In this selection Nagel reflects on the sense of absurdity that most of us feel from time to time. The sense of absurdity arises, he says, from the "collision between the seriousness with which we take our lives and the perpetual possibility of regarding everything about which we are serious as arbitrary, or open to doubt." Nagel thinks that Camus's response to the absurd (defiance or scorn) is inappropriate; it's "romantic and slightly self-pitying." He prefers instead to approach the absurd with acceptance, with irony instead of heroism or despair.
-According to Nagel, a role in some larger enterprise or plan

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Nagel argues that the sense of absurdity stems from the contrast between the importance we place on our lives and the possibility of seeing everything as arbitrary. He suggests that finding a role in a larger enterprise or plan cannot, by itself, provide our lives with significance, as the sense of absurdity can still persist despite such roles.

In This Selection Nagel Reflects on the Sense of Absurdity