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February 17, 2008
the most urgent of questions
There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundemental question of philosophy. All the rest-whether or not the world has three dimensions, whether the mind has nine or twele catagories-comes afterwards.
I have never seen anyone die for the ontological argument. Galileo, who held a scientific truth of great importance, adjured it with the greatest ease as soon as it endangered his life. In a certain sense, he did right. The truth was not worth the risk. Whether the earth or the sun revolves around the other is a matter of profound inddiference. To tell the truth, it is a futile question. On the other hand, I see many people die because they judge that life is not worth living. I see others paradoxically getting killed for the ideas or illusions that give them a reason for living (what is called a reason for living is also an excellent reason for dying). I therefore conclude that the meaning of life is the most urgent of questions.
Camus - The Myth of Sisyphus
Posted by amin at February 17, 2008 6:23 PM