The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt

In Part 2, Camus explains that there is a difference between ordinary rebellion and metaphysical rebellion. Ordinary rebellion is rooted in the immediate material circumstances and injustices of one’s condition; metaphysical rebellion is more abstract and involves one’s rebellion against the state of the universe at large. Camus offers some brief thoughts on the loss of faith as a kind of metaphysical rebellion, referencing the works of ancient Greek thinkers Epicurus and Lucretius, and the biblical story about Cain and Abel. While metaphysical rebellion is more sophisticated in a certain sense, it is also more dangerous, as it can lead to more extreme forms of ideology and, ultimately, more extreme forms of action.

Camus then discusses the works of the notorious Marquis de Sade, whom Camus blames as the fountainhead of European nihilism. Camus describes Sade’s idea of freedom as cynical and destructive, completely selfish and rooted in a desire only for violent license and unchecked impulses. He then traces this tendency as appearing—albeit in a milder form—in the works of the Romantic poets, who claim to idealize solitude and who interpret liberty as inherently individualistic instead of communal.