the steps he undertook as a writer to construct an alternative method. Like any writer, he struggled with the development of his own style, but here I suggest that this was driven by the desire to forge new ways of doing philosophy and to develop philosophical form which was not only appropriate but also in some ways indivisible from its ethical content. I suggest that Camus wants to achieve a style of philosophical writing which does justice to the messiness of morality, brings about an intersubjective experience of the Other, and enables us to reflect on our own moral convictions.
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Notes
- 1.
In French: ‘Si être philosophe, c’est pour poser toutes ces questions, non sous forme théorique, abstraite, conceptuelle, mais … à travers des personnages qui refusent d’être des surhommes, à travers des aventures qui se jouent dans la quotidienneté de la vie réelle, alors, oui, Camus, dans ses romans comme dans ses essais, a été philosophe.’
- 2.
A colleague from the White Rose Aesthetics Forum, Dr Aaron Meskin, drolly suggested I entitle this book ‘Camus for Grown-ups’, highlighting how little this philosopher is taken seriously in the current climate.
- 3.
Of course, Camus’ literary stylings are still innovative in literary terms, but they aren’t nearly as radical, we might say, as the likes of Joyce or Breton. But what is radical about Camus is his free use of creative methods in communicating philosophical ideas, as opposed to the literary stylings themselves, innovative as they are.
- 4.
This is of course not a categorical judgement; certainly some analytic philosophers recognise the necessity of addressing moral ambiguity (e.g. Hampshire 1991; Foot 2002; MacIntyre 2007; Murdoch 2013). Rather, I point this out in order to illuminate the context of Camus’ critique of philosophical abstractions.
- 5.
- 6.
It is important to acknowledge that Nussbaum has quite different projects in Love’s Knowledge and Poetic Justice. In Love’s Knowledge she promotes the use of novels (notably those of Henry James) as a necessary supplement to moral philosophy. In Poetic Justice she promotes the use of novels (e.g. those of Dickens) as elements of a moral education, aimed especially at law students. Posner has different arguments against the two projects. Against the Love’s Knowledge project he argues that her readings of James are reductive and that other possible readings wouldn’t serve the ends of moral philosophy at all (these arguments, being aimed solely at her reading of James, are not particularly relevant to the aims of this book—although the issue of different readings and interpretations of the works discussed in this book will necessarily come up again throughout). Against the Poetic Justice project, he uses the above arguments to the effect that most literary works are useless at making people better, more moral, citizens. While this book is not concerned with the kind of moral education that law practitioners require, some of Nussbaum’s claims in Poetic Justice are certainly relevant to the current project because Camus is not only concerned with the idea that novels could contribute to moral philosophy (as Nussbaum argues in Love’s Knowledge), but also that people might become better citizens (i.e. more morally reflective people) by reading novels (which is Nussbaum’s primary concern in Poetic Justice).
- 7.
Eaton argues precisely this in her paper ‘Robust Immoralism’ (Eaton 2012).
- 8.
For a discussion of the kind of knowledge this might be, see Chap. 7.
- 9.
Or to use Eaton’s examples, Hannibal Lecter from the novels of Thomas Harris, or Humbert Humbert from Nabokov’s Lolita (Eaton 2012, 281–292).
- 10.
While Camus isn’t mentioned in Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy, Williams nevertheless uses a quote from La Chute as an epigraph: ‘Quand on n’a pas de caractère, il faut bien se donner une méthode’, which translates as ‘When you don’t have character, you’d better get yourself a method’ (Williams 1983, xviii). Williams’ choice of quote, which seems to be directed at contemporary ethics’ over reliance on method, illuminates the relevance of Camus and his vision of the role of character—both fictional and moral.
- 11.
Strawson’s translation.
- 12.
In spite of the importance Goldie bestows future-directed narratives (see Goldie 2014).
- 13.
In French: ‘Ça, c’est le point de départ. Mais Camus n’adopte pas l’absurde. Il décrit l’absurde. … Camus se contente de décrire l’absurde pour voir comment on peut en sortir.’ (my translation).
- 14.
- 15.
In French, ‘Je me révolte, donc nous sommes’ (my translation).
- 16.
To claim that Camus manifested all his philosophical content in literary form may at first seem like somewhat of an exaggeration. However, if we consider that his two most substantial philosophical essays were each part of ‘cycles’ of writing which also encompass multiple literary works on the same themes, this immediately becomes more plausible. The matter of these ‘cycles’ will be returned to later on in this chapter.
- 17.
In French, ‘Si tu veux être philosophe, écris des romans’ (my translation).
