Transcendentalism
Transcendentalism was
Spiritual
Philosophical
Literary
Nineteenth Century American
Transcendentalism
 is not a religion (in the traditional sense of the
word)
 It is not a religion because it does not adhere to
the three concepts common in major religions:
 a. a belief in a God;
 b. a belief in an afterlife (dualism);
 c. a belief that this life has consequences on the next
(if you're good in this life, you go to heaven in the
next, etc.).
Nineteenth Century American
Transcendentalism
it is a philosophy, a state of mind, and a
form of spirituality
Transcendentalism is monist; it does not
reject an afterlife, but its emphasis is on
this life.
Basic Assumption
Instinct vs. Logic
The intuitive ability, instead of the rational,
became the means for a conscious union of
the individual psyche with the world psyche
also known as the Oversoul, life-force, prime
mover, and God
The Big Three
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau
Margaret Fuller
Basic Premises
 An individual is the spiritual center of the universe - and
in an individual can be found the clue to nature, history
and, ultimately, the cosmos itself.
 It is not a rejection of the existence of God, but a preference to
explain an individual and the world in terms of an individual.
 The structure of the universe literally duplicates the
structure of the individual self - all knowledge, therefore,
begins with self-knowledge.
 Transcendentalists accepted the concept of nature as a
living mystery, full of signs - nature is symbolic.
Basic Premises
The belief that individual virtue and
happiness depend upon self-realization
which depends upon the reconciliation of
two universal psychological tendencies:
the self-transcending tendency - a desire to
embrace the whole world - to know and
become one with the world
the self-asserting tendency - the desire to
withdraw, remain unique and separate - an
egotistical existence.
Basic Premises
 The external is united with the internal
 Physical or material nature is neutral or
indifferent or objective; it is neither helpful nor
hurtful; it is neither beautiful nor ugly
 What makes one give such attributes to nature is
that individual's imposition of her/his
temperament or mood or psyche.
 If I'm feeling lousy, I may ignore a gorgeous day; if I'm
feeling bright and cheerful then the most dreary of
days becomes tolerable
Basic Premises
Transcendentalists believed that "knowing
yourself" and "studying nature" is the
same activity. Nature mirrors our psyche.
If I cannot understand myself, maybe
understanding nature will help.
Transcendentalism is rooted in the
American past
 To Puritanism it owed its pervasive morality and
the "doctrine of divine light." It is also similar to
the Quaker "inner light." However, both these
concepts assume acts of God, whereas intuition
is an act of an individual.
 In Unitarianism, deity was reduced to a kind of
immanent principle in every person - an
individual was the true source of moral light.
 To Romanticism it owed the concept of nature
as a living mystery and not universe which is
fixed and permanent.
Basic Tenets
 Transcendentalism is a form of idealism.
 The transcendentalist "transcends" or rises above the
lower animalistic impulses of life (animal drives) and
moves from the rational to a spiritual realm.
 The human soul is part of the Oversoul or universal spirit
(or "float" for Whitman) to which it and other souls return
at death.
 Therefore, every individual is to be respected because
everyone has a portion of that Oversoul (God).
Basic Tenets
 This Oversoul or Life Force or God can be found
everywhere - travel to holy places is, therefore, not
necessary.
 God can be found in both nature and human nature
(Nature, Emerson stated, has spiritual manifestations).
 Jesus also had part of God in himself - he was divine as
everyone is divine - except in that he lived an exemplary
and transcendental life and made the best use of that
Power which is within each one.
Basic Tenets
 "Miracle is monster." The miracles of the Bible are not to be
regarded as important as they were to the people of the past.
Miracles are all about us - the whole world is a miracle and the
smallest creature is one.
 "A mouse is a miracle enough to stagger quintillions of infidels." Whitman
 More important than a concern about the afterlife, should be a
concern for this life
 "the one thing in the world of value is the active soul." - Emerson
 Death is never to be feared, for at death the soul merely passes to
the oversoul.
 Emphasis should be placed on the here and now.
 "Give me one world at a time." - Thoreau
Basic Tenets
 Evil is a negative - merely an absence of good.
 Light is more powerful than darkness because one ray of light
penetrates the dark.
 There is no belief in the existence of Satan as an active entity
forcing humans to commit immorality. Humans are good and if they
do immoral acts they do so out of ignorance and by not thinking.
 Power is to be obtained by defying fate or predestination, which
seem to work against humans, by exercising one's own spiritual and
moral strength. Emphasis on self-reliance.
 the emphasis is placed on a human thinking.
Basic Tenets
 The necessity of examples of great leaders, writers, philosophers,
and others, to show what an individual can become through thinking
and action.
