Lighters

9 Pages 2172 Words

Smoking Suicide is the only serious philosophical problem according to French philosopher and soccer fan Albert Camus. Does this make smokers the only serious philosophers? After all, every seductive tube brings us that much nearer the grave. It is a conscious act to light up and subtract some measure of time from our allotted span. A slow burning death in effect. But maybe it’s more of a gamble than suicide. After all the act of self destruction is the final act of self control. We choose our own time, place and method. Smoking loads the wheel in Fortune’s favour. We know not the minute or the hour but we know that each inhalation of tar, nicotine and sundry carcinogenics brings us one gasp closer. There can be little doubt that smoking is a Bad Thing. Very bad indeed. The ugly labels which spoil the clean and elegant lines of cigarette packets are quite firm on this point. The evidence is medical, anecdotal, sociological and generally compelling. There is no point in rehearsing the statistics that we’ve all heard time and again. If we were to act as truly rational beings then we would not smoke. Of course if we were to act as truly rational beings then the world would be a far grimmer place than it already is. Mercifully our passions are stronger than our reason and so we continue to smoke. Just as we continue to make love and art. These have little to do with rational choices. Smoking has a complex role in our society. Tobacco has long been contested and interpreted in different ways. Cigars for instance have an entirely different social function from cigarettes. They are all about wealth, “sophisticated” leisure and invulnerability. They stand for being part of an elite. Port and cigars in the billiards room before joining the ladies is one of the cliches of the Edwardian “summer of glory” which any half-competent BBC costume drama director can suggest in the space of a short panning shot. Outsi...