There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. All the rest—whether or not the world has three dimensions, whether the mind has nine or twelve categories—comes afterwards... I have never seen anyone die for the ontological argument... On the other hand, I see many people die because they judge that life is not worth living. I see others paradoxically getting killed for the ideas or illusions that give them a reason for living (what is called a reason for living is also an excellent reason for dying). I therefore conclude that the meaning of life is the most urgent of questions. How to answer it?
Here are the words that lay sprawling on the beginning few pages of a thoughtful philosophical essay—The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. Camus revels among a philosophy known as Absurdism, referring to the conflict between the human tendency to seek inherent meaning in life and the silent answer of the universe in which a harsh truth arises that is there is no inherent meaning in life.
The idea behind The Absurd is represented in Camus's novel, The Stranger, published in 1942. It's an easy read, but it is hard to deeply understand. I recommend reading it and trying to understand its message. Once you reach the end, you will ask yourself, "What's the point?" But if you did not read it, you wouldn't find yourself asking yourself that question.
Camus makes a similar effort in The Myth of Sisyphus. He explores the meaning of life and concludes that the meaning of life is to ask yourself exactly what that is. If one does not experience it, what exactly is the point?
In The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus establishes three paths one can take in confronting the harsh reality of existence; one is suicide, the other is philosophical suicide, and the last is rebellion. By killing yourself you cease existing, thus, ceasing yourself from suffering. You are unable to cope with this confrontation between expectation and reality, you fall into despair by the realization that life is, in fact, meaningless.
But there is a catch. Note that Camus tends to conceal wise thoughts in simple language. Don't be tricked.
I've always assumed by referring to the question as the "one really serious philosophical question" he meant that it is the most fundamental question. Therefore what Camus means, I think, is that this is the first question that we should answer. After the step into the philosophy behind it all, then the rest becomes relatively trivial.
Beyond it all, I doubt Camus intends for there to be a true argument for his essay. He lacks a real argument because there is no rational argument for either life or death because it's all absurd, which, in fact, is the basis of Camus's philosophy.
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