 It is foolish to worry about consistency, because what an intelligent
person believes tomorrow, if he/she trusts oneself, tomorrow may be
completely different from what that person thinks and believes
today.
 "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." - Emerson
 The unity of life and universe must be realized. There is a
relationship between all things.
 One must have faith in intuition, for no church or creed can
communicate truth.
 Reform must not be emphasized - true reform comes from within.
Transcendental Legacy
 The influence on their contemporary writers: Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, and
Dickinson.
 The Concord School of Philosophy founded in 1879
 The Movements: Mind Cure through Positive Thinking - Christian Science (Mary
Baker Eddy) and New Thought (Warren F. Evans).
 The influence on Mahatma Gandhi, Rev. M. L. King, Jr. and others who protested
using civil disobedience.
 The influence on the "beat" generation of the 1950s and the "young radicals" of the
'60s and '70s who practiced dissent, anti-materialism, anti-war, and anti-work ethic
sentiments.
 The influence on Modernist writers like: Frost, Stevens, O'Neill, Ginsberg.
 The popularity of Transcendental Meditation, Equal Rights, Feminism, and sexual
freedoms.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
1803-1882
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done
what you could; some blunders and absurdities have
crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is
a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high
a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
Do not go where the path may lead, go
instead where there is no path and leave
a trail.
We have keys to all doors. The world is all
gates, all opportunities, Strings of tension
waiting to be struck.
•Once you make a decision, the universe
conspires to make it happen.
•Nothing great was ever achieved without
enthusiasm.
•All life is an experiment. The more
experiments you make the better.
•Insist on yourself; never imitate... Every great
man is unique
•Make the most of yourself, for that is all there
is of you.
•Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of
your own mind.
•The only way to have a friend is to be one.
•Hitch your wagon to a star.
•Whoso would be a man must be a
nonconformist.
Emerson’s Biography (shortened)
 Born on May 25th in 1803 in Boston
 One of eight children born into the Emerson family but the only one to live
till full maturity.
 His father, William Emerson, was a reverend who was able to trace his
family tree back to the first generation of Americans and was the product of
a long line of ministers.
 When his father died in 1811 the Emerson’s money diminished quickly and
forced his mother to open boarding houses to provide for the family.
 Emerson entered Harvard University at age fourteen.
 While attending Harvard university Emerson took quite a liking to both
writing and Latin but performed merely only satisfactorily in mathematics
and philosophy.
 Between the years of 1821 and 1825 upon graduating Harvard Emerson
took a job in teaching in the Boston area.
 As he came from a long line of ministers Emerson felt inclined to join the
ministry himself. In 1825 Emerson studied at the Harvard divinity school but
did not take a degree. In 1827 he preached at his father’s old church in
Boston until he began to experience problems with his eyes and joints
which he knew to be signs of tuberculosis so he sought the advice of a
physician who advised him to spend some time in the south to recuperate.
Emerson’s Biography (shortened)
 Emerson returned to Boston in mid 1827, and married
Ellen Louise Tucker on September 30th 1829. Ellen died
of tuberculosis on February 8, 1831
 In 1836 while mourning the death of his brother Charles
Emerson kept working on one of his most important
works “Nature”.
 Around the time Emerson was writing “Nature” he
became a member of a transcendental club and founded
the “Dial” (a literary paper) which was first published in
1840 with co members such as Elizabeth Palmer
Peabody, and Henry David Thoreau.
 Died on April 27th 1882 at the age of 78.Close to one
thousand people came to concord to remember an honor
Emerson and writers such as Louisa May Alcott spoke at
his service in the Unitarian church in Concord.
Emerson
Nature (1836)
Considered the "gospel" of American
Transcendentalism
The major thesis of the essay, in Emerson's
words, is that we should now "enjoy an
original relation to the universe," and not
become dependent on past experiences of
others and on holy books, creeds and dogma.
Emerson
"Self-Reliance" (1841)
This essay elaborates further on the familiar
Emersonian belief- trust yourself. This is also
a very popular essay written in forceful and
memorable language.
• "There is a time in every man's education when he
arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance;
that imitation is suicide ... " "Trust thyself: every
heart vibrates to that iron string."
Emerson
 "The American Scholar" (1837)
 Delivered as a lecture to the Phi Beta Kappa Society,
Harvard College, on August 31, 1837, "The American
Scholar" is popular and important in expressing the
practical aspects of Transcendentalism. Emerson
prods the students to become more confident in their
abilities and to take pride in Americanism:
• "We have listened too long to the courtly muses of Europe. ...
We will walk on our own feet, we will work with our own
hands, we will speak our own minds."
