Transcendentalism
Many people have theories and philosophies about life in general. There have been hundreds of thousands of books published by many different people on the ideas of people in the past and the present. Transcendentalism falls in amongst all of these ideas. There have been articles, essays, poems, and even books written about this subject. Transcendentalism has effected many people since the philosophy was first introduced. The idea was complex and hard to grasp for many commoners and therefore it was understood by few people, and some would think that the idea was not understood at all and that was part of the idea. Henry David Thoreau once stated about himself, “I should have told them at
…show more content…
This group of people, who were all friends, met together and discussed their ideas on philosophy, literature, and religion, and called themselves the Hedge Club, from the name of one of the members. Later other people gave them the name of the Transcendental Club because of their discussion of Immanuel Kant’s ideas on transcendentalism (1). These people published many books and writings about their ideas. The most famous of these philosophers and writers would be Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.
Ralph Emerson wrote many journals and essays dealing with the subject of transcendentalism. One of his most famous works is the essay “Self-Reliance.” In “Self-Reliance,” Emerson hit on the idea that the individual should be completely reliant on God, and that every person has been put into their certain life and position by God and that the person needs to trust themselves. He said that God has put the power to handle things, think, and act into each individual and that the individual needs to trust what God has put inside them to do things with their lives. The idea is almost that of predestination, except for the fact that we have the choice of which road to take. Predestination is the idea that a higher power, or God, has planned everything that will happen to a person in their life.
Compared to other spiritual groups, transcendentalism has qualities that can be compared. One example of this, is the many tenets of transcendentalism. The tenets are as follows: self reliance, importance of nature, and living a simple life. The doctrine of self reliance was inspired by Ralph Waldo. Self Reliance, was coincidentally the name of Waldo’s literary work. In the piece he is expressing his faith in the power of an individual. He
Transcendentalism, as described and asserted by Emerson, has been a very controversial topic during the twenty-first-century. The country as it is now is more technologically advanced and educated than ever; seeking transcendentalism is now more difficult than ever. With commodities such as cell phones, computers, and the Internet, most would not think of seeking out the values in nature
Transcendentalism is the view that basic truths of the universe lie beyond the knowledge one obtains from his senses. Throughout the excerpts written by Emerson who was the mentor and Thoreau as the experimentalist. Emerson expressed his thoughts to value nature, meanwhile Thoreau actually went out and learned through living the simplicity life. The transcendentalism movement was inspirational because it proved self-worth and celebrated life.
Emerson, himself was a Transcendentalist and he influenced other people to be one as well because he believed everyone should create their own ideas and not fall to be just another person in a society, take a leap of faith. “The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried” (Self-Reliance 774). Emerson was able to consider himself a Transcendentalist because he took a leap of faith and always made his very own context as to what he was against, and what he viewed as a current situation. The overall reason Emerson was a transcendentalist is because he created a different view for society and went outside of the norm to create ideas people had yet to even contemplate. Therefore, by creating a new idea for the society, people were able to expand their knowledge and build from Emerson’s ideas. All in all, Emerson believed in his own thoughts so he shared them with the public. As emerson stated as well as lived by, “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart, is true for all men” (Emerson
Transcendentalism is when one goes beyond the regular human experiences of the material world and society to find true peace. Thoreau’s “Walden” is about leaving the cities, abandoning one’s possessions and living out in nature to find one 's true self. Emerson’s “Self- Reliance” is about resisting society and living true to oneself and never following society’s standards. A modern Transcendentalist named Josh from the novel The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjian follows in the footsteps of Emerson and Thoreau and tries to live a Transcendentalist way of life. When a person does follow the transcendentalist way of life, they will find that it will always lead back to the material world and society and that they cannot escape it. The Transcendentalist way of life is not a beneficial way of life.
