Ted-ed: Is life meaningless?

Question 1

Mired(adj)

Answer 1

to be involved in a difficult situation, especially for a long period of time:
- His homeland of Algeria was mired in conflict between native Algerians

Question 2

colonize (v)

Answer 2

to send people to live in and govern another country:

- colonizing French Europeans.

Question 3

deem

Answer 3

to consider or judge something in a particular way:

-He lost his father in the First World War, and was deemed unfit to fight in the second.

Question 4

tuberculosis

Answer 4

a serious infectious disease that can attack many parts of a person’s body, especially their lungs:
- Battling tuberculosis in France and confronting the war’s devastation

Question 5

confront

Answer 5

deal with

- Battling tuberculosis in France and confronting the war’s devastation

Question 6

devastation

Answer 6

damage and destruction:

- Battling tuberculosis in France and confronting the war’s devastation

Question 7

resistance

Answer 7

the act of fighting against something that is attacking you, or refusing to accept something:
- as a resistance journalist, Camus grew despondent.

Question 8

despondent

Answer 8

unhappy and with no hope or enthusiasm:

- as a resistance journalist, Camus grew despondent.

Question 9

fathom

Answer 9

understand (a difficult problem or an enigmatic person) after much thought.
- He couldn’t fathom any meaning behind all this endless bloodshed and suffering.

Question 10

contemporary

Answer 10

a person or thing living or existing at the same time as another.
- Many of Camus’ contemporaries were exploring similar questions

Question 11

under the banner of something

Answer 11

used when stating the principle or belief that makes someone do something:
- under the banner of a new philosophy called existentialism.

Question 12

existentialism

Answer 12

under the banner of a new philosophy called existentialism.

Question 13

blank slate

Answer 13

humans are shaped entirely by their experiences and not by any preexisting biological mechanisms:
- Existentialists believed people were born as blank slates

Question 14

amid

Answer 14

in the middle of or surrounded by:

- each responsible for creating their life’s meaning amidst a chaotic world.

Question 15

arbitrary

Answer 15

based on chance rather than being planned or based on reason:
- One such goal was to seek out meaning despite the world’s arbitrary cruelty.

Question 16

indifference

Answer 16

lack of interest in someone or something:

- Camus viewed humanity’s desire for meaning and the universe’s silent indifference

Question 17

incompatible

Answer 17

not able to exist or work with another person or thing because of basic differences

Question 18

absurd

Answer 18

stupid and unreasonable, or silly in a humorous way:

- and considered trying to fit them together to be fundamentally absurd.

Question 19

tension

Answer 19

a feeling of nervousness before an important or difficult event:
- This tension became the heart of Camus’ Philosophy of the Absurd.

Question 20

inherently

Answer 20

in a way that exists as a natural or basic part of something:
- which argued that life is inherently futile.

Question 21

futile

Answer 21

having no effect or achieving nothing:

- which argued that life is inherently futile.

Question 22

guiding question

Answer 22

the fundamental query that directs the search for understanding:
- became the guiding question behind Camus’ early work.

Question 23

bleak

Answer 23

If a place is bleak, it is empty, and not welcoming or attractive:
- offers a rather bleak response.

Question 24

detached

Answer 24

separated:

- “The Stranger” follows Meursault, an emotionally detached young man

Question 25

remorse

Answer 25

a feeling of sadness and being sorry for something you have done:
- he even commits a violent crime — but Meaursault feels no remorse.

Question 26

judgment

Answer 26

the ability to form valuable opinions and make good decisions:
- For him the world is pointless and moral judgment has no place in it.

Question 27

hostility

Answer 27

an occasion when someone is unfriendly or shows that they do not like something:
- This attitude creates hostility between Meursault

Question 28

inhabit

Answer 28

to live in a place:

- This attitude creates hostility between Meursault and the orderly society he inhabits.

Question 29

alienation

Answer 29

the feeling that you have no connection with the people around you or that you are not part of a group:
- slowly increasing his alienation until the novel’s explosive climax.

Question 30

explosive

Answer 30

exploding or able to explode easily:

- slowly increasing his alienation until the novel’s explosive climax.

Question 31

climax

Answer 31

the most important or exciting point in a story or situation, especially when this happens near the end:
- slowly increasing his alienation until the novel’s explosive climax.

Question 32

protagonist

Answer 32

one of the main characters in a story or a play:

Question 33

spurn

Answer 33

to refuse to accept something or someone because you feel that thing or person is not worth having:
- Unlike his spurned protagonist, Camus was celebrated for his honest philosophy.

Question 34

catapult

Answer 34

to become famous or important very suddenly, in the process moving beyond others who had been more famous or important:
- “The Stranger” catapulted him to fame, and Camus continued producing works

Question 35

rational

Answer 35

based on clear thought and reason:

- is committing suicide the only rational response?

Question 36

unjust

Answer 36

not fair:

- There may not be any explanation for our unjust world.

Question 37

genuine

Answer 37

If something is genuine, it is real and exactly what it appears to be:
- but choosing to live regardless is the deepest expression of our genuine freedom.

Question 38

condemned

Answer 38

A condemned person is someone who is going to be killed, especially as a punishment for having committed a very serious crime, such as murder:
- and was condemned to endlessly roll a boulder up a hill.

Question 39

futility

Answer 39

the fact of having no effect or of achieving nothing:

The cruelty of his punishment lies in its singular futility

Question 40

relentless

Answer 40

continuing in a severe or extreme way:

As Camus says, when the king chooses to begin his relentless task once more,

Question 41

upend

Answer 41

to push or move something so that the part that usually touches the ground is not touching the ground any more:
- to upend systems they believed were depriving people of agency and purpose.

Question 42

revolt

Answer 42

If a large number of people revolt, they refuse to be controlled or ruled, and take action against authority, often violent action::
- Camus responded with his second set of work: the cycle of revolt.

Question 43

rebellion

Answer 43

violent action organized by a group of people who are trying to change the political system in their country:
- In “The Rebel,” he explored rebellion as a creative act,

Question 44

ironically

Answer 44

in a way that is interesting, strange, or funny because of being very different from what you would expect:
- Ironically, it was this cycle of relatively peaceful ideas

Question 45

resonate

Answer 45

to continue to have a powerful effect or value:

- his cycles of revolt and absurdity continue to resonate with readers today.

Question 46

uncertainty

Answer 46

a situation in which something is not known, or something that is not known or certain:
- Today, Camus remains a trusted guide for moments of uncertainty.

Question 47

defiantly

Answer 47

in a way that proudly refuses to obey authority:

Question 48

imbue something/someone with something

Answer 48

to fill something or someone with a quality or feeling:

- his ideas defiantly imbuing a senseless world with inspiration