TRANSCENDENTALISMRadical Romantics

ROOTS OF TRANSCENDENTALISM Romanticism

New attitude toward nature, humanity, and society that emphasizes individualism and freedom. Celebration of individualism Reverence of nature The rebel (individual vs. society) Concerns with industrialization and technology Fascination with death and the supernatural Impulse toward reform

TRANSCENDENTALISM A philosophy that created new ideas in

literature, religion, and culture Started in New England in the early to middle

19th century. Began as a protest against the general state

of culture and society, and in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard.

TRANSCENDENTALISM Core beliefs

An ideal spiritual state that “transcends” the physical and empirical and is only realized through the individual’s intuition, rather than through the doctrines of established religions.

TRANSCENDENTALISM The sum of it is

A group of new ideas that emerged as a result of the protests against popular thought and intellectualism. It stressed the belief that the individual's spiritual state "transcends" the physical world and is arrived at through intuition rather than religious doctrine.

TRANSCENDENTALISM Another way to put it:

That it [transcendentalism] is the belief that the basic truths of the universe lie beyond (or transcend) what we obtain from our senses.

TRANSCENDENTAL BELIEFS

Individualism Nonconformity Self-Reliance Reverence of Nature

Carpe Diem Intuition Simplicity Oversoul

INTUITION The Devine Belief—part

of God in each man; intuition; innate understanding of what is right and good; direct line of communication between God and man

Divinity within Man Intuition over Reason

Individual Intuition: highest form of knowledge: the creative insight and interpretation of one's own inner voices

OVERSOUL Man, universe, and nature are intertwined Universal soul that goes through all beings

—”the force”

REVERENCE OF NATURE

Nature is inherently good—symbolic “The foregoing generations beheld God and

Nature face to face; we—through their eyes. Why should we not also enjoy an original relation to the universe?”- Emerson

Respect and Beauty

INDIVIDUALISM True to own inner perception or intuition Divinity of each individual, but this divinity

could be discovered only if the person had the independence of mind to do so

Self-Reliance You must rely on yourself.

Nonconformity You should not conform to social norms if you

do not agree with the norms.

SIMPLICITY People get distracted by superfluities. You should live simply. Live without luxury.

CARPE DIEM Seize the day! Live every day to its fullest.

You must “transcend”

TRANSCENDENTALISM “By meditating, by communing with nature

through art, man transcends his senses and finds beauty, goodness, and truth.”

Identify transcendental beliefs in each clip.

Cast Away https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP2P8mhif-g The Little Mermaid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcCjjEeEb3Y#t

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