❤️Something about Philosophy - “The Stranger,” by Albert Camus
Details
The fourth Thursday of the month is our time to get together for camaraderie, a fun meal, and of course a discussion, regarding something about Philosophy.
This month we’re doing something a little different, we’re reading a work of fiction - Albert Camus’ “The Stranger.”
Core philosophical issues in The Stranger
• The Absurd: The clash between our hunger for meaning and a world that “doesn’t explain.” Meursault’s refusal to pretend (e.g., about grief, love, faith) sits at the center.
• Authenticity vs. Social Performance: Society polices emotion. Is sincerity without display a virtue—or a vice—in a social world that demands ritual signals (mourning, remorse, piety)?
• Embodiment & Agency: Heat, light, sweat, salt, thirst—the body as a causal force. Do sensation and environment erode responsibility or just reveal it?
• Time & Present-mindedness: Meursault inhabits the immediate present. Is this clarity—or moral shallowness?
• Law as Storytelling: The trial rearranges facts into a moral narrative. Truth, coherence, and the theater of justice collide.
• Ethics without Metaphysics: If there is no ultimate meaning, on what basis do guilt, mercy, and judgment stand?
• Colonialism & Otherness: French-Algerian setting; Arabs unnamed; asymmetries of voice, power, and grief. Who counts as a subject?
• Freedom, Revolt, and Acceptance: From refusal to lie to the final acceptance of the world’s “indifference”—what kind of freedom is this?
• Moral Luck & Intentionality: Sun, glare, chance—what role do contingency and intention play in the killing?
• Language & Feeling: Meursault’s flat diction: emotional poverty, or disciplined honesty?
The Audible version is only three and a half hours long - a quick read.
Join our philosophy discussion to unpack these timeless riddles—your perspective could illuminate the shadows of tomorrow.
Note regarding event fee:
These meetings have been most difficult to organize due to member flakiness - reserving a seat and not showing up or cancelling at the last minute.
To fix this, participants will now hold a stake in the meeting via a $5.00 event fee. This is non-refundable, unless the meeting is cancelled.
Please be kind and respectful - update your RSVP if your plans change.