Patrick Baca

English 220-007
Jennifer Gammage
April 18, 2014
Analytic Argument
Finding Meaning
In the 1800s philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche claimed that God was dead, and that the
human race was responsible. Everything we had previously believed about God (and everything
else) was in question, and by some doubted completely. Nietzsche said, Whither do we move?
Do we not dash on unceasingly? ... Is there still an above and below? Do we not stray, as
through infinite nothingness?(The Madman) These words encompass the whole idea behind
Nietzsches definition of nihilism. Since we no longer had God as the one true ground on which
we built our understanding of reality, people felt the sense of nothingness and how it related to
living a meaningful life. The question of why are we here? became even more unclear and
daunting. Without the promise of heaven, people had no basis on which they made moral
choices. Today we are not so concerned with getting into heaven as we are as living meaningful
lives. With everything that is thrown at us about how we should live and what we should do, it is
harder to discern an answer. So with the problem of nihilism at hand, the question is how do we
lead meaningful lives without God or some transcendence? The problem of nihilism, if allowed
to become a problem at all, can be solved by cherishing all the things we take for granted that life
brings us, including life itself.
Life is probably the greatest feat of nature, from an evolutionary standpoint the fact that
everything started from microorganisms is mind blowing. We live in a world that is full of life on
every scale. Human beings being the most complex. We are literally a world of cells and
microorganisms that make up who we are, down to an exact chromosome. In the world we live
in today, we are so preoccupied with making money or material things that we do not even
recognize that. What made it so that we came into being rather than the other countless
combinations of X and Y chromosomes? This is an undeniable truth that brings meaning into our
world. The idea that one could refute this would seem silly, because how can one refute the fact
that one can even think about ones very own existence? Nihilism is the idea that nothing is true
because we have no basis to start with, but without an already real life how could we even think
we live in a nihilistic world. The problem of nihilism is only a problem if one allows it to
become one. Your state of mind can either drop you into nihilism or keep you in the real
meaningful world. The idea of ones life is enough to avoid thinking in a nihilistic sense because
we wake every day and see the sun, the plants, and others. Life itself brings meaning into our
world, and in our world there are others who only reinforce that idea.
One of the things that we as human beings take for granted is our family and friends, and
the sense of belonging and community that they bring into our lives. From the beginning of our
life we are born into a family of people that raises and cares for us, and before even knowing us,
wants the absolute best for us in life. The love and interaction we experience make us who we
are today. This is also overlooked in todays world, where we are too busy to simply dial a
phone and talk to our grandparents, whose life is nearing an end, but we justify it through some
excuse. The meaning they bring into our life, sadly, is finally realized when they pass away and
we hurt immensely. The emptiness and pain we feel from their loss shows just how much we
valued them, and how much meaning they imparted into our life. Friends are also a source of
meaning in a nihilistic world. They are the humans that at first we have no knowledge of who
they are, but after time we come to like and want to be around them. People say blood is thicker
than water, but blood only makes you related. Friends are the people who we associate with
because we feel a sense of loyalty and closeness that we feel with our family, but it is different.
We are born into a family, but friendships are made through experiences and a sense of
togetherness. Family can sometimes hurt us more that our worst enemy; but friends, true friends,
will never hurt us because they also value the mutual loyalty and love and would not want to
experience the pain of losing it. Someone can say that in a nihilistic world friends are not
meaningful because they are just other meaningless bodies lost in a search for truth. This cannot
be true because the interaction between bodies (and minds) is true and palpable. The emotions
we feel with others can drive us to tears or utmost joy, but there is not a feeling of nothing in the
presence of friends and family. They are the ones who help us discover who we are and who
drive us to reach our unique potential.
Through community with others we find things in common such as sports, music, or even
food. These activities draw us together and creates a competitive drive to be better, not only
better than others but better than we thought we could ever be. It has been displayed throughout
human history that people will always strive for something more even on a small scale. Human
ability is the greatest aspect of our life because it leads to passions and meaningful outcomes.
Dreyfus and Kelly said that there are people who make no choices and that they are the true
nihilist who cares about nothing. But if they truly cared about nothing, why would they keep
themselves alive? Not that I would ever advocate suicide, but why not kill yourself if you truly
believe in nothing? If one truly believed in nothing, why would you want to stay alive in
nothingness? There must be some truth that keeps them from this sad outcome. I believe that
something is our unique ability. There are countless passions and professions that we choose
based off what we feel we excel at, and when we find it we strive to perfect it. Michael Jordan is
the greatest basketball player ever, and I do not think he ever thought the world was meaningless.
He found a passion and that passion gave him meaning and he built that passion into his life, and
in turn lead a meaningful life because he felt it was right. That is how we should live. Find a
passion that gives us meaning and take that meaning and apply it to our everyday life. The
options we have to create meaning are endless, we just have to go find them.
Human ability, family & friends, and life itself shed some truth on the world and how we
relate to it all. We just have to remember that we are lucky enough to be in the position we are
in. There is no problem of nihilism, it is just our minds forgetting that we are living a meaningful
life because of the problems life brings us. We just have to face those problems and keep living.
The mind is a powerful entity and it can save you from forgetting that your life is meaningful.