Emerson’s Transcendental Vision of Nature and Society
Thesis Proposal
Ho-chin Hsieh
Action is with the scholar subordinate,
but it is essential. Without it, he is not
yet man. Without it, thought can never
ripen into truth.
─Emerson, “The American Scholar”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of the most well-known American
Transcendentalists, has gained a worldwide reputation for his philosophy of nature.
Owing to his great nature philosophy, not a few readers believe that in order to live a
genuine life, one has to lead the life of a hermit just as the first sentence of Nature
indicates: “To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as
from society”1(9). It will be a pity, however, if Emerson’s treasurable thoughts are
limited only to the advocacy of nature. There are some other voices which still need to
be investigated.
In 2000, Sarah Ann Wider declared: “It is time to expand the Emerson canon
beyond Nature” (2). Besides nature, it is time that we, as modern readers, probe into
other corners of the treasure house of Emerson’s Transcendentalism. Recently, many
scholars, such as Maurice Gonnaud, Len Gougeon, Charles E. Mitchell and Peter S.
Field, have published some noteworthy works on Emerson and “produced … the
1
Joel Porte, ed. Emerson: Essays and Lectures. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc.,
1983. Hereafter all citations of Emerson’s works are from this series. Page numbers will be put in
parentheses after them.
Ｈsieh 2
current renaissance in Emerson studies” (Cayton 111). These works, differing from
conventional ones, unfold Emerson as a social-oriented figure. In the past, many
scholars marked Emerson as a man whose “prevailing moods are lofty” and regarded
him as a “superior person incapable of ease and friendly contacts with ordinary
people” (Jackson 172). Recent studies, in contrast, are oriented toward Emerson’s
association with society. They propose that Emerson is not a “remotely representative
man peculiarly detached from his social circumstances of his age” (Cayton 113); on
the contrary, he is a man who is “both sensitive and responsive to the concerns of his
age.” Starting from this point, this thesis aims to study Emerson’s transcendental
vision as a whole, in which nature and society are equally important. It will trace his
social concern back to his philosophy of nature because, instead of being separated
from each other, nature and society are both significant in the cultivation of the
individual. Thus, by investigating the importance of both, this thesis proposes to
demonstrate that Emerson’s transcendental vision involves not only nature but also
society and that instead of just being a transcendental thinker, he is also great doer.
For a long time people have understood only partially Transcendentalism, which
arose in America in the nineteenth century. Generally speaking, Transcendentalism,
grounded in feeling and intuition, is defined as “a turn away from modern society,
with its getting and spending, to the scenes and objects of the natural world, which
were regarded both as physical facts and as correspondences to aspects of the human
spirit” (Abrams 327). Stressing the importance of nature, the Transcendentalists urge
themselves and other people to feel and immerse themselves in nature, for one is able
to find his original self only if he “go[es] into solitude” and “retire[s] … as much from
his chamber as from society.” This emphasis on nature is great, but incomplete. There
are other aspects of Transcendentalism worth careful investigation. Among them, the
advocacy of individualism and democracy are two of the most important ones.
Ｈsieh 3
The Transcendentalists’ upholding of individualism and democracy roots in their
emphasis on the importance of the individual. According to William Harmon,
“self-trust and self-reliance [are] to be practiced at all times” (525) because the
Transcendentalists believe that in order to be a good individual, one needs to rely
upon himself. They think that if a man2 trusts himself, he can then follow the inner
voice of his heart without being misguided by buzz around him; likewise, if he is able
to rely on himself, he will be a helping hand in society instead of being a mere
follower. Drawing on this idea, the Transcendentalists exhort people to value the self,
cultivate the self, and then in the end to ameliorate the society as a whole, for a good
society is made up of good individuals.
This stress on the importance of the individual paves the way for the
development of American democracy for the self-reliant and self-trust the
Transcendentalists advocate helps their fellowmen to imagine a self-governed
government and a liberal but disciplined society. To put it in another way, self-reliance
and self-trust are important to the Transcendentalists because they think a democratic
society needs individuals with a high degree of self-reliance and self-trust to build and
maintain: the former ensures the independence of a government while the latter gives
the individual confidence in a democratic society.
A democratic society counts on the individuals and needs each of them to be
self-trusting and self-reliant. Thus, when Emerson appeals to his fellowmen to “be
alone” (9) and get close to nature, he is actually asking the individual to get along
with his self, to be true to it and cultivate it through immersion in nature. But Emerson
does not mean for the individual to get detached from society; on the contrary, he
should attach himself to it, for the individual, nature and society are closely related. In
“Man” in this thesis refers to a common people, while the word “individual” is used to emphasize the
uniqueness of each man.
2
Ｈsieh 4
short, only by realizing the connection between them can we perceive Emerson’s
transcendental vision as a whole.
