Review Article

The sublimity of the ABSURD as a paradox in physics and metaphysics

Johan A. van Rooyen
Verbum et Ecclesia | Vol 47, No 1 | a3633 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ve.v47i1.3633 | © 2026 Johan A. van Rooyen | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 20 August 2025 | Published: 20 February 2026

About the author(s)

Johan A. van Rooyen, Research Institute for Theology and Religion, College of Human Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

We, as Homo sapiens, are inconsistent creatures. One minute, we might be overflowing with energetic feelings of vitality, meaning, and purpose; the next, we might suddenly feel sapped by a nagging sense that nothing we do really signifies anything grand or important. Ultimately, nothing we do matters at all. French thinker Albert Camus (1913–1960) was fascinated by this inconsistency. In his 1942 essay ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’, he sets out to explore it (does it really signify anything), writing there seems to me to be a severe philosophical query, that is, suicide. Deciding if one’s life is worth living consists of and thus comes to the foundational query of philosophy, which ultimately construes that no legitimate reasoning can be put forward to commit physical suicide, yet, philosophical suicide, as therein lies sapiens’ survival. Therefore, the article delves into this foundational question of philosophy.
Contribution: Thus, the main purpose and aim of this article is to propagate a positive necessity regarding suicide. And the answer to this is that there is no affirmative qualification in taking one‘s own life. The reason for this will be explained in the article and specifically in the conclusion.


Keywords

absurd; Camus; Kierkegaard; Dostoevsky; IT; suicide; allegorical; African perspective; Heidegger

Sustainable Development Goal

Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth

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