You know, I'm getting a lot of comments from people who are in the same boat, more or less -- they want to study philosophy, but for one reason or another they're not able to got to college/university -- either at all or at the time. So, there's a pretty serious desire out there, among a lot of people, to not only read and study philosophy, but to do so in some way kinda like what occurs in college/university. I've got to say that, on my end, that's pretty cool to see

Camus is an avowed atheist, like some other Existentialists like Sartre, De Beauvoir, Nietzsche. He criticizes theistic Existentialists like Kierkegaard or Shestov. I'm not sure how there's confusion about this. If one is an Atheist, that doesn't mean that every single thing the person says comes out of or is an expression of atheism.

This video was suggested after my most recent song about Sisyphus, and holy crap, your channel is EXACTLY what I have been looking for - intellectually satisfying philosophy videos by someone who doesn't live in a bubble of musty sweaters and dusty armchairs. A KZfaq channel of someone who understands what youtube is good for, the modern day, and even modern politics, and doesn't let that dumb down the subject being dealt with or let the subject being dealt with become too divorced from a modern audience. I didn't understand just how well you introduced the problem until the absolutely brilliant summation in the last ten minutes. The sociopolitical implications of different ways of dealing with "the absurd" is exactly what I was trying to get at in my book, Void. I will now add your channel to my list of videos to devour like I do with certain TED videos, which are also great in similar respects. As an aside, I think you may find it amusing to know you remind me a bit of Christian Bale, were he playing the part of a professor. Keep this channel going, and if you don't have a video about Schopenhauer yet, please make one. Thank you for doing this for everyone to see on KZfaq.

Discovering the works of Camus made me feel not alone in the world, while watching your videos has a greater effect than months of psychotherapy.

Glad you find the videos useful. I'm not a Camus follower myself -- when I teach anyone's works, I attempt to present their position as fully as possible, in such a way as to make it a plausible way to see things

Your lectures are lucid, understandable and informative. Thanks a lot for doing all of this for free.

Glad it was useful for you -- there's two other vids specifically on the Mtyh of Sisyphus

I certainly have -- one of my first contacts with existentialism, back in high school -- one off the works that made me want to read more from and know more about Camus. I'll be devoting a lecture to The Stranger in the next month or so -- but I'll be concentrating even more (with multiple lectures) on The Plague, The Rebel, and maybe even Camus' Notebooks

You're very welcome. I'm going to keep on with shooting and uploading free videos for a long time, I think (lots of stuff to shoot videos on) -- though you notice I do allow the ads. We're also in the process of putting together online courses that these videos are going to be components of. The "bare bones" class, which will have materials to go along with the videos, for self-study, will be free. The more intensive and instructor-interactive levels are going to be pay, but not expensive

Great video, Dr. Sadler. Thanks so much for posting these for us. Best, AJ

Great video, I appreciate your concise and lucid explanations. Thanks for the post!

Gregory, thankyou for your generous gesture of making Philosophy accessible to all. Loved this series on Sisyphus. Understanding more of the themes has benefitted me greatly- thankyou. I really appreciate your energy and effort in putting together this fabulous resource. Cheers!:) Annie

new video in the ongoing Existentialist Philosophy and Literature series

20:33 I absolutely love that quote. When I was reading The Myth of Sisyphus that line stood out the most to me 😊

Thank you for these helpful presentations, it really helps me to better understand what my English teachers are trying to convey.

It's worth noting that Sisyphus couldn't commit suicide or rely on illusion of an after life because he condemned to eternal futile labor. He had no choice but to accept his fate. We human can choose to commit suicide. If there's no go or afterlife, death is simply a painless non existence. From that point of view, death is not the problem, life is. We are all condemned to life. Suicide is end of all suffering.

Oh my, this is an excellent channel. I've always been meaning to get into philosophy. Your channel looks like it has a wealth of information; I don't know where to begin.

You're welcome -- glad it was helpful

You're very welcome. Glad the videos are a useful source for you

I just want to say thank you for doing this lesson sir. I've been wanting to learn about Camus and your video help me a great deal.

I've red this several years ago and now I noticed I missed a few points, I am grateful for this video.

Good -- glad to hear it!

