*note: the start has been postponed by a week so more people can still join*
|| Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus introduced and discussed in 3 sessions with philosopher Humber van Straalen ||
‘In the end, there is only one fundamental philosophical problem, and that is suicide. All other things […] only come after this’. Thus reads the first line of Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus. In this book, the author claims that clear reflection on life shows that life is absurd, and he wonders what consequences we should draw from this.
In this reading group we will study the first chapter of this text, and use it as an introduction to some main themes of the ‘existentialist philosophy’-movement, which became popular in France and Germany between the 1920’s and 1950’s. We will discuss topics related to the book: in what sense is suicide a fundamental issue? What is existentialism? Should life have a meaning? Can animals consider suicide? What is ‘freedom’?
The book club meetings are open to all, especially for those with an interest in fundamental issues, and for those who need to ‘existentialize’ their bookshelves a bit.
Sign up by sending an email to us at sg@tudelft.nl with your name and phone number. Free copies of the text are included, as is a lunch. The book club will meet if there are at least 5 people participating, and no more than 15. If you sign up but can’t make it to one or more of the dates please let us know so we can free your spot!
Dates: February 16th, February 23rd, and March 2nd. From 12:40 till 1:30pm in a room in the TUD Library.
