Albert Camus: An Analysis of his Thought by Marcel J. Mélançon & Robert Dole

Author:Marcel J. Mélançon & Robert Dole [Mélançon, Marcel J. & Dole, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-02-03T23:00:00+00:00

aa) The Nature of Limit

First it implies reason : "Whereas the Greeks gave the limits of reason to will, we have ended up putting the force of will at the heart of reason, which has become murderous." [1142] It is reason guided by caution : "The chorus in ancient tragedies principally gave the advice to be cautious. This is because it knows that everyone is right to a certain limit, and anyone who is unaware of this limit, through blindness or passion, is headed towards a catastrophe in order to bring the triumph of some right he believes to be his alone. The constant theme of ancient tragedy is thus the limit that must not be passed." [1143] The limit is an equilibrium between two extremes : "I preferred the right word which was 'moderation' in the rather classical sense as the Greeks understood it... For a mind at grips with reality, the only rule then is to stay at the place where the contraries confront each other, so as not to evade anything and to recognize the way that leads ahead. Moderation is therefore not the casual resolution of contraries. It is nothing other than the affirmation of contradiction and the firm decision to hold steady in order to survive. What I call immoderation is the movement of the soul that blindly passes the boundary where the contraries are balanced to settle finally in a drunkenness of consent, of which cowardly and cruel examples abound before our eyes." [1144] Negatively, the limit is not the middle course of mediocrity : "Moderation... true moderation.... has nothing to do with a certain 'comfortable moderation'." [1145] Limit and moderation, these two notions can be associated with the idea of comfort only on the condition of playing childishly on words, and above all of withdrawing their authority from living experience." [1146] On the contrary, "Moderation... is a constant conflict, always aroused and controlled by intelligence. It overcomes neither the impossible nor the abyss. It is balanced between the two." [1147]

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