A philosophy that heavily influenced Camus’ novel The Stranger is existentialism. On its own, existentialism discusses concepts that make a great deal of sense especially to young people battling with conflicts in faith and hopelessness. The main idea is that life is inherently meaningless, and therefore we do not owe anything to anyone by participating in common societal structures of community,  love, family, etc.

On the surface, this is a very freeing realization: our lives have no determined purpose, which therefore allows us to live our lives without responsibility to anyone around us to maximize our own happiness and freedom in our lives. Unfortunately, there are many flaws to this lack of responsibility.

As a whole, humans exist as a social species. In ancient times, without someone to pick up the slack when we fell ill, we would die. Our survival hinges on the fact that when someone falls down, there is someone who can help them to their feet again. Within existentialism, this is a “societal expectation” that can be brushed away.

But we do owe kindness to each other. When someone trips in the hallway, there is a reason that our hearts jump in concern for just a moment and that is because we instinctively do not want other people around us to be hurt. An airplane announcement telling us to put our own masks on first before helping those around us is because people will try to assist children or the elderly or shake those who are asleep awake: we, as a species, care, and for good reason. It has allowed us to survive and flourish to an astounding degree.

I agree that our lives have no intended purpose. Personally, I believe in no god, and I believe that there is no sentience within the universe that pre-determines things. However, that gives absolutely nobody the excuse to avoid participating in community. Our lives may have whatever meaning we give it, but that doesn’t give you a pass to avoid kindness.

People forget that we as humans are part of nature and part of the universe. To say about a suffering animal “let nature take its course” is to ignore the fact that we are nature. If we want to slow down and avoid hitting an unintelligent squirrel that ran into the middle of the road, then nature wants that squirrel to survive. If we all contribute kindness to the world around us, then we make the universe kind.

To put it most simply, the universe as a whole may lack sentience, but we as humans are part of it. If we care, about each other, about life, about the world, then so does the universe. Live your life with whatever meaning you want to give it, but don’t forget the people around you just because you don’t have a societal obligation to be a kind person. Do it anyway.