Transcendentalism An Introduction

Vocabulary List 1

� AVERSION – (n) Object arousing an intense or definite dislike

� SUFFRAGE – (n) Vote or voting

What is Transcendentalism?

�  1830s -1860s new ideas shaped new ways of thinking in America

�  Search for a truth – true at all times and in all places

�  Spiritual truth can be found in the physical world

�  Individuals have the ability to experience this truth in a personal way

� Not a formal philosophy or religion, but an intellectual movement

Transcendentalism

� Belief in a personal divinity; a version of divinity could be found in each person

� “Human” nature was connected to “wild” nature

� Reaction to New England Calvinism/Puritanism

Universal Spirit

� Divine energy in all living things

� God, nature, and humanity share a universal soul called the Over-Soul

Self-Reliance/Intuition

� People should trust their own hearts and morals

� He advised trust in one’s intuition, the source of which was God

� Each person is the ultimate determiner of Truth

� Through intuition we can transcend (go beyond) senses and reason

Self and Society

� People possess the natural capacity for good

�  Individuals have to reform themselves before reforming society

� Nature was a means of communing with God, or the Over-Soul

Ralph Waldo Emerson

� Father of Transcendentalism

�  Influenced by western and eastern thought and philosophy

� Emphasized the value of the individual

� Concepts of Nature and the Self were prominent

� People influenced by Emerson’s writings and lectures became the leaders of social reforms: abolition of slavery, women’s rights, education

Ralph Waldo Emerson

�  From New England

�  Former Unitarian minister but gave it up after his wife died

�  Two of his most famous essays are “Nature and “Self-Reliance”

VOCABULARY LIST 2

SUPERFLUOUS

� ADJECTIVE � Excessive; not necessary

EVITABLE

� ADJECTIVE � Avoidable

MAGNANIMITY

� NOUN � Generosity

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

� From Concord, Mass.

� Was eccentric even as a child

� Rarely followed rules

� Attended Concord Academy and later Harvard

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

� From 1845-47 lived in a cabin he built

� Walden Pond (he was on Emerson’s property)

Walden Pond

Thoreau’s cabin

Famous Words

“Civil Disobedience”

� Thoreau objected to the Mexican American War (1846-48)

� Refused to pay his taxes

� Forced to spend a night in jail