Existentialism Lecture and The Stranger discussion

Starter
Watch this short video that perhaps offers a better way to understand "The Absurd"
"The Pale Blue Dot" narrated by Astronomer and astrophysicist, Carl Sagan

Then, for the next 10 minutes, journal on the following:

• How does this video help explain the concept of the Absurd?
• What is your impression of "The Absurd"?  What is your impression of Camus's recommendation for responding to the absurd? 
• What is your impression of Existentialism more generally? Do you agree with some aspects of the philosophy? Do you reject some aspects of the philosophy? Which ones? Why? 

CLASS BIZ
Homework for the week

AGENDA
1. Discuss the starter and a few key points:

• What is the difference between existentialism and the Absurd?
• Again, you don't have to love this philosophy-- perhaps you take bits and pieces-- that's how we form our own philosophies on life, bits and pieces of others as it helps us become less single-minded, less dogmatic, in our own beliefs.

2. Continue the  Existentialism Powerpoint presentation 
3. Discuss The Stranger (see below)
4. Part 1 of Honors Cat's Cradle Seminar (beginning at 9:45)
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The Stranger Discussion Questions
Food for thought: What is the significance of the title? Who is "the stranger" and in what ways are they estranged? How does Mersault's indifference relate to the Absurd?

1. FIRST:  What questions did you come up with in your groups yesterday?
2. Plot summary up to Part 2? 
3. Do you like Meursault? What is your opinion of him? How would you describe his personality? (Page 19: As I was waking up, it came to me why my boss had seemed annoyed when I asked him for two days off: Today is Saturday......But in the first place, it isn't my fault."  What element of existentialism does M's attitude contradict?); Read pages 22-24: Does Meursault take an active role in his own life? Why not?  
4. Read page 11 and page 18: Is Mersault's response to his mother's death simply indifference or it is something else?  Why might M not want to face the reality of his mother's death?  How does this compare with the way  Salamano reacts to/treats his old dog?
5. Camus says that WWI was supposed to be the war to end all wars, but then we had WWII so nothing really changed.  This is the cold indifference of the universe that he and other existentialists were picking up on. Why sacrifice all those lives in WWI if nothing really changed? 
6. CH. 3 deals a lot with the concept of morality and raises the question: Is there a universal sense of right/wrong?  And how do we respond in the face of apparent injustices? Existentialists rejected the idea of a universal code of ethics but did place responsibility on individuals to decide right and wrong for themselves and to act according to the person they want to be.  What are TWO examples in chapter three that pertain to this tenet of Existentialism? Does Meursault seem moral/immoral/amoral?  
7. Why would chapter 3 end with Salamano's dog whimper?
8. Read aloud pages 40-41: What is your analysis of Meursault's indifference? Why do you think he acts this way?  In his indifference, which tenet of Existentialism does his attitude contradict?
9. On page 39 Salamano cries about his dead dog and Mersault thinks of Maman.  Why? Is this a change in his character? Why or why not?
10. Page 45: "No cure for old age" mirrors a line earlier on "There's no way out"-- In a way Camus is setting the stage for Mersault (and the reader) to recognize the absurd in the inevitability of death....urging us not to hide from it or deny the reality of death.​