Transcendentalism and Emerson Essay Example for Free

Transcendentalism and Emerson Essay * 18th century German philosopher Immanuel Kant * Refers to idea that in determining the ultimate reality of God, the universe, the self, one must transcend or go beyond everyday human experience * Intuition The Transcendental Club * Informal meetings that began in 1836 Concord, Massachusetts. In the home of George Ripley * Discussed theology, philosophy, and literature * Called themselves the Symposium or Hedge * What The Hedge Club Did * Sponsored two major activities * 1 Quarterly called The Dial * Edited by Margaret Fuller. * Also edited by Emerson * Subscription list was very small at the start and diminished until no longer in publication * 2 Brook Farm * Established in 1841 as a utopian community * Failed because a fire destroyed the main building and the thinkers weren’t always willing farmers Romanticism and Transcendentalism * Romanticism * 1. Importance of intuition * 2. Anti-authoritarianism – including a healthy contempt for the past * 3. Love of nature * Interest in social reform * National Literature * Transcendentalism * Heart of the romantic movement. * 1. Believed that an individual relationship with God was personal and was to be established by the individual and not the church * 2. Egalitarian – believing in the dignity of the common person and the common labor * 3. An epistemology – a different way of knowing; receiving higher truths Ralph Waldo Emerson What kind of writer was he? * Not a philosopher (too broad) or essayist (too limited) * He was a POET! A poet whose works were not always in verse * He said he was born a poet of a low class but he was, without doubt, a poet. * â€Å"His singing, he says, is in prose† But he is a perceiver and dear lover of†¦Ã¢â‚¬  ~ R. W. Emerson Bio * Born in Boston in 1803 to a cultured, but a poor family * Came from a long line of ministers * After his father died of TB, His Aunt took control of the family (she was a Calvinist) – Mary Moody Emerson * Entered Harvard at age 14 – graduated * After Harvard took a job as a teacher * Then went to work for his uncle to prepare to be a minister * Became a minister at Boston’s Second Church. * Married his sweetheart Ellen Tucker but she also died of TB * Was devastated and he was having problems with his beliefs so he withdrew from being a minister * Returned to Concord, Massachusetts and married Lydia Jackson Themes, Beliefs, Techniques * Themes: Individuals’ souls were part of a greater entity which he called the â€Å"Over-Soul† * Beliefs: He thought religious truth was an â€Å"intuition† – a very personal relationship with God. Most people lose their sense of wonder and delight, as they grow older. * Techniques: Striking imagery that appeals to senses, aphorisms (express wise observations about life).