Thank you for sharing this friendly and enlightening talk

Thanks! -- well, I guess it depends on what you want to get into first. I'd suggest looking at the available playlists and seeing which ones draw you most

These three videos make me feel closest to what I call the naked crises: the rush of nihilism, the Absurd, and existentialist angst/anxiety. Oddly enough, I've always wanted to experience these again in my lifetime and your elucidating, expounding and explicating of these kinds of philosophy, makes this the closest I've ever come! Thank you, professor!

new video in the Existentialist Philosophy and Literature sequence -- part 1 available as well: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ldCjY5mDrJbSY5c.html

Great video, Dr. Sadler. Thanks so much

Thank you so much for this video! Really enjoyed it.

I'm very glad that it has helped you out with learning about Camus -- a guy I've always liked, though not necessarily agreed with

Hi Greg, Just wanted to thank you for taking the time and educating us. I am a physician and practice emergency medicine. I am faced with suffering and death many times per day and for 22 years...... I see the obsurdity of life and pondered the question of why so much pain and suffering ! You have added a new and different perspective ...... Not sure if a better one or not, nonetheless a new one...... Keep educating and I am sure we will benefit.. Best wishes.

Excellent video, discussion on one of my favorite philosophers and one of my favorite books!

Gregory, Fantastic video ! You have a brilliant way of presenting Camus's idea's! I applaud you good sir.

Given how many people there are on the internet, that's really high praise! Thanks!

That's a good librarian. Glad you had someone like that to suggest Camus to you!

You're very welcome. As to how technical they are -- I'm not a particularly of judge of my own work. Some viewers seem to think they're not overly technical, but it's hard for me to say.

A very illuminating presentation. Thank you.

Thanks for the video, it helps me to understand the book and the idea of absurdity of life.

Hi, I really admire what you do! Your are helping many, just like my self, to get a better understanding of profound and philosophical books that not everyone can completely grasp. And in this case you’ve enormously help me clear Camus philosophy more that I woulda ever done alone. So I wanna thank you for this, and also ask you if you were planning on also doing any analysis on The Rebel, a book thar I find a hard time to get my head around to! And I’m sure you would’ve be able to help many with this masterpiece ! :)

I am reading the book now and that is a really great video, thanks for the good work, from Brazil. :)

I would like to thank you for this and all your videos which i'll be engaging now that I have discovered it. I had never read much existentialism other than the literary likes of Doestovesky, pardon the sure misspelling, Kafka and my favorite author, Camus. At the age of 17, when my brother was in college getting BA in philosophy, I experienced something for years i couldn't describe. When I read Camus' fictional works, I found a common thread. This experience took many turns, from its first exuberance (from a depression i had felt since puberty, roughly at age 10, which i would finally realize is definitely a chemical imbalance that we call bipolarism of the second type) to a loss that lead first to drug addiction then a suicide which i survived (attempt is such a sickly word to describe a full fledged decision). In and out of college for ten years, nearing my end of drug addiction with the occasional, functional, but still detrimental crystal meth (my last drug of choice, which it indeed is) I find myself looming back to my academic roots (I lack three electives and two spanish classes for my BA from GSU, unable to finish what is basically a semester due to the incredible rising cost of higher education) I am poet first, it often seems, and a man second. The absurd is something very real to me and very hard to cope with it but simultaneously lights a fire to an engine that means to learn, to engage, to discover, and hopefully one day to an acceptance (if not happiness, which is a feeling i have rarely felt in life) of this, my existence. I cannot wait to finish this series on Camus, go back and watch the entirety of Existentialism, and then go back and watch all of your lectures from day one. You and others such as you, not just teachers or professors but other artist, writers, and musicians, poets and brothers and sisters and information, data if you will, you inspire me. You help me say, this action of smoking meth is bullocks (as our cousins across the sea would say) and help a barely lit passion begin to burn. I must go forward. Thank you. All peace always amig@, aaron.

This lecture is so clear and helpful. I am so grateful that you give these for people like myself.

Well, this Carpenter from NY thanks you. I'm not sure what your goal is in making these but I hope you continue to make these high quality videos (no, I don't mean resolution but content). Gotta go to bed. Have a great weekend.

Yeah i read it my freshman year! the librarian noticed i checked out many of the books in the humanities section so she recommended this books I enjoyed it!

