"Christian Metaphysics and Neoplatonism" is the title of

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

' thesis that would obtain for him permission to teach in the secondary schools of France. It was published when Camus was 23 years old. Camus uses

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

and

Pelagius Pelagius (; c. 354–418) was a British theologian known for promoting a system of doctrines (termed Pelagianism by his opponents) which emphasized human choice in salvation and denied original sin. Pelagius and his followers abhorred the moral s ...

to elaborate his moral views in regard to Greek thought and Christianity. This book is important as it is the first attempt of Camus to explore humanist ethics. Although it has never been published separately, this text was included in his collected works from the :fr:Bibliothèque de la Pléiade. An English translation under the hand of Ronald Srigley was published in 2007 by the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

Environment and circumstances

Camus wrote his thesis in order to complete his studies at the University of Algiers. The thesis is a historical study, in which Camus attempts to elucidate the relationships between evangelical

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, the

Greek philosophy Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC, marking the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Greek philosophy continued throughout the Hellenistic period and the period in which Greece and most Greek-inhabited lands were part of the Roman Empir ...

of the first few centuries

anno domini The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means 'in the year of the Lord', but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", ...

, and the dogmatic Christianism established by

. Camus knew how to read

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

(quotes from the work of Augustine are mostly in Latin), but knew very little of

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

, and the Greek philosophers are quoted in French translations. As is required for such a dissertation, Camus not only had recourse to primary sources namely, Plotinus and Augustine, but he also studied and used studies of recent French authors, notably Émile Bréhier,

Franz Cumont __NOTOC__ Franz-Valéry-Marie Cumont (3 January 1868 in Aalst, Belgium – 20 August 1947 in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre near Brussels) was a Belgian archaeologist and historian, a philologist and student of epigraphy, who brought these often isolated ...

, Étienne Gilson,

René Arnou René ('' born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is the masculine form of the name ( Renée being the femin ...

Pierre de Labriolle Pierre Champagne de Labriolle (18 June 1874 – 28 December 1940) was a French philologist, Latinist and historian. Biography Pierre Champagne de Labriolle, conventionally known as Pierre de Labriolle, was born in Asnières-sur-Seine, Île-de-Fra ...

and

Aimé Puech Aimé () is a French masculine given name. The feminine form is Aimée, translated as "beloved". Aimé may refer to: Given name * Saint Amatus or Saint Aimé (died 690), Benedictine monk, saint, abbot and bishop in Switzerland * Aimé, duc ...

. Camus' bibliography also contains works written in English, such as ''The Philosophy of Plotinus'' by W. R. Inge. Camus had already read the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

a few years before.'' Les Essais '' de Camus, p. 1173

References

Essays by Albert Camus Theses 1930s essays {{philo-essay-stub