Far superior to Sartre

Camus was noteworthy for his literary works, which incorporated and effectively communicated existentialist thought. One of his central works, "The Myth of Sisyphus", really develops the idea of 'absurdity'. According to Camus, human existence is absurd. This state of being arises out of human attempts to rationalize the universe, a central theme in Western philosophy going back to Descartes. The catalyst for this absurdity comes from the confrontation between our desire to rationalize the universe and the unreasonableness of life. This is highlighted by the fate of Sisyphus, from which his seminal book was named after, who was for eternity condemned by fate to push a boulder up a hill only to have it roll back down again just as he reached the summit. Camus's point is that all the labor and pain which we endure in our lives is futile and will be forgotten at death. Thus we reach the inevitable conclusion which many existentialist thinkers reach, if human existence is so absurd, if all of our labor is in vain, then why should be continue to live? Camus rejects suicide as an option, claiming that we should "revolt" against fate. We should acknowledge the absurdity of human existence, but not lead a life of resignation. Rather, we should treat life as if it were a lucid experience, living to the maximum. Life, according to Camus, should be lived on the edge, for that allows us to fully experience life. This isn't necessarily a license to be reckless; rather, the point of Camus's work is that we should live our lives to the fullest without getting ourselves into a negative state of mind by constantly harking back to the futility of life.

A good novelist, but he made very little in the way of an original contribution to the field.

Existentialism as honest as it comes, without embracing any "system of thought." Camus acknowledged the inherent absurdity of the world, and challenged those who thought they could avoid it. Tremendous.