As discussed before, the cultivation of the individual contributes to
establishment and maintenance of an ideal society. Emerson himself in the beginning
was not so sure if man did need to interact with society. Yet, after he traveled to
Europe, he realized the necessity. He visited Europe in his thirties. There he met
Wordsworth, Carlyle, etc. and was touched by their thoughts and deeds. Watching
them making efforts to reform their society, he came to realize that in order to live a
whole life, it was necessary for man to interweave nature with society. Thus,
influenced by Europeans at the time, he got a broader perspective on the individual
and society.
Since The Declaration of Independence was issued in 1776, America had
experienced a long phase of tumult and undergone different types of government─
from independent states, the Confederation to a central and national government.
Both leaders of the government and its people spent time in getting adapted to a new
nation. Sometimes, the government abused its strong power over its people and man’s
rights as well individuality were ignored. Under these circumstances, people, like the
Transcendentalists, stood up and asked for individualism and democracy. They stated
that government was not the master of its citizens and that no government had the
right over its citizens. Each citizen, as an independent individual, should have enough
free space to develop himself and make his own decisions. In “Politics,” Emerson
indicates that “the growth of the Individual” is “the antidote to this abuse of formal
Government” (567). Accordingly, the self-reliant individual can end a
government-centered government and create a citizen-centered one.
Religion is another factor that made Emerson call people’s attention to the
individual’s importance. The eighteenth-century American society was strongly
Ｈsieh 5
influenced by Puritanism, which asserted man’s original sin. People at that time
believed that humans should be submissive to God and that an individual should
repent and atone for his own sin. Nonetheless, Emerson stated “our lives are for living
not expiation” (Jackson 193). We do not live to expiate but to improve ourselves and
fulfill our dreams. In a society where the individual were submissive and suppressed
religiously, it was noteworthy that Emerson emphasized the importance of the
individual.
The Transcendentalists’ stressing the importance of the individual was also
shown in their attitude toward slavery issue. Along with the spring up of textile
industry in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, slavery problem was
getting more and more serious. Due to the mass textile industry, cotton was badly
needed. Factories required a large number of workers to plant, chop and pick cotton.
The slave trade was then geared up to meet the labor demand. In this slavery system,
slaves were deprived of basic human rights, nor could they choose their way of living.
Such a system astonished Emerson and other Transcendentalists. They could not
accept the fact that an individual could be allowed to legally buy and sell another
individual and dominate his life. This slavery system so violated the
Transcendentalists’ notion of individualism that some of them, including Emerson,
devoted themselves to abolishing the system.
Emerson made an all-out effort to overthrow slavery with thoughts and action.
Many of his works explore the issue of slavery, such as “Self-Reliance” (1841), “Man
the Reformer” (1841), “Introductory Lecture on the Times” (1841), “The Poet” (1844),
“American Slavery” (1855) and “The Fortune of the Republic” (1863). Some other
works, like “The American Scholar,” reveal the spirit of anti-slavery even though they
do not talk about slavery directly. He says in his lecture “The Times”: “If I am selfish,
then is there slavery, or the effort to establish it, wherever I go. But if I am just, then is
Ｈsieh 6
there no slavery, let the laws say what they will. For if I treat all men as gods, how to
me can there be such a thing as a slave” (164)? Such sentiments reveal his view on
slavery. If we want to live in a just and fair society, there should not be “such a thing
as a slave.”
Apart from insisting that the slavery system should not exist, Emerson helped to
bring in the notion of Emancipation in society. According to Michael Magee, Emerson
had already raised the emancipation issue in early essays such as “Self-Reliance”
(1841) and “The Poet” (1841); nevertheless, it was then only an issue and a thought.
By 1851, the word emancipation received much wider application─the Emancipation.
Magee indicates that
the capitalization of "Emancipation" suggests something new, that the
abstract concept is also the practical battle; that America, emancipation,
and the emancipation of slaves are signifiers in a new vocabulary which
would link language use to social action, rhetoric to rituals. Emerson
drives home this point by following up with a feverish litany of practical
applications. This is partly a call to action, partly an imagining of future
possibility, partly a system of analogy. (104)
This is the moment when thoughts are turned into actions. It is in this moment that
“the abstract concept is also the practical battle.” Anti-slavery statements and
emancipation are not only slogans but actions. In a high degree, the transformation
from emancipation to Emancipation, which officially ended slavery in 1863,
demonstrates the transcendentalists’ efforts and hope to make their ideals practiced.
As the reform of society begins with the reform of the individual, in the
following chapter “The Method of Nature”, I will study not only Emerson’s idea of
individualism but also the cultivation of the individual by his interaction with nature
Ｈsieh 7
through in-depth analysis of Emerson’s works, including Nature, “The American
Scholar” and “The Method of Nature.” I will present to the reader how to cultivate
oneself through what method uses to enlighten man.
In chapter III, “The Significance of Society,” I will investigate the relationship
between the individual and society. Indeed in writings, such as “The American
Scholar,” Emerson points out that the individual can cultivate himself through
immersion in nature, but at the same time he emphasizes that the individual needs to
interact with the society to be a “whole man” (54). In other words, not only nature but
also society is both important for an individual─”each fit reproduces the other”(62).
