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Shane Lewis
English 220
J. Gammage
5 May 2014
Research Argument Annotated Bibliography (Passion vs. Nihilism)
Jordan, Michael. Driven From Within. 24 October 2005. Atria Books.
This is a book (autobiography) written by one of my all-time favorite athletes, Michael
Jordan. He published this book after his professional basketball career had ended as a sort of
reflection on his journey and everything he faced to achieve his level of success. He spends
much of his time writing about his love for the game and how it motivated him to wake up
every single day and continue living his passions and fulfilling his dreams. It all started with an
appetite to prove. Whether it was competing with my siblings or trying to get attention from my
parents, I wanted to show what I could do, what I was capable of accomplishing. I wanted
results, and I was driven to find out the best way to get them.
I relied on the above quote heavily when taking my position on this research topic. It
proved to me that having a passion in life means to fight for something whether that be to
accomplish goals, solve a problem, or even find meaning in what you do. Michael Jordan found
meaning in his life through the sport of basketball and his burning passion for it. Being a
basketball player myself for the duration of my young life I felt that I could use this source to
influence as well as support my claims that passion defeats nihilism. I find it impossible to be a
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nihilistic athlete solely because of the drive and commitment it takes to live out your passions
each and every day.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Will to Power: Attempt at a Revaluation of all Values (Decline of
Cosmological Values). November 1887-March 1888.
This section of The Will to Power explains nihilism as being a psychological state within
ones mind. It goes into detail of how one can achieve nihilism in a psychological sense after
searching for meaning in the events of their life and not being able to find it. Nietzsche defines
nihilism as occurring when one has wasted their strength searching for meaning and become
ashamed of their self-appearance. He describes the things that would be considered the
meaning we are searching for as possibly, fulfillment, growth of love and harmony in the
intercourse of humans, or the gradual approximation of a state of universal happiness.
This source is really helpful to me in defining the term nihilism and explaining the
sources of meaning that we search for in life as humans. My topic includes our passions in life,
and I think that the ideas of meaning that Nietzsche presents here are closely related to the
meanings that we find through our passions. He contrasts how even though these meanings are
evident, humans are still capable of pursuing nihilism through believing that still nothing is
achieved and therefore becoming discouraged.
Patrick, Helen. Adolescents Commitment to Developing Talent: The Role of Peers in
Continuing Motivation for Sports and the Arts. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. Vol 28.
December 1999. P 741-763.
This short journal entry by Helen Patrick discusses the importance and role of peers and
mentors in supporting the passions and desires of younger generations. She emphasizes how
children often become what they are taught by their parents. This means that if an adolescent
becomes interested in a certain activity and their peers give them motivation and support, then
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they will likely continue to push towards their goals within that activity and be even more
passionate about what they do. Watching displays of talented athletes, artists, musicians, or
dancers, it is apparent that those individuals have committed considerable time and energy to
developing their talent (p 742).
The above quote and source is useful for my side of the argument because it helps to
show an example of the various types of activities that one can be passionate about and
committed to. I also think it is important to show how a certain perspective or mindset can be
instilled in the heads of younger generations through teachings of older generations. When
someone commits an elongated amount of time and energy into their passion it gives a
reasonable amount of meaning to their life because of how important that passion and
commitment is.
Peters, R.S. Reason and Passion in Royal Institute of Philosophy Lectures. Vol 4. 1969-70. P
138.
I only used one page from this source, but it was a very helpful source in defining what I
mean through the term passion. Peters states, It has tended to be taken as a classificatory term
under which a variety of other terms, such as emotion, desire and feeling can be subsumed.
His connection of passion to these other terms explains how passion is related to meaning in
various ways and how it can be achieved through different routes.
My analytic argument paper touched on the topic of emotions giving meaning to life. I
was enthused when I read this passage because it backed up my claims for emotion and also tied
them in to my claims for passion. This helped me to realize that I could possibly use knowledge I
acquired while writing my last paper to support my thesis in this research argument. Emotion,
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desire and feeling are all evident within human beings when discussing passions, and in my
opinion, each contribute to the overall meaning of life.
Taylor, Richard. The Meaning of Life from Good and Evil. New York. Macmillan. 1970. P
256-68.
The main idea that I took away from this article was Taylors use of the Sisyphus story.
He touches on the idea of labor and finding a meaning behind it. He explains how there could be
meaning found within the story of Sisyphus if perhaps his efforts were to create a lasting
legacy. Sisyphus efforts are often looked at as idiotic and pointless, but are efforts nonetheless.
His labor is seen as a never-ending cycle with no true meaning or outcome that not even death
will bring to a close.
I think this story is a perfect example for differentiating nihilism and passion. Sisyphus
has no true passion for what he is doing. It is only his duty because he was condemned to it.
When a person has a passion they fulfill that duty because they have a strong will to do so, not
because they have been condemned. This is where passion adds to the meaning of life. Because
of the drive and commitment and the will to perform the passion, or task at hand, we are left with
the outcome of meaning.
Tolle, Eckhart. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. New World Library. 21
September 2004. Print.
Eckhart writes this book to emphasize the importance of living in the now. Often times
living in the now is a nihilistic reference because it does not capture the meaning of the future.
But, I think Tolle uses that reference in a way of saying that it is possible to find meaning in
every small moment of life, and that it all sort of adds up to give a complete meaning to ones
life. Time isnt precious at all, because it is an illusion. What you perceive as precious is not
time but the one point that is out of time: the Now. That is precious indeed. The more you are
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focused on timepast and futurethe more you miss the Now, the most precious thing there
is.
Although this quote can be seen in a nihilistic way, I think it can also be perceived as
finding true meaning when related to passions. While it is true that time is only an illusion and
not a visible force, I think it is what you put into the amount of time you are given that creates
the meaning of your life. While dealing with a passion it is common to say that practice makes
perfect. So if each day you are focused on the now then eventually all of those now moments
will add up to the fulfillment of your dream or accomplishing your goals.
Wallace, David Foster. Kenyon College Commencement Speech: This is Water 2005.
This speech by Foster Wallace discusses the importance of being well-adjusted human
beings. He emphasizes the importance of learning how to perceive the world around us, think
about our own values of meaning, and act appropriately based on our beliefs. I took from it that
he was preaching to this younger generation to spend time finding themselves and their own
personal ideas of the true meaning of life in any direction that they choose to go.
I like DFWs use of the term well-adjusted because I think it shows the variance for
each human being. We are all put through different situations and lifestyles, but its all about
how we react to them and handle them. Every human will have their own passion and find their
own meaning based on how they adjust to the world around them. This source ties together my
other sources through this well-adjusted term because that can relate to adjusting to your peers,
adjusting to the now, or adjusting to the different feelings and emotions that life throws your
way.