Emerson
"The Divinity School Address" (1838)
A lecture addressed to the senior class at the
Harvard Divinity College on July 15, 1838.
The important theme of this lecture is that
truth cannot be presented as doctrines or
creeds.
• Emerson says, "It (the truth) cannot be received at
second hand. Truly speaking, it is not instruction,
but provocation, that I can receive from another
soul." He goes on to tell the graduating class to be
original and not imitative.
At Harvard, Emerson was selected
as the class poet of 1821
 His many poems can be grouped together in broad
categories (with few examples) like:
 Public, political, and patriotic ("Concord Hymn," "Boston Hymn,"
"Voluntaries)
 Nature poems ("Berrying," "The Rhodora," "The Snow-Storm,"
"Wood-notes," "Musketaquid," "May-day," "The Adirondacs," "My
Garden," "The Titmouse," "Seashore)
 Personal poems ("To Ellen," "Thine Eyes Still Shined,"
"Threnody" "Terminus," "Grace)
 Philosophical, religious and aesthetic ("The Sphinx," "Each and
All," "The Problem," "Uriel," "Hamatreya," "Ode Inscribed to W.
H. Channing," "Give All to Love," "Initial, Dtmonic, and Celestial
Love," "Merlin," "Bacchus," "Saadi," "Brahma," "Days," "Two
Rivers," and "Waldeinsamkeit")
Henry David Thoreau
1817-1862
Thoreau
 Born on July 12, 1817 in Concord, Massachusetts.
 Thoreau studied at Concord Academy (1828-33), and at Harvard University,
graduating in 1837.
 He was a teacher in Canton, Massachusetts (1835-36), and at Center
School (1837).
 In 1835 he contracted tuberculosis and suffered from recurring bouts
throughout his life.
 American essayist, poet, and practical philosopher, best-known for his
autobiographical story of life in the woods, Walden (1854).
 Thoreau was one of the leading personalities in New England
Transcendentalism. His "Civil Disobedience" (1849) influenced Gandhi and
Martin Luther King Jr.
 A decisive turning point in Thoreau's life came when he met Ralph Waldo
Emerson in Concord. He was a member of Emerson's household from 1841
to 1843, earning his living as a handyman.
 In 1845 Thoreau built a home on the shores of Walden Point for twentyeight dollars, and described his observations and speculations in A Week
On The Concord And Merrimack Rivers (1849).
Thoreau
 Thoreau's most famous essay, "Civil Disobedience" (1849), was a
result of a overnight visit in 1846 to a jail, when he refused to pay his
taxes in protest against the Mexican War and the extension of
slavery. Later Thoreau lectured and wrote about the evils of slavery
and helped fleeing slaves.
 Walden; or, Life in the Woods described a two-year period in
Thoreau's life from March 1845 to September 1847 during which the
author retired from the town to live alone at Walden Pond. Although
Thoreau never earned a substantial living by his writings, his works
fill 20 volumes.
 Aware that he was dying of tuberculosis, Thoreau cut short his
travels and returned to Concord, where he prepared some of his
journals for publication. He died at Concord on May 6, 1862.
 Thoreau's letters were edited by his friend Emerson and published
posthumously in 1865. Poems Of Nature appeared in 1895 and
Collected Poems in 1943. Thoreau's collection of journals was
published in 1906 in 14 volumes.
Thoreau
 "Resistance to Civil Government" also known as
"Civil Disobedience" (1849)
 For failing to pay poll tax, Thoreau was sent to jail. The famous
and influential essay is the result of that gesture. Its message is
simple and daring - he advocates "actions through principles." If
the demands of a government or a society are contrary to an
individual's conscience, it is his/her duty to reject them.
Upholding moral law as opposed to social law "divides the
individual, separating the diabolical in him from the divine."
Inspired by Thoreau's message, Mahatma Gandhi organized a
massive resistance of Indians against the British occupation of
India. Thoreau's words have also inspired the Rev. Martin Luther
King, Jr., the peace marchers and the numerous conscientiousobjectors to the Vietnam war.
Thoreau
 Walden (1854)
 Considered one of the all-time great books, Walden is
a record of Thoreau's two year experiment of living at
Walden Pond. The chief emphasis is on the
simplifications and enjoyment of life now.
 Known as
•
•
•
•
a nature book
a do-it-yourself guide to simple life
a satirical criticism of modern life and living
a spiritual book.
Thoreau's Poetry
 Although Thoreau wrote a considerable number
of poems, very few are regarded as excellent.
 Among those which are well-known are "LightWinged Smoke, Icarian Bird," "A Winter and
Spring Scene," and "Low in the Eastern Sky.“
 Common themes of Thoreau's poetry are nature,
impressions of life, and transcendental
philosophy.