Love, in the light of christian thought and Albert Camus absurd hero

• Main Author: Waje, July G.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1998
• Subjects: Christianity; Love; Absurd (Philosophy); Emotions (Philosophy); Nihilism (Philosophy); Irrationalism (Philosophy); Religions
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/1627
• Institution: De La Salle University

Love is one of the very basic emotions felt by man and is universal in nature. Although there are a lot of interpretations made by different people with regards to this feeling, this thesis concentrates on viewing love int the light of both Christian thought and the philosophy of Absurdity by Albert Camus. This paper is a comparative study which involves the analysis of two contrasting viewpoints namely Christianity and Albert Camus when it comes to the universal concept of love. This study is an attempt to answer the question regarding the possibility of Christianity trying to accommodate Camus' philosophy of absurdity. More concretely, this study revolves around one main question. Is it possible for the Christian to view life in the eyes of the absurd hero when it comes to the concept of love? At a glance, it would seem that it is not possible for two very opposing viewpoints to find a common ground when it comes to love since their ideas are so contradictory to one another. On the other hand, with the aid of the comparative study approach, the author of this thesis is able to find a common ground between the two viewpoints when it comes to the universal concept of love. This paper discusses both Christianity's point of view regarding that human emotion called love in the light of traditional Christian faith and Albert Camus' point of view when it comes to showing compassion and concern for man who also experience a lot of anxieties due to the uncertainties of life which he believes to be absurd. This paper also tackles Albert Camus' own criticism of the Christian religion. This paper also shows that interpretations of both Christianity and Albert Camus when it comes to viewing life may be extremely different. Despite this, they still are similar in so far as they both experience the same kind of universal love. They part in so far as they have different interpretations or presuppositions to the concept of love but at the end of the comparative study talk about the same emotion felt.