Well, not in the Existentialism sequence, but perhaps in a later sequence on post-Hegelian dialectical thought, which as far as I understand is where Stirner fits best. I have to admit though, that I'd need to immerse myself in his work before I'd shoot a video on it

Amazing, you’re really good educator in many ways. You make me pick up a New thought every time. Very entertaining aswell. Never really felt like Reading Camus, dont know why, untill I watched this, so thank you cause I have a new favorite!

I would say that at bottom, I'm a Christian Platonist -- which would make my stance more like that of Gabriel Marcel, along the various existentialists, than Camus (who I do like better, though, than Sartre). When you get down to it, though, I do draw quite a bit from the Aristotelian tradition, from the Stoic tradition, and from the Existentialists (even some of the atheists, in part)

Excellent lecture, thank you! The Myth of Sisyphus is a very dense read that I've been struggling with so I appreciate your insights and look forward to checking out other lectures in your series.

How did it take me 3-4 years of being interested in philosophy on KZfaq to find this channel, what a gem this is!

Very sorry to hear that -- you might try taking one with a different instructor, different texts, sometime down the line. There's good reasons why people have been drawn into philosophy throughout the ages. But, I see this quite often, that someone gets turned off from philosophy as a whole because of the representatives of the discipline which they get stuck with -- and then see as typical of the discipline

24:07 "The Feeling of Absurdity"

Thank you so much for putting the efforts Professor. Your videos help me a lot. Great...great channel. Much needed. Regards from India. 🙏

Incredible. Thank you so much for giving this to people for free🎉

Thank you Dr. Sadler.

I'll check him out. Thanks!

Hello Dr Sadler, I just found out about your channel, And I love philosophy so much .. Hope your lectures arent too technical, I am only a high school Maths student, from a little country of the third world called Morocco .. Anyway, All I wanted to do is to thank you, so thanks :)

I love your voice. It's how the fatherly voice in my head sounds like now. I first watched your videos 8 years ago.

It was fascinating to discover this philosophy in Camus' early novella 'A Happy Death', to see it come to life through narration. Thanks to your lecture I could understand his argument which enriched my experience of the story.

I would highly recommend doing so, I feel that Stirner's work is indispensable in a course on Existentialism. Published in 1844, The Ego and Its Own obviously predates most mainstream existentialist works, but in many ways it anticipates many existentialist themes. In my opinion it is one of the most in depth analyses of the consequences of being a conscious individual.

Yep, switched to that in the later ones -- and now that I've got my own chalkboard, not really an issue

Well, that could certainly be another way in which we come face to face with the Absurd

Outstanding breakdown

You're welcome!

the lecture that started it for me, here's to another ten years

Dear mr Gregory B. Sadler, I am writing my bachelor's thesis on an Israeli poet, trying to discover whether Camus could have used this poet (or at least, the persona poetica I can discover in the poems, the lyrical poet so to speak) as an example of his philosophy of the absurd. I watched your movies on the myth of sisyphus a couple of weeks ago, loved them, but now I have a question on the book: Why do you think does Camus say in the myth about a mother (page 101 in French, about Don Juanism) that "a mother, a passionate woman, have necessarily a dry heart, because it is turned away from the world". Do you think Camus says this because he thinks mothers think their maternal love is eternal? That they forget to think about the absurdity of their lives? That they do live with some kind of hope? This part about maternal love, which is quite short, is important to me, since the poet I am studying has a lot of poems about a lost child and a yearning for this child. Thank you in advance! Kind regards, Merel

Reading this book and watching your lectures on it I can begin to understand why my cousin took his life 20 years ago. I was 14, and he was 24. He tried to get close to me to have someone to talk to but I wasn't mature enough to understand what he needed at the moment. I didn't have the tools. Being raised in a catholic school, suicide was just "a sin", not very different than murder in the eyes of god. I stand with C. Hitchens in his opinion that religion poisons everything. I wish philosophy was taught in schools since 1st grade. This would equip people with the knowledge necessary to live a healthy, kind, and virtuous life. But well, here I am! Deep into your content and these wonderful books. At least I know my children will be educated on the topic as soon as they start yapping! Thanks!

One of my professors used to call Camus "the only honest atheist."