In conclusion, I believe that all the tenets of Transcendentalism are important in part of life. We live and are created by nature which makes us, us. We have the free thought of a process that is not restricted by any force or rule and especially religion. We are also humans of nature that have confidence of believing in our instincts. There some people of non-conformity of being oneself rather than to go with the views of everyone else while others have an ideal or perfect world. In my life, confidence is the most important tenet to me. Confidence controls my whole world of being myself and there is also being confident in many ways. For example, being confident that I will succeed in my future and be a very well known person. There is also
Transcendentalism is an important factor in peace. It has motivated people to find their true spirituality and enlighten people towards nature. Transcendentalism has changed the way people think and has simulated peace between different groups or countries. It has inspired the most rational and most inspirational people who were a transformative factor of peace inflicted upon this world such as Thorough, King, and Gandhi. Transcendentalism was not only defined by nature, it was a broad aspect which, inspired many different forms and approaches to peace, freedom, and revolution.
The highly religious philosophy of Transcendentalism developed as the response of a group of people who felt that it was unnecessary to practice a religion (and live a life) that was based on fear. The first Transcendentalists set out to create a more liberal way of life that allowed for personal growth, justice and freedom. To truly understand the implications of Transcendentalism and why Transcendentalists believed what they did, one must first look at the root of Transcendentalism, Unitarianism.
Transcendentalism, like its name states, believed that the ultimate truth lies beyond and can be obtained through sense. It focused more on individual and self rather than authoritative religious practice to reach these truths. It brought a logical thinking pattern into religion and lifestyles of an American. People now believe that everyone has a potential in reaching the ultimate truth by good conduct. People now have a closer control of balancing emotion and spirit with reasonings and calculations.
One of the most famous texts ever written for the sheer purpose of Transcendentalism was Emerson’s Self Reliance. In his essay, he writes about the importance of nonconformity and individualism. In Self Reliance, Emerson tells us to “trust thyself.” From only two words, one can gather the whole purpose of his essay. With nonconformity, man can defend himself against the tendency to become satisfied with life, and lose his own individuality. With “good- humored inflexibility” the self-reliant person can become someone who obeys himself. When it comes to a battle of law or a battle of morals, the self-reliant man will follow his morals and discard the law. One is not to use their logic, but use intuition. Emerson simply was striving for not the superiority of one man, but for originality and individuality of all humankind. He wanted to
Transcendentalism was a huge cultural movement in the nineteenth century; however, the ideas of the movement still continue to influence our society in the twenty-first century. These ideas of Transcendentalism have continued to exist throughout many years because the ideas remain relevant to society. In fact, the problems that many Transcendentalist writers encountered still happen today in new forms. These similar problems include conformity, the role of government in society, and the importance of nature. In general, people still feel that society needs to better itself for the benefit of all individuals, which is at the heart of Transcendentalism. Some of the ideas that Transcendentalists constantly defended included individualism,
Over time things change, for better or worse. Even if it is for the better, most of the time bad events end up following. Transcendentalism is not a religion, but a philosophy, in where people understand life relationships of the world, for its beauty and no its scientific meaning. It is clear that the way of life has changed and, the way we look and think has drastically shifted in a negative way, although it is not always in a bad way, yey for the most part it corrupts our intuition and denies us our own truths, of beauty, nature and life its self. Society and culture has changed so much in recent years.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was known to be the one that wrote the theory of Transcendentalism. I can see why a person would think that. Before Emerson, Transcendentalism was not that broad. Emerson introduced some new inspirations. This made the movement have more of a wider and larger selection of subjects to discuss. In his writings, he is trying to improve things since the Transcendentalism started off a war to restore order. “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” (Emerson 566) Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance” is trying to get an individual to improve on life choices and to see
The Transcendental Movement started around 1835. The movement was all about individualism and spiritualism. The idea was that you could achieve true spirituality with god not through the doctrines of man but through communion with nature. The belief was that there is divinity in all of nature so to get closer to God you get closer to nature. Some of the writers associated with the movement are Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott, Margaret Fuller, and Henry David
Self-reliance is defined as the reliance on one's own efforts and abilities. Self-reliance is part of a movement called transcendentalism led by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and other famous figures in history such as Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson. Emerson discusses society, and individuals, and how they relate to the idea of self-reliance. He also recounts the business, religious, government, and family implications of this concept. Through his use of vivid language, Emerson develops his unique world view and explains the theory of self-reliance. Written in 1864, Emerson’s essay discussed his hopes for a society of individuals, which has somewhat come true. Currently in the 21st century, many members of