Albert Camus

Albert Camus (November 7, 1913 - January 4, 1960) was an influential French philosopher, author, and journalist who is chiefly known for his work on existentialism. Some of his most famous works include The Stranger, The Plague, The Rebel, and The Myth of Sisyphus. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957.

Although he was often labeled an existentialist, Camus claimed that he was not, and asserted that he was a member of no specific ideology or school of thought. His philosophical contributions mostly concern what he called "The Absurd," which encompasses the supposed meaninglessness and insignificance of human life in the universe. In Camus' atheistic view, human beings lack any purpose, and merely exist in a cold and hostile universe.