This is a great video

hi! sorry if this sounds a bit bizarre or what not, but I have a presentation on Camus and one of my chosen themes is existentialism, and while i have found virtually nothing on Camus's existentialism in the biography we have had to read, before I sit through your three hour lecture (which I will after this is due im just a bit caught on time) do you think this could help me argue Camus was an existentialist? (p.s. your videos are amazing, i watched a few others! thank you for posting)

Hey Greg, i've been enjoying your videos a lót: I think they're ideal (without sacrificing any depth ) for moods in which people like me are just too intimidated (lazy?) to confront the great authors your videos deal with themselves. Alas, I figure this same quality attracts people like me plaguing you with annoying questions like the following. :) So, while reading The Myth of Sisyphus I cannot shake the feeling that, while I can follow Camus conceptual framework to a good extent, i'm always left a bit uncertain about what exactly constitutes the (essential) conclusion that the world ''doesn't make sense'' or ''is irrational''. (While I can really grasp the ''feeling'' of the absurd, i'm interested here in what precisely is the intellectual content of that conclusion.) I have a few intuitions but still cant really make out which one is close to Camus' starting point (or if they share a common shape). So I know Camus talks about the lack of a great all-encompassing/unifying principle that gives sense to the world. I keep however feeling that i'm still unclear about what that means precisely. In other words, when camus' awakened person is screaming for ''the Why of it all'', what is the thing that precedes that why? What kind of answer is hoped for? Does a irrational world mean a world that is undesirable: a world where suffering is omnipresent and death makes all struggle in vain? Does a irrational world mean a world which we cant understand in it's entirety? Or does a irrational world mean a world where life itself has no purpose (such that a God in whose service and image we lived would solve that problem)? So in short: what are we talking about precisely when we say that the world doesn't make sense? Do you have any suggestions in the form of passages, other lectures, essays etc zooming in on this fundamental element in his structure ? (It's not that I don't agree with existential thought and Camus' starting point: to the contrary. What's bothering me is that intuitively I recognize the feeling wholeheartedly, while I know I couldn't explicitly explain in clear terms and without existential jargon why the world ''doesn't make sense'') ps i've read up to the chapter ''absurd freedom'' but don't want to read further while this notion is still so muddy to my mind. Sorry for the dense blabbering, bad English and superfluous amount of digital ink. I'd love to hear from you/ receive some tips!

You're my favorite internet guy.

Hello Gregory, as l get it you see all comments, l listen to you from Georgia, and i would like to say that you are really great person. I just want to share my appreciation to you. I'm studying on the political science, but i totally interested philosophy and your videos help me to learn more.

Thank you sir, I find it incredibly difficult to interpret his works, this made it somewhat sound to me, still a long way to go if there is a way at all

the stranger was good, and my personal favorite would have to be The Rebel; I liked it even better than Fromms escape from freedom. (which was a good one as well.)

Yes, I read the essay a long time ago, ut still remember it. Life is absurd in that everything we do comes undone and must be done over and over. We die, so future generations must take up the same tasks. How does one not become overwhelmingly depressed by this situation? By learning to enjoy the tasks themselves. By learning to "love the rock." I think that was the point he was making.

Well, no end in sight for video-production for me.. . not anytime soon. Originally, I was just shooting them for my enrolled students at the places I was teaching (FSU, then Marist). Then I started to realize I could shoot videos on pretty much anything I liked in Philosophy. I had viewers requesting certain thinkers, so I did a poll, and then decided to shoot Existentialism videos for a while. Then, I started shooting shorter Core Concept videos to help out students and lifelong learners

Great lecture! Black marker next time, please?

Best one so far

"What kind of life should I live?" Let's turn that around in regards to suicide... "Should I live a kind of life?"

Hi Greg, I have really enjoyed your classes on Camus. I read The Stranger years ago, and recently read the Myth of Sisyphus. However, I have a question. You refer to it as Atheistic Existentialism. I'm a little confused...how is it Atheism when Camus says that he can not know if there is meaning to the world but he knows that it is not possible to know? To me that seems a little different than Atheism. Am I just splitting hairs?

Hi Gregory, this video was really informative thanks. Would you suggest that an individual experiencing this denseness and strangeness of the world becoming aware of the absurd similar to the experience of Nausea felt by Roquentin in Jean-Paul Sartre's novel?

