An existence completely devoid of all meaning. Not a single feature of the universe, or your environment, experience, or makeup is inherently interesting. Nothing about you adds value to you, even your actions. This somewhat pessimistic take is a very simplified definition of the philosophy of nihilism. Existentialism and absurdism are the two responses, seen in the works of  Franz Kafka, and Albert Campus respectively. 

Nihilism argues that human life and existence has no inherent meaning or value. It argues against a higher power, and maintains that each individual human life serves no purpose on Earth. Nihilism views people and the actions they take as merely events, not things to extrapolate meaning or value from. 

Existentialism argues that even though life has no inherent value, one should still struggle to create meaning, as part of the human experience. It champions creation for the sake of creation, to simply feel the passion and emotion that makes one human. Kafka explores this in his perhaps most famous novel, The Metamorphosis as the main character one day wakes up to find himself transformed into a bug. He still struggles to carry out his daily routine, even in his changed form, showing how even in his changed form, his existence meant nothing. His struggle to complete his routine was ultimately his struggle to create meaning, the basis of what existentialism argues for. 

Aburdism, conversely argues something similar, that life has no inherent meaning or value, but that one should love at the absurdity that is life. It examines humans’ innate nature to find meaning in everything with the cold and unforgiving nature of life, instead arguing for a life of passion and revolt so as to live with absurdity. Campus specifically fought against easy answers like blind leaps of faith, rather arguing for us to live with the contradictions, and seek out the harder, harrowing answers as they were the ones that truly made sense of the absurdness of the world. This is present in The Fall, where we see a former Parisian lawmaker confess his wrongdoings to a stranger he meets in the bar. The book explores how even those who pose themselves as good people often choose the easy answers in life, or neglect to see how all carry the capacity for evil, core tenants of absurdism. 

These ideas may seem abstract, but broken down, they essentially become the question: if nothing matters, should we still try? Should we try to find meaning and create everyday like Kafka did, or revel in the unforgiving nature of the universe like Campus and instead live a life of passion, chasing hard answers? I think a middle ground of both is the best solution. 

In order to be functioning members of society, we must find meaning in things. We must find things that make us hopeful, excited, willing to wake up and work every day. Without attaching meaning to things, I don’t think we would be able to live day to day. But we should also accept the randomness of life, and the inability to have concrete answers for every question we ask. It’s important to not always accept the easy answer, and instead chase after answers that are more convoluted, and hard to understand. I think ultimately a bridge between both Kafka and Campus leads to a joyous medium, where one can live a fulfilled, passionate, meaningful life.