Of Words and the World

Albert Camus' critique of modernity

“…Some are "closed-mouthed and somber," it is true. 60 But the majority play willingly and mischievously with the children and manage to cope with their infirmities in some way. This attempt to understand is evidence of the children practicing the kind of reflection that Socrates recommends as a means of responding to human suffering and of overcoming its worst temptations.…”

“…59 Because they wrongly reject these Christian truths, modem human beings find themselves once again in the "Judaic world," faced with ''the implacable face of a God of hate" who is the antithesis of their highest aspirations and who renders any attempt to conceive a satisfying account of evil and death impossible. 60 However, rather than admit frankly the impasse to which their rebellion against Christianity had led them, modems instead push ahead in an effort to complete the dedivinization of the world begun by Judaism and overcome by Christianity, by scornfully rejecting all notion of divinity or transcendence.…”