- 18.
Translation from Todd 1998, 142–143.
- 19.
In French, ‘J’ai abandonné le point de vue morale. La morale mène à l’abstraction et à l’injustice’ (my translation).
- 20.
In French, ‘Albert Camus était à la fois profondément sensible à l’existence d’une morale et critique à l’égard de cette notion. Il en rejetait certaines définition, tradition et pratique: celles de la Morale pourvue d’une majuscule, pourrait-on dire. La Morale ‘tue’, ‘dévore’, aux yeux de Camus, quand elle est formelle, dogmatique, abstraite, ou aveuglément ambitieuse. Elle peut, en ce cas, conduire à faire fausse route—à ignorer, par exemple, les particularités et complexités de l’histoire et des individus.’ (my translation).
- 21.
In French, ‘Vraiment, le peu de morale que je sais, je l’ai appris sur les terrains de football et les scènes de théâtre qui resteront mes vraies universités.’ (my translation).
- 22.
In French, ‘Justification de l’art: La véritable œuvre d’art aide à la sincérité, renforce la complicité des hommes’ (my translation).
- 23.
In French, ‘un moyen d’émouvoir le plus grand nombre d’hommes en leur offrant une image privilégiée des souffrances et des joies communes’ (my translation).
- 24.
In French, ‘Nos vrais moralistes … n’ont pas légiféré, ils ont peint. Et par là ils ont plus fait pour éclairer la conduite des hommes que s’ils avaient poli patiemment … une certaine de formules définitives, vouées aux dissertations de bacheliers. C’est que le roman seul est fidèle au particulier. Son objet n’est pas les conclusions de la vie mais son déroulement même.’ (my translation).
- 25.
In French, ‘[Camus] n’a jamais dissocié les dimensions esthétique et éthique de l’écriture’ (my translation).
- 26.
In French, ‘L’œuvre camusienne et un miroir parce que l’expérience de l’auteur est aussi bien celle du lecteur, celle de tout ou chacun. Du je des personnages naît le je du lecteur, et cette dynamique fait s’édifier un nous. A travers ce tremplin éthique qu’est l’œuvre camusienne, le singulier fait naître l’universel.’ (my translation).
- 27.
In French, ‘la découverte de soi passe par l’expérience de ces autres que sont les personnages et dans lesquels chaque lecteur ne cesse de s’interroger.’ (my translation).
- 28.
In French, ‘Un roman n’est jamais qu’une philosophie mise en images. Et dans un bon roman, toute la philosophie est passée dans les images. Mais il suffit qu’elle déborde les personnages et les actions, qu’elle apparaisse comme une étiquette sur l’œuvre, pour que l’intrigue perde son authenticité et le roman sa vie. Pourtant une œuvre durable ne peut se passer de pensée profonde. Et cette fusion secrète de l’expérience et de la pensée, de la vie et de la réflexion sur son sens, c’est elle qui fait le grand romancier’.
- 29.
For further biographical information see Todd 1996.
- 30.
Translation in Todd 1998, 133.
- 31.
Translation in Todd 1998, 131.
- 32.
As Camus wrote in a letter to Marguerite Dobrenn dated 17 August 1937 (translation Todd 1998, 65).
- 33.
As he wrote in a letter to Jeanne Sicard on 2 August 1937 (translation in Todd 1998, 72).
- 34.
As Camus wrote to his friend Pascal Pia on 2 June 1941 (translation in Todd 1998, 133).
- 35.
Relayed to Camus by letter by Pia, dated 27 May 1941 (translation in Todd 1998, 131).
- 36.
In an unsent letter to the critic Rousseaux, 1942 (translation in Todd 1998, 151–152).
- 37.
Letter to Francine, 26 November 1939 (translation in Todd 1998, 92).
- 38.
An entry in his notebooks reads ‘The third cycle is love: Le Premier Homme, Don Faust, Le Mythe de Némésis’ (Camus 2006, IV: 1245 in French, ‘Le troisième étage, c’est l’amour: Le Premier Homme, Don Faust. Le Mythe de Némésis’).
- 39.
Letter to his friend Claude de Fréminville, undated (translation in Todd 1998, 105).
- 40.
Letter to André Malraux, 15 November 1941 (translation in Todd 1998, 134).
- 41.
In French, ‘Pourquoi suis-je un artiste et non un philosophe? C’est que je pense selon les mots et non selon les idées’ (my translation).
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Whistler, G. (2020). Introduction: Context, Form, and Content. In: Camus' Literary Ethics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37756-4_1
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