Abstract

Among the main characteristics of Camus's work are two seemingly divergent ideas about ethics. In his early works, Camus explored a self-centered ethos of living based on his Nietzschean world view. In seeming contrast, Camus took up distinctly moral themes in his literary works published after WWII. The tension between these two sets of ideas has led some interpreters to argue that Camus's moral philosophy is fundamentally inconsistent, that he is unable to convince us that the morality he propounds can come from his essentially Nietzschean world view. ;In this dissertation I argue that Camus is successful in finding reasons to behave morally in a Nietzschean universe. I focus primarily on Camus's essays and fiction. First, I argue that Camus's conception of the universe and of humanity's place in it, which he labels "absurdity," closely parallels those of Nietzsche; and that Camus offers a valid critique of Nietzsche by rejecting Nietzsche's concept of amor fati in favor of rebellion. Second, I explore what some call Camus's "ethics of quantity." I argue that Camus expresses the principles which underlie the ethics of quantity much more convincingly in his early fictional works than in the Le Mythe de Sisyphe. Third, I look at Camus's conception of morality, arguing again that his ideas about morality are more complex and more persuasive as they appear in his post-WWII novels and short stories than they are in L'Homme revolte. Finally, I show how Camus's ideas can be used to clarify a contemporary debate in political theory: namely the debate between communitarians and liberals about epistemology and human will