Entry 4

Transcendentalism

       Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that was developed during the late 1820s and 1830s. Emerson was the founder of the movement. As many movements around the world, transcendentalists had a club, (where Nathaniel Hawthorne and Walt Whitman were present literary figures) and a magazine called “The Dial”.

      In class we have focused particularly on two transcendentalists: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Both believed in the mystical power of Nature, which led Emerson to write about it and defend our unity with Nature; while Thoreau tried to prove the transcendentalists theory by having the experience of living in the wild. They expressed American ideals such as individualism, self-reliance and non-conformity. They believed in the individual’s unlimited capacity, which we can relate to Benjamin Franklin’s great influence on the concept of “self-made-man”. They criticized government, organized religion, laws, and social institutions since it deformed independent thinking. Although they did not make any practical changes, they were supporters of women’s rights, abolition, reform and education.

     The core belief of this movement was the concept of Over-Soul, meaning the unity between God, Nature and Humanity.  The concept of Over-Soul gave attention to our faculty of Intuition.  Individualism is another concept of the movement in the sense that the individual is the spiritual centre of the universe and by focusing on the premise that all knowledge begins with self-knowledge. Emerson, therefore, points out how important it is for one to know oneself, to trust oneself and one’s intuitions rather than trusting other peoples beliefs and only receiving knowledge through tuition. Emerson believes that truth lies within ourselves. Taking this in consideration, he sees imitation and consistency as something which would only limit ourselves more, stating that “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds”.

It is somewhat relevant to emphasise that by being against conformity, Emerson is not saying people should be against everything that is perceived as the norm, but rather to question it before adopting and believing in it.

      Opposing Benjamin Franklin’s pure rationalism, Emerson believed that in Nature people could achieve spiritual power, along with his belief in human intuition.

Personal point of view:

       First of all, Ralph Waldo Emerson writes about a great majority of topics that I have been interested in for a long time: Nature, self-reliance, individualism, the human soul/spirituality, solitude, the questioning of society and the awareness through our own personal power. For a couple of years now, I’ve been questioning myself, others, society and my own beliefs. It is a huge struggle. More than ever, I want to live a life which I believe in and in which I experience the most I can. These are some of the reasons why I liked Emerson so much. Before Emerson, I was lingering more on the pessimist side of being alone and independent. I often searched for provocative and dark texts/authors like Nietzsche, Charles Bukowski and Raul Brandão. But Emerson has another way of criticizing - he has a completely different tone which is equally amazing to me, although I’ve always had a weak spot for darker aspects of life and portraying it.

       What intrigued me about “Self Reliance” is the fact that it is so contemporary.  If back than it was already important to trust yourself, nowadays I find it even more important and even more of a challenge. As Danielle LaPorte said: “Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?”.  When I read this quote I had a big struggle in my mind. 

      Nowadays we have the media who fills our mind with concepts of how we should be, act, dress, eat and understand the world and people around us. The media can be an even more dangerous tool than any religious group because it is so soft in its ways and often not taken serious enough by those who do not find the media so influential. But it is, at least in my opinion. Never before had the world so many problems regarding eating disorders, which start earlier and earlier in one’s life. Never before has beauty been given such importance and the most frightening about it, is what is considered to be beautiful or not. But more intriguing than this is the way that people are more and more absorbed by technological gadgets and not by nature’s wonders. These are topics that I have been thinking about for a long time and I am glad to be so aware of these problems and sad to see so many people falling into the social trap of what happiness is or not. This brings me to Emerson’s optimistic view of people which I find pretty much debatable. It is not explicitly stated but I think one can say that Emerson was not a misanthropist. Thoreau too, believed in the individual. I used to link myself with those who rather despised people and pointed out their faults as if they have lost their hope in people. But whether Emerson and Thoreau were too optimistic or not, their point is still nowadays valuable. Although in a different manner to that of Nietzsche, for example, they also express the importance of believing in what we think is right and not following the “flock”. To be aware and to question ourselves will always be important, even if we have to stand alone, go to prison or “take the road not taken”.