A Comparison between Gandhi and Albert Camus Research Paper

A Comparison between Gandhi and Albert Camus - Research Paper Example A valid way to understand them would be to consider the effect of their environment upon their thinking and actions. Their respective philosophies are also studied in this essay. Two of their works, â€Å"My experiments with Truth† by Gandhi and â€Å"The Stranger† by Albert Camus are also compared to understand these aspects. These highly attractive figures also had many similarities in their life. Both belonged to the same class of thinkers, the existentialists, Gandhi being accorded the status on being a religious man whose truths are subjective than objective. Both accidentally suffered the violent ends. Their life and significance and present day relevance are only being more understood in the in the recent years. Name Instructor Course Name 9th May 2011 A Comparison between Gandhi and Albert Camus Youth and Upbringing Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known in his country as â€Å"Mahatma† or great soul was the most popular and charismatic leader of the nation in modern times and the most powerful leader responsible for gaining independence for India from the British Empire. He was born on October 2, 1869, at Porbandar, a small town on the western coast of India, which was then one of the many tiny states in Kathiawar where his grandfather and father were prime minister of that small royal state. He was sent to Britain to study law an occasion, which served to broaden his mind greatly. [Gandhi bio source 1] Affectionately called the father of the nation he was a man who led a spotless and model life so correct he was able to say, â€Å"My life is My Message† [Sarvodaya]. He acted as a moral leader who taught that freedom was directly related to a moral life and led by example. He inspired so much awe among the great men of the world that Einstein wrote "Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe, that such a one as this, ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth." [Gandhi Research].In short he was a thinker â €Å"who practiced what he preached†. All his simplicity and social involvement was the result of profound thought and religious idealism. Philosophy As a theoretical philosopher, he may fit in more as a religious person who has attained enlightenment than as an originator of totally new line of philosophical thought. â€Å"This is because Gandhi was not a philosopher trying to make sense of the world around him in abstraction. He was essentially a political actor.† [Dasgupta] Most of Gandhi’s potent ideas, like Ahimsa and Non-violence were not exactly originated by him but were of religious origin. In short, for comparative purposes, he was a man who was able to find meaning in life, which for him was God, which he also called the truth. [SOURCE].One of Gandhi’s motivators was also his feeling of religious guilt being a very morally reflective boy from his childhood. Born in a very traditional family environment he felt sorely from the instance of having been engaged in sexual intercourse with his own wife while his father was on his deathbed .Unfortunately while Gandhi was away his father happened to die. He felt very guilty about this, he constantly tried to become a purer man, and his grace spread to the society about him. [Gandhi Autobiography] He was also highly moved by the beauty of the ‘Sermon on the Mount’[New Testament]. Albert Camus [1913- 1960] was born 7 November 1913 in Mondovi, Algeria, into a working-class family and grew up in poverty. His mother Catherine Helene Sintes was an illiterate cleaning woman of Spanish origin. Lucien Auguste Camus, his father, was an itinerant agricultural laborer He died when Camus was as a one year old of his war wounds in 1914 after the Battle of the