The Absurdity, Inefficiency, and Inadequacy of Life

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The Absurd: Thomas Nagel
Summary
In the article “The Absurd”, Nagel points out that people at times feel that life is absurd but also posits that the reasons that people give for life’s absurdity are inadequate. He uses two examples to illustrate this position. First, that our current actions will not matter in the distant future and second, that we will all die, eventually. He states that the first point is inadequate because in the same way, “ nothing that will be the case in a million years matters now” (716). As per the second point, Nagel believes that death does not make life absurd because even if we lived forever, an absurd life will still be absurd; Only this time, it will be “infinitely absurd” (717).
Nagel, however, believes that the absurdity of life is caused by the seriousness in which we take our lives. To support his view, he presents two points. First, that we cannot avoid this seriousness and second, that we cannot escape doubt. To put forward his first point, Nagel uses an example of how a man pays attention to “his appearance, his health…whether he understands the world and what is going on in it” (720). He posits that this constant planning and feeling concerned with our lives is what makes us take life so seriously. In support of his second point, Nagel marvels at how people worry and question whether their life is significant. He states that as we try to justify our existence, we create room for what he refers to as “universal doubt” (720). In Nagel’s view, our ability to step back and reflect on our lives makes life absurd, and in trying to feel significant, we pursue causes that are greater than us (721). But these causes have to be sign...