Adam's Search for Meaning by Adam

Adam's Search for Meaning by Adam - April 2013 Scholarship Essay

How should man promulgate his ideas, should he not first possess a medium by which to express them? By what means can he empathize with his fellow men, short of despairing gesticulations, should language not exist as the method by which he relates? The implications of these inquiries as my primary rationale, I think English to be the most important, and thus my favorite, school subject, as it is the basis upon which all other subjects are made able to teach and learn. I will further suggest, though here I exert considerable bias according to my own personal preference, that English Literature is a very important school subject, as it is fundamental to all of man’s existential inquiries. 
Apart from mathematics, the existence of which is primarily contained not in English but in the arabic numeral system, (arguably a form of language in itself), all subjects taught in school are possible to teach only because English, or whichever language is agreed upon by the community of students and teachers, precedes them. There can be no medulla oblongata without there first being a language to describe that part of the brain as such. Similarly, what significance hold the particular clumping of vocal exertions “aggregate supply and demand” if there is no basis of language to describe the meaning of these sounds? Even if man was capable of considering and giving meaning to such dense concepts without the precept of language, which itself is an extremely unlikely occurrence, how should he go about expressing his ideas to his fellow men? Further, how without language could he narrowly define any matter to a more definite concept than a vague, abstract idea? Thus, language is the intellectual cornerstone to which all successive academic bricks of higher altitude owe their gratitude, they being supported rather than let crumble to the ground.
As for my own personal fondness of the English language and the texts which so strikingly display it’s capacity for conveying meaning, I am admittedly partial. Because of it’s importance as the basis for scholarly discussion, as I’ve just described, but particularly because of my fascination with the existential struggles of man am I so captivated by English literature. The ability to question things inevitably tends to skeptical thought towards the very existence and inherent meaning of things. However, the world ‘just is.’ No definite answers exist to such fundamental questions as “what is the meaning of life?” The solely physical existence of nature did not intend for beings to develop consciousness and begin to question its motives; it has no motives. Thus, this creation of language which allows for so much rational development on the part of man’s intellect leads to an existential void. Deductive reasoning allows for much development. With thought man can survive more efficiently, but in all his newfound free time he ponders these existential questions which are devoid of logic and reason. Here develops the void. And thus, all further existential angst on the part of man stems from this basic dissonance between theory and reality, for man’s words are after all merely intangible abstractions, no matter how necessary, and so are effectively metaphors used to describe the world. 
This being the case, men struggle to make sense of existence with the logic that so obviously seems to explain all the rest of reality. As I have an inherent inclination to fascination with this fundamental dilemma of man, I am naturally drawn to literature, arguably the favorite creative medium of artists who describe this struggle of theirs through their art. Thus, though I may never truly discover the purpose in my existence, I find solace in the works of such individuals, contented by the idea that I am not alone in my struggle.