Transcendentalism

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Transcendentalism

• 1840-1860

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What is it?

• Intellectual movement
• Not philosophy or literary theory
• View that basic truths of the universe lie beyond
  the knowledge we obtain from our senses
• Realm of knowledge that transcends what we hear
  or see in books

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The Universal Soul

• Intuition is the highest power of the soul
• Intuition allows people to experience and
  understand their souls
• One can experience God firsthand
• EVERYONE can experience his own soul and God
• Nature also has a sacred soul
• The souls of Nature, God, and humanity are all
  intertwined.

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Nature

• Transcendentalists take many ideas from Romantics
  about nature
• Goodness of the natural world
• All parts of the natural world are significant
  and symbolic of the Universal Soul
• Writing demonstrates deep reverence for nature

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Self-Knowledge

• The heart of Transcendentalism
• Nature is a means of knowing oneself
• Transcendentalists explore deeply into the human
  personality, especially its irrational elements
• All individuals have an inner world to explore

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Key Transcendentalists

• Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Nature
• Self-Reliance
• Henry David Thoreau
• Walden