Episode #228 ... Albert Camus - Kafka and The Fall

Hello everyone. I'm Steven West. This is Philosophize this. patreon.com/fillosifies this.

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So this whole series so far has been about this project that Kimu dedicated his life to where he wants to affirm the kinds of creatures that we are without falling into the trap of system building. If in the mythosphice Kimu shows us the importance of lucidity in the face of the absurd. If in the plague he shows us how when we take seriously the kinds of creatures we are it leads to solidarity with our fellow people. If in the rebel he shows us how as creatures we have certain lines that can't be crossed and that by saying no to something we affirm the lines that cannot be crossed in the human dignity of others.

If these are all uncontroversial statements to make about what it is to be a human being, then in Kamu's next book, The Fall, he's going to extend this line of reasoning to the concepts of judgment and human error or our fallenness, you could say, if you want to put it in more religious terms, that nobody out there is beyond judgment or beyond making mistakes. But man, isn't it so common for people to rationalize their behavior or create elaborate systems in their life, all in an attempt to avoid both of these things? Do you know anybody like that in your life? Should be said, we've already talked about the plot points of the fall on this podcast.

It was episode 170. It was part of the creation of meaning series. Just saying I'm focusing less on the plot here and more on what the characters and story mean within the larger project of Kimu. Because if you listen to that episode, then you know that the main character of the book, Clemence, starts the book talking about what he used to be like, ...