The Absurdity of Life

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Camus did not want to be called an existentialist. He had this idea in the myth of Sisyphus that life is absurd. The absurdity derives from exactly what we're talking about, right? That on the one hand there's no purpose to the universe, but that's not enough to make it absurd What's absurd is that we expect something life to have this big meaning and a final answer For our behavior, for our actions, for our lives," he says.

Does life have meaning if there is no God? Why should I be a good person if there's no reward or punishment waiting for me in the afterlife? Why does religion seem to make people happier and healthier? Dave and Tamler heroically try to answer these questions without being stoned. Other topics include Dave's paralyzing fear of death, bad times on mopeds, and the pros and cons of naming your daughter Chlamydia. They almost get through the episode without having to censor something--but not quite.

Links

Woody Allen's "Love and Death"

Paul Bloom- Does Religion Make You Nice? [Slate.com]

Follow-up reading on religion and health (for the slightly academically inclined)- Powell, L. H., Shahabi, L., & Thoresen, C. E. (2003). Religion and spirituality: Linkages to physical health. American Psychologist, 58, 36.

Pascal's Wager [wikipedia.org]

Albert Camus [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]

The Problem of Evil. [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]

"Yes but subjectivity is objective."

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