You're inquiring about individual tutoring, which I in fact do -- but I'm not taking on new clients at present

Another excellent lecture. Sometimes these concepts are very difficult without having someone explain what they mean... one last question, which I'm sure you have been asked to much, where should I began to grasp a more full understanding of Philosophy? Bertrand Russell's History of...Plato, Descartes?

Fascinating, very informative educational, and fulfilling especially to one like myself with no real college ed. I would only ask that you get someone to darken your outline on the board. It's been very hard to read on KZfaq or take notes from it on any display screen. I greatly appreciate your presentation.

I'm trying to write and essay for my philosophy class and I chose the plague by camus. I am kind of lost because I have to relate something about the book to a topic we discussed in our class. Could you give me some assistance ?

Thanks for video and reply, I haven't read any Camus yet. :)

Wow. Thank you for this. Recently I came to the conclusion (via my own independent thinking, w/ no aid of a spiritual teacher nor philosopher), that there are only two options one has when they enter this world: 1) commit suicide, or 2) live. I had no idea that this very view on things has been thought through by a philosopher, or any other human (although I of course suspected it had, as it seems glaringly obvious to me). All that to say - I am comforted to see this view being addressed in this lecture, and to discover that other humans too have realized this “absurd” human predicament we all face. I feel less alone now. Thank you again.

Dr. Sadler! have you read albert camus's book "the stanger"

philosophy fresher at oxford, these videos make it easy to pick up dense concepts, cheers

Outstanding! I’m buying the book! However, should I start with The Rebel or should I go directly to The Myth of Sisyphus?

You're welcome

I'd say that a soft nihilism is a necessary and sufficient condition to understand the absurd. As long as you have a belief to cling on to (hope), then there is reason to the universe (in your mind).

Would the realisation of ones own mortality inspire the notion of the absurd? At 25:00 you say a professior might want to show their students the full weight of the absurd feeling, but couldn't. I wonder if people lucidly acknowledged their own inevitable death and eventually fade into nothingness, wouldn't that be a way of illuminating the absurd viewpoint?

I'd say that one of the things you'll want to do is focus on what he meant by "Existentialist", then look at the broader meaning of the term, and see why he fits the second. If you search, you'll find lots of web-resources out there about Camus and existentialism.

Have you considered a lecture on Max Stirner's The Ego and Its Own?

The understanding of Absurd Camus has to be explained by its different aspects of itself. How does something come into being and the importances is weighed with in the individuals perspective about the issue at hand. Absurd Anywhere, is a wide verity of thinking with different causes that aren't necessary specific on the premise but, rather, by multiple events that the individual experiences. Next is the Intelligence someone has to understand how something comes into being. The discussion proposes that can something big come from something small? Rationalism is the processing of understanding the world and can be a better place of changed.Reasoning to understand something or the world is predicated on the person or set understanding of a concept. If their were set principles in life time and the experiences you have are set components to life, is absurd since everything is not controlled, nor are its nearest elements. In my opinions, I believe pre existing understanding of the knowledge someone has about a subject, sets the foundation to which the larger aspects reaches its conclusion. Although things aren't controlled completely, the understanding of the its primary existence is the footstool of the subject; understanding is completely objective. ( listen to hear more arose the lesson)GN

Does Camus believe in the existence of free will? I heard it explained once that existentialists believe in the existence of free will and hence our ability to freely create meaning for ourselves but that absurdists deny this ability. In your view is this correct? Thanks for the lecture!

You mean like living a life that's not entirely -- one's view -- "a life", i.e. not what one wants it to be? That would fit in with Camus' ethics

im not really asking to be tutored I just need a little help starting my paper. maybe some small ideas or suggestions ?

Well, first off, we don't generally teach Philosophy as a subject in High School here -- unfortunate, but that's the case. Second, we've got a lot of people who simply can't afford to go to college -- unless they want to take on massive debt (which our governments, both Republican and Democrat have been pushing for years) -- particularly if they already have children, a fairly reliable job, etc. Third, even if you do go to college, a Philosophy class is a crapshoot, as far as instructors go

Hello professor which translation is this and year of the book? Thanks