A Hyporeflective Response to the Absurd

ABSTRACT If life is absurd in that we cannot help but desire the unattainable, then there is prima facie reason to lament the absurd whenever we are confronted with it. This is an intuitive idea: it is fitting to be disappointed by what is essentially disappointing. But if there is nothing we can do about the absurdity of life, we may have reason to minimize awareness of it. My paper explores this hyporeflective response. I present an initial case for hyporeflectivism—what I call the argument from irremediability . I proceed to argue that the hyporeflectivist can overcome three difficulties (the unavoidability objection , the involuntarist objection , and the truthfulness objection ). They are hard‐pressed, however, to overcome the pyrrhic objection : in avoiding the negatively evaluative feelings associated with a desire for the unattainable, we may lose more than we gain.