TRANSCENDENTALISM

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TRANSCENDENTALISM

• A Look Into the
• American Renaissance
• The American Philosophy
• A Note or Two on Transcendentalism

Mr. Hrga
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A transcendentalist

• Believes in going beyond the limitations of the
  senses and of everyday experience by relying upon
  intuition rather than reason or logic
• By doing this, the transcendentalist seeks to
  discover higher truths and insights

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A transcendentalist (cont.)...

• Emerson states, The individual is the world. In
  other words, God is not a separate entity, but
  humans, God and nature are all one. This belief
  asserts the inherent dignity of all men and does
  not necessitate that men are inferior when
  compared to God.
• Has the tendency to be quite moralistic and
  concerned with how humans should live.

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More about transcendentalism...

• Consequently, there is an emphasis on ideals such
  as democracy, equality, individualism,
  self-reliance, integrity and optimism.
• Some famous transcendentalists are Nathanial
  Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David
  Thoreau and Margaret Fuller.

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EMERSON

• Credited with being Americas first abstract
  thinker and proposed many radically humanistic
  ideas
• 1. He was incredibly optimistic, believing that
  everyone should follow his or her own path. He
  believed in the value of the individual. His
  writings favor racial individualism, an
  insistence on self-reliance and a refusal to
  measure conduct by traditional social values. He
  sees an individual as being in sharp contrast to
  society because society doesnt strengthen the
  individual, but breeds conformity.

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EMERSON (cont.)

• 2. Held strong opposition to the accepted
  establishment. Criticized society and social
  institutions
• 3. Strongly opposed materialism
• 4. Strong belief in God. Referred to God as the
  Over-soul. He was a PANTHEIST a person who
  believes that God is in all things. God is in the
  individual same God is in all individual.

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THOREAU

• Thoreau is described as a strong-minded and
  restless man who was in love with the natural
  world and could do without material goods.
• 1. Questioned authority when it was unreasonable
  or untested
• 2. Resented traditions when they were hollow
  gestures of the past
• 3. Advocated simplicity in life

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THOREAU (cont.)

• 4. He was an individualist. He made his own
  decisions with little thought to their popularity
  and much to their necessity and rightness.
• 5. Making a living should never interfere with
  life itself
• 6. Moved to Walden Pond to build his own cabin,
  sort out his philosophies in an effort to
  simplify life and write
• 7. Advocate of civil disobedience as a means of
  political protest passive resistance to
  injustice

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EMERSON THOREAU

• Both Emerson and Thoreau were for the
  abolitionist movement, although neither
  officially joined because that would require
  conformity and the sacrifice of individualism.

Emerson
Thoreau
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The American Renaissance

• Period of writing from 1830-1865
• Is a man good or evil?
• Should the individual or society come first?
• How should we live?
• These are the questions that were debated by two
  groups in American Literature
• 1. The Party of Memory
• 2. The Party of Hope

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The Party of

• MEMORY
• - Hawthorne, Melville, Poe (and others)
• HOPE
• - Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman (and others)

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The Party Differences

• Party of Memory
• Man is sinful
• We are Adam after the Fall
• World is a weedy garden
• We should look to the past

• Party of Hope
• Man is innocent
• We are Adam before the Fall
• America is Eden
• We should look to the future

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The Party Differences (cont.)

• The Party of Memory
• Man should be suspicious and stern
• Nature is a place of danger
• Society is the guard against our fallen nature
• Stability is good
• The Party of Hope
• Man should be trusting and open
• Nature is where God (the spirit) is found
• Individuality is paramount
• Change is good

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THE END