Week 2.2 — The Millennial Turn

• Camus suggests two solutions to the problem of absurdity. 

  • First, is suicide, killing one’s self means the absurdity of life also ends. 
  • Second, is belief in a religion, at the end of this current life, there is a beautiful afterlife for us.
• Albert Camus sees our life not as something beautiful but instead believes that our life is absurd. He thinks that our life is meaningless.
• Viktor Frankl on the other hand does not see life as absurd rather for him life is full of suffering. Our life is a life that we are just journeying through and is full of pain and suffering. But to escape this feeling of pain is through finding meaning in our life. 
• we discover this meaning in life through three different methods,

  • first is through doing a deed in life.
  • The second is through experiencing something or encountering someone.
  • Third is through our attitude in the search for meaning
• Fromm is not saying that we do not put effort into love, but he sees that we humans have a peculiar attitude toward relationships.

  • The first problem he has observed is the attitude of being loved. Can I love you?
  • The second problem Fromm observes is the attitude of people who think that to love is simple,
  • The third error that we commit with love, is the confusion between the initial feeling of “falling” in love, and the permanent state of being in love.