The Absurd Organization: The Insights of Albert Camus Translated into Management Practices

The question of what makes humans human and how this translates to human dignity lies at the very heart of Humanism, a philosophical tradition stretching back three thousand years and rooted in the ideas of a long line of illustrious philosophers including Aristotle, Spinoza and Kant. It is a question that is still very relevant today and the subject of debate by philosophers such as Marta Nussbaum and Amartya Sen. Humanism is based on the assumption that every individual has inborn potential and is able to think freely and make decisions. Humanism also maintains that the retention of human dignity is a crucial aspect of man’s existence. Indeed, human dignity has been a central theme in the development of society since the Middle Ages and finds expression through the quest for human rights, democracy and the way modern government is organized (Pinker, 2012). Another of the basic beliefs of Humanism is that man has the potential to learn and develop, and that education plays a crucial role in the realization of this potential. Human dignity is universal. Everyone, regardless of ethnic background, nationality, social status or gender, has a right to be regarded and treated in a manner befitting a human being. Jean-Paul Sartre translates these humanist principles into his theory on absolute freedom, arguing that it confers an obligation on people to make choices in relation to being and becoming a person (Sartre, 2003).