for Camus, "the epistemological gap that is at the core of the humanly accessible world is, in effect, an abyss" (Hejinian's summary)
"This abyss--insofar as it is a void, a nothing, is the site of impotence in its most perfect manifestation, but it is also overwhelming. It seems to guarantee that the quest for knowledge will end in failure (and at times disaster), but at the same time the abyss lies before us as a compelling, astounding sublimity, a source of desire and longing"