Man is a meaning seeking creature in a universe that offers no meaning. Hence the absurdity of existence

Even in the completest of love there remains an unsurmountable gap; an abyss of nothingness between the end of one finite creature and the beginning of another

Normally we think of freedom as something unequivocally good but awareness of our freedom also reminds us of our ultimate responsibility for ourselves and our life. And that realisation is riveted to dread.