Transcendentalism

Ralph Waldo Emerson

• 1803-1882• Unitarian minister• Poet and essayist• Founded the

Transcendental Club• Popular lecturer• Banned from Harvard for

40 years following his Divinity School address

• Supporter of abolitionism

From “Nature”

• LOVING NATURE IS THE KEY TO THE TRANSCENDENTAL EXPERIENCE!

• To love nature, we must retain our infancy- children see with their heart and eyes.

• Adults must react as children and spontaneously enjoy it.

From “Nature”

• NATURE BECOMES THE CATALYST THROUGH WHICH HUMANS ACHIEVE UNION WITH GOD

• People need to remove their egos, learning, and prejudices.

• Cannot rely or look upon the past.

• An epiphany occurs

From “Self Reliance”

• Be original!• Action is higher than

contemplation! YOU HAVE TO DO TO BE!

• We need to find in ourselves the strength and inspiration to be our own person, to live our own lives and not be held to some standards by others. INDIVIDUAL MIND

• Feeling and intuition are more important than reason.

• God gives each of us a vocation-Insist on yourself - we are a divine idea

• Don’t conform• Don’t be afraid to say one

thing today & another thing tomorrow

From “Self Reliance”

• TRUST THYSELF• Do not conform• Do not look to the past - it

is gone.• Strive to be great

• 2 Obstacles to Self Reliance:– Conformity

• It turns your life into a lie b/c you are living according to the will of others

• Why would you rely on others’ judgements

– Consistency- “the hobgoblin of little minds:

• being consistent is foolish• People should not have

one idea and keep it forever

• We must recreate ourselves

Henry David Thoreau

• 1817-1862• Schoolteacher, essayist,

poet• Most famous for Walden

and Civil Disobedience• Influenced environmental

movement• Supporter of abolitionism

Walden

• He built his house in the woods of Walden Pond, near Concord, MA, and lived there in total simplicity for two years.

• Ax, wardrobe, $30• Built 10 X 15 House

– Table, chairs, bed, desk, mirror, cooking supplies

Planted a garden

• Feels people are enslaved by their “supposed needs”

• They become slaves to materialism and acquisition.

• Makes people desperate.• We need basics to learn

more about ourselves and mankind.

“Where I Lived and What I Lived For”

• He lives in the woods to see if nature has anything yet to teach him in life.

• Thoreau states that our lives are controlled by details which we should not care about, and that we should make our lives more simplistic.

• He proclaims that without a doubt, he would like to get the most out of life that he can, and live as deeply in it as possible, while questioning the world and all it has to offer.

• He uses the example that there should be no problems in life that make you count on more than just your ten fingers, or in extreme cases, your ten toes. However, anything more than that is not an important detail. Thoreau says there is no need to waste time on such petty details, when there are more important lessons and

morals to learn from nature and life.

“Solitude”• The occurrence of a rainstorm made

Thoreau very happy because he states that this was the time that he was confined in his home. Such confinement affords him the time think intensely about different ideas and thoughts. Many people question Thoreau as to how and why he lives all alone, hidden in the woods. Although Thoreau is always tempted to reply, yet he does not. He states to himself that we all live in the Milky Way, which puts us in relatively close space. Then, he questions what kind of space makes one man solitary or happy in life, and suggests many places where one can reside, such as Beacon Hill,

the grocery or the school house.

From Brute Neighbors

• The battle b/t the ants suggests to Thoreau the carnage and waste of human battles and wars.

• Maybe all wars are futile.

• Thoreau begins by relating a battle, a war between two races of ants, the red vs. the black, at his wood pile. He has a first hand seat for this battle, being right on the field as they are fighting. His description of the soldiers is that they are fighting decisively. Specifics of the war of the ants are shared, indicating that their attitude is “…Conquer or die” (Thoreau). One ant is spotted that because he is unharmed; it is assumed he has not yet entered battle, which leads to some amount of speculation. This was a red ant, observing the black ants, twice their size, engaged in battle. Thinking back over the war of the ants, it’s truly not much different than war among men. He then alludes to the similarity between various battles. Thoreau believes the ants fight for a principle, much as did man in the wars of the day.

• In his game with the loon, Thoreau is struck by the wild laughter and cunning maneuvers of the bird.

• Living close with nature.

• Next, Thoreau expresses his thoughts on the hunt of the loon, in October. As the loon traverses Walden Pond, Thoreau finds significance within his movements. He realizes that he might just wait for his random appearance, as this was as successful as trying to gauge his actions. The question is how could a bird who appears so smart actually give himself away with his loud laugh? Actually, Thoreau concluded that the looning, the laugh of the bird, was actually intentionally done against Thoreau himself. The rain from god was like an answer for the loon, and a possible

punishment against man.

From Conclusion

• Leaves to live; has more of the world to see.

• Don’t conform or live everyday the same!

• Are you really living???

• “I left the woods…” Thoreau states at the beginning of his conclusion. He feels that it is his time to go, because perhaps he has several more lives to live. Once he has left, and now returns for a visit, he is better able to see the world in detail. Thoreau comments that while in his house, only after a short period of time, paths of conformity are made, just as the world has fallen into the

deep tracks of conformity.

• If we advance confidently in the directions of our dreams, we will meet with a success we never imagined.

• If we simplify our life, we will be able to live in harmony with higher laws and a peace with ourselves.

• Next, he states that if man continues to work hard for what he wants and does not let go of his dreams, then success will be granted. Following this, Thoreau explains that something in life will have to be left behind, but there are new boundaries that will be passed and discovered, and as man’s life begins to simplify, his world will become less complicated.