Albert Camus and ideology

[Slavoj Zizek's Balls]

I ran into this quote while briefly looking up Albert Camus.

"Every ideology is contrary to human psychology."

So three things I'd like to know:

• What does he mean by this (your interpretation)?

• What is your opinion of his works in general?

• Which of his books is easiest to start with?

The floor is yours.

[TheIrrationalist]

How I understand it, he saw ideology as an justification for murder and exploitation. Two of the main ideologies of his time were capitalism/liberalism and soviet communism/Marxism-Leninism, both of which he opposed. So, ideology was created for justification for misdeeds of humans. Knowledge his philosophy of Absurdism, which is quite close to Sartre's Existentialism (but not quite), is the key to understand why he had this view on ideology. His renunciation of ideologies of capitalism and communism, and basically his whole philosophy, led him to anarchism.

My opinion of Camus? Well his book The Stranger is maybe my all time favourite novel. I haven't yet read many of his essays, except few fragments from his essays that I could find in my local library.

The Stranger is a must read to understand further his philosophy, also his essays The Myth of Sisyphus and The Rebel are quite central for his philosophy.

[Slavoj Zizek's Balls]

That book was incredible, especially the part with the chaplain where it all comes together.

The powerful paragraph below really clinches the final scene (spoilers).

As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the benign indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself—so like a brother, really—I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with howls of execration.

[Rafiq]

It's nonsense. "Human psychology" as such does not exist. To say so is ideological.

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[Yuppie Grinder]

It's nonsense. "Human psychology" as such does not exist. To say so is ideological.

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You mean human psychology is adaptable and not eternal.

[Fionnagáin]

It's nonsense. "Human psychology" as such does not exist. To say so is ideological.
I don't know. It seems reasonable to say that so long as individual psychology is tied to the brute fact of organic neurological structures, certain commonalities exist between individual psychologies, and that we might serviceably characterise these commonalities as "human psychology", in much the same way as we're able to talk about "human biology".

[evermilion]

It strikes me like nothing more than an ice cream koan.

[Slavoj Zizek's Balls]

It strikes me like nothing more than an ice cream koan.

As if Camus tries to show the inadequacy of logical reason... /sarcasm
Can I ask what the point of saying that was?

[blake 3:17]

Where's that from?

A few months ago I came across a short book on Camus, which got me interested in him again and some of the intellectual/political milieu he was a part of in the late 40s, early 50s. There was some interesting material on the government of Pierre Mendes France who withdrew France from Vietnam.

A short piece on Camus and anarchosyndicalism: http://libcom.org/library/albert-camus-anarchists

[Slavoj Zizek's Balls]

Where's that from?

A few months ago I came across a short book on Camus, which got me interested in him again and some of the intellectual/political milieu he was a part of in the late 40s, early 50s. There was some interesting material on the government of Pierre Mendes France who withdrew France from Vietnam.

A short piece on Camus and anarchosyndicalism: http://libcom.org/library/albert-camus-anarchists

Thanks Blake.

What's what from?

[evermilion]

Can I ask what the point of saying that was?

I was responding to an invitation to express my opinion on the quote. Speaking of the inadequacy of logical reason, do you even know what a koan is? They're scenarios meant to expand the mind beyond logical reasoning, and, although old koans have gained a tradition of "correct" solutions, no koan really has a "right" answer. It's about achieving understanding of something beyond the intellect.

Sun Tzu (not Japanese, I know; bear with me) said "One may know how to conquer without being able to do it." Art of War. IV. Tactical Dispositions - 4.) The purpose of a koan is to reach satori, a state of understanding beyond the intellect so that one can live the truth, rather than simply know it.

[blake 3:17]

@Grey Scholar -- I was wondering where "Every ideology is contrary to human psychology" was from. The word, ideology, has so many meanings, I'd be wary of guessing. Terry Eagleton's book on it is excellent.

[Crixus]

I'd recommend The Myth Of Sisyphus and The Rebel. You can also find, online, some of the works he published in various anarchist publications.

[Eleutheromaniac]

• What does he mean by this (your interpretation)?
Maybe he is referring to something similar to that of Nietzsche when he wrote On the Genealogy of Morals. When Nietzsche said that "good" comes from the powerful and that the "English psychologists" have an incorrect perception of the genealogy of moral values, he mentioned a deep-seeded hatred of the powerful. I am a layman in philosophy, but I figured that perhaps there might be some sort of connection here?