In Emerson’s philosophy, immersion in nature is necessary for the cultivation of the
individual while involvement with society is at the same time indispensable. In brief,
Emerson’s transcendental vision concerns not merely nature but also society. By
analyzing his social concern, I hope to unfold Emerson’s view on interrelationship
between the individual, nature, and society.
Emerson not only talks about this interrelationship but also practices it.
Thus,
in the chapter three, I will discuss Emerson’s practice of his convictions. I will study
the more detailed social, economic and political situations of his age and investigate
his responses to them. There will be three main focuses in this chapter: the historical
context of Emerson’s ideas, his concern over the society, and his practice and action. I
will try to put Emerson in the historical context and illustrate the interrelation between
him and society to demonstrate the close relationship between the individual and
society.
The fourth chapter, “The Changed World”, will survey how society reacts to
Emerson’s thoughts and actions and how he influences the people and the society in
and after the nineteenth century. Emerson’s journals and works as well as his
contemporaries will be scrutinized so as to put Emerson in the context of the
Ｈsieh 8
nineteenth century. Related writings and historical documents will be explored.
Speaking of Emerson’s influence on others, Anna Tilden Gannett describes Emerson
as the “best of this world,” “a phrase she reserved for the very few individuals to
whom she could look for inspiration” (Wider 1). As Anna Tilden Gannett, many
people share the same feeling about Emerson. He is a good speaker, writer and
philosopher. His intriguing words have inspired his followers and readers. This
chapter, then, aims to investigate people’s reactions after being inspired by such a
great wise man. I would like to study if their attitudes change, if they begin to act, and
if the world changes because of Emerson.
Transcendentalism, with Emerson as its leader, started in the mid 1830s and
ended in the late 1840s as a historical movement; its influences whereas have not been
limited by time: “its ripples continue to spread through American culture” (Brickman).
Emerson, through his life, devotes himself to promoting Transcendentalism and
carrying out his ideals. He advocates that immersion in nature and social concern are
not opposed to each other; on the contrary, they shore up each other and form two
essential parts of his transcendental vision. In a word, only by dedicating ourselves to
both can we live a complete life and ameliorate society as a whole.
Ｈsieh 9
Working Bibliography
Abrams, M. H.. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed. Orlando: Harcourt Brace
College Publisher, 1999.
Brickman, Martin. “An Overview of American Transcendentalism”. American
Transcendental Web. <http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/ideas/
definitionbickman.html>
Cayton, Mary Kupiec. “The Prisonhouse of Emerson.” American Quarterly 40.1
(1991): 110-118. JSTOR. 5 Jan. 2006 <http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=
0003-0678%28199103%2943%3A1%3C110%3ATPOE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5>.
Crain, Caleb. American Sympathy: Men, Friendship, and Literature in the New
Nation. London: Yale University Press, 1894.
Duncan, Jeffrey L. The Power and Form of Emerson’s Thought. Charlottesville:
University Press of Virginia, 1973.
Emerson, Edward Waldo. Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Boston and New York:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1909.
Guthrie, James R. Above Time: Emerson's & Thoreau's Temporal Revolutions.
Columbia and London: University of Missouri Press, 2001.
Hign, Peter B. An Outline of American Literature. London and New York: Longman,
1986.
Harmon, William, and C. Hugh, Harmon. A Handbook to Literature.7th ed. N.Y.:
Prentice-Hall, 1996.
Jackson, Holbrook. Dreamers of Dreams: The Rise and Fall of nineteenth Century
Idealism. Michigan: Michigan Scholarly Press, 1971.
Magee, Michael. “Emerson's Emancipation Proclamations.” Raritan 20.4 (2001):
96-116. ASP. 5 Jan. 2006 <http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db
=aph&an=4389012&lang=zh-tw>.
Ｈsieh 10
Marr, David. American Worlds Since Emerson. Amherst: The University of
Massachusetts Press, 1988.
Mitchell, Charles E. Individualism and Its Discontents: Appropriations of Emerson.
Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1997.
Newfield, Christopher. The Emerson Effect: Individualism and Submission in America.
Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1996.
Porte, Joel. Emerson: Essays and Lectures. New York: Literary Classics of the United
States, Inc., 1983.
Richardson, Robert D. Emerson: The Mind on Fire: a Biography. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1996.
Rorty, Richard. Philosophy and Social Hope. London: Penguin Books, 1999
Ruttenburg, Nancy. Democratic Personality: Popular Voice and the Trial of American
Authorship. California: Stanford University Press, 1998.
Wagenknecht, Edward. Ralph Waldo Emerson: Portrait of a Balanced Soul. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1974.
Wider, Sarah Ann. The Critical Reception of Emerson: Unsetting All Things. New
York: Camden House, 2000
Wittenberg, David. Philosophy, Revision, Critique: Rereading Practices in Heidegger,
Nietzsche, and Emerson. California: Stanford University Press, 2001.