Deconstruction of Suicide. An Accompanied Reading on The Myth of Sisyphus

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to highlight the aporia inherent in Camus’s conception of suicide. The methodology employed consists, on the one hand, of an analysis of the concepts used by Camus in The Myth of Sisyphus and (secondarily) in The Rebel, and on the other hand, consists of a comparison with the thought of other authors, some of whom were cited by Camus, such as Kierkegaard and Heidegger, and others, such as Blanchot, who cited Camus. In conclusion, it will be explained why the absurdity that precedes suicide is ethically relevant when interpreted as the origin of the capacity to challenge any universal determination of value, and why it loses its relevance for ethics if it is considered, dogmatically, as a universal condition for existence.