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Transcendentalism
English 2
Dr. Maier
What is it?
● Significant philosophical/literary current in early 19th
century in America.
● Principal exponents: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry
David Thoreau
Core Beliefs
Core Beliefs of Transcendentalism:
● Heavily influenced by German Idealism (especially Immanuel Kant),
English Romanticism, and Indian spirituality/Hinduism.
● Knowledge is not based on experience or dogma but comes from within.
● The inner essence of the individual is the root of all meaningful knowledge.
● Organized religion and institutions corrupt mankind. (Similar to Rousseau’s
caustic critique of “civilization”).
● Self-reliance (avoiding imitation)
● Return to nature (direct experience with nature teaches us more about
ourselves than any book, professor, or holy man).
German Idealism
Arose in the 18th century out of a crisis in philosophy.
Philosophers questioned the authenticity of all knowledge.
A philosophical basis for science and all human knowledge
was challenged by skeptics and radical empiricists who
questioned the authenticity of all experience.
#youinthematrixbro
Immanuel Kant
● German Idealist and Enlightenment philosopher (considered greatest
philosopher since Aristotle by many)
● Asserted that knowledge of the world originates in the structures of the
human mind rather than in the essential properties of the world.
● Helped to resolve crisis of skepticism and allow for rational basis of human
knowledge.
English Romanticism
Emphasized escape from the strictures of reason and the Enlightenment
Celebrated the limitless powers of the imagination.
Sought out a dialogue with nature. Nature and solitude inspire the imagination.
Indian Philosophy
Ancient tradition originating with the Vedas (1500 BC)
The individual soul (“Atman”) is united with
all creation.
All knowledge must originate in self-knowledge.
The soul is the source of all knowledge.
The soul is united with all creation in a fundamental way.
God is not separate from the world but immanent in all.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emerson
Emerged as the leading exponent of Transcendentalist thought in America.
Famous essays include: “Self Reliance,” “The American Scholar,” and “The
Poet”
Advocated a view that God is present in all things and can be known through
experience in nature rather than formal religious services.
The truth lies within us.
Henry David Thoreau
Thoreau at Walden
Thoreau’s Cabin
”
Walt Whitman