Lexipunks

[mattd]

 >>Closest in meaning in CP; abstracted from 4 a to mean a rebellious person

Camus' lexicon define "revolt" as a peaceful, evolutionary process. He had 
hoped that mankind would evolve toward improved societies. In his ideal, 
socialism is the result of a natural historical process that does require 
effort and leadership, but not violence.
"Remarque sur la rivolt" begins with a civil servant refusing an order. For 
Camus, revolt begins with a single person refusing an immoral choice. Laws 
and rule are not defensible for Camus unless they are meant to help society 
at all levels. The civil servant in the opening parable is an existential 
hero, though Camus would have rejected such a label. The bureaucrat makes a 
decision based not upon what is easiest for him but what is best for him 
and society as a whole. This man's revolt is resistance, not violence.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's works are the primary target of The Rebel. 
While not a perfect treatment of Hegel, Camus argues that Hegel's works 
glorified the state and power over personal morality and social ethics. 
Worse, according to Camus, Marxism co-opts Hegel and extends his theories 
to allow any means to an end. In Marxism, as embodied by the Soviet Union 
and its Communist Party, the state is always "right." Humanism and equality 
were important to Camus, not an artificial organization.
Camus further offended some leftists by opposing what he considered a trend 
toward nihilism in European thought. Life was "meaningless" for Camus, but 
each person did have the opportunity to define a role for himself or 
herself in life. Nihilism rendered living pointless, which Camus could not 
accept. Mankind, by its very existence, was in the unique position of 
defining itself through choice.
Attacking Hegel, Marxism and nihilism resulted in a resounding rejection by 
the left. Leftist critics hated The Rebel and described it as an act of 
intellectual treason. The May 1952 issue of Les Temps Modernes featured a 
review of The Rebel by Francis Jeanson. The review affected Camus deeply. 
Camus found himself described as a traitor to the left