Camus

History (much like his contemporaries) has tended to judge Camusharshly as mediocre philosopher, conflicted man of the leftand, worst of all, apologist for French imperialism. Yet, as DavidSherman argues in this rewarding new study, a sensitive reading ofthe entirety of Camus s writings reveals both a power andunity of philosophical purpose. The ethico–political sympathiesmanifested in these writings evidence an integrity that places himamong the greatest and most vital humanist voices of our time.

The book covers all of Camus s significant writings andincludes thorough expositions of The Myth of Sisyphus, TheStranger, The Fall, The Plague, and The Rebel. Adiscussion of the metaphysical and practical connotations ofCamus s celebrated concept of The Absurd lays the foundationfor a discussion of the later works, which are considered in thecontext of Camus s basic ethical orientation. This, it iscontended, harks back (and, with its recent resurgence, forward) toa virtue ethics of sorts. It is argued that Camus s literarycharacters are purified phenomenological portraits that reflect theexistential temptations of an overwhelmed modern consciousness, andthe ethico–political works reflect the efforts of a morallycommitted consciousness to come to grips with a modern world unableto make good the moral imperative. In the end, it is argued, Camusoffers a phenomenological ethics, which is all that is left ofvirtue ethics when social life has broken down.

Acknowledgments.

List of Abbreviations.

Introduction: Situating Camus.

1. Camus s Life.

2. The Absurd.

3. Life.

4. Scorn.

5. Solidarity.

6. Rebellion.

7. Realpolitik.

8. Exile and Rebirth.

9. Epilogue.

Index.

David Sherman is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Montana at Missoula. He is the author of Sartre and Adorno: The Dialectics of Subjectivity (2007) and co–editor of The Blackwell Guide to Continental Philosophy (2003).

Sherman′s book provides an excellent account of Camus′fortunes and misfortunes in the intellectual realm in Franceimmediately following the war. ( Notre Dame PhilosophicalReviews, April 2009)

Sherman persuasively argues that what emerges fromCamus s writing is the portrait of a man of courage anddecency. Recommended to all academic libraries and universityforeign–language departments with strong French programs. (Library Journal, February 2009)