What would Albert Camus make of us? Eighty years ago, the French-Algerian author gave a famous speech in New York, The Human Crisis, exploring how “in today’s world we can contemplate the death or the torture of a human being with a feeling of indifference, friendly concern, scientific interest, or simple passivity”.

Camus, who was active in the French Resistance against Nazi occupation, analysed our moral condition in an unusual fashion. Rather than making a formal argument, or quoting statistics, he told four stories. Drawn from the horrors of the second World War, these stories were used to illustrate how political violence had become normalised and how the value of human life had been diminished.

“Yes, there is a human crisis . . . since human suffering is accepted as a somewhat boring obligation, on a par with getting supply or having to stand in line for an ounce of butter,” Camus said.

He delivered his lecture on March 28th, 1946. Fourteen years later he was killed in a car crash – an unproven theory is that Russia had him assassinated due to his criticism of communist atrocities.

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