There are striking differences between Camus’s early and late philosophical essays, but Camus often claimed that his works were part of one consistent project. This paper argues that, although Camus had a significant change in his views on the consequences of the absurd, throughout his life he also had a common concern with the relation of the absurd to morality. Showing this requires us to clarify what Camus meant by the “absurd,” and identify at least three different uses of the term by Camus: lacking a purpose; lacking an explanation; and a tension between purpose and purposelessness. Clarifying the meaning of “absurd” allows one to show that Camus’s late argument against suicide, often dismissed as inadequate, is valid. This also illustrates the consistency of his concerns over time.

加缪的早期和晚期哲学论文之间存在着惊人的差异，但是加缪经常声称他的作品是一个始终如一的项目的一部分。本文认为，尽管加缪对荒诞后果的看法发生了重大变化，但在他的一生中，他也普遍关注荒诞与道德的关系。要证明这一点，就需要我们弄清加缪的“荒谬”含义，并至少确定加缪对该术语的三种不同用法：缺乏目的；缺乏解释 以及目的与无目的之间的紧张关系。澄清“荒谬”的含义可以使人们证明，加缪关于自杀的最新论点是正确的，通常被认为是不充分的。这也说明了他随时间推移所关注的问题的一致性。