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TRANSCENDENTALISM
What is transcendentalism?
• A philosophical movement that sought to have
individuals “transcend” to a higher spiritual level
• To achieve this goal, the individual had to seek
spiritual, not material, greatness and essential
truths of life through intuition
• The focus in on the human spirit
• A philosophy that is interested in the natural
world and its relationship to humanity
Transcendentalism continued
• There is a need to explore nature thoroughly, by
doing this man can come to know himself
• As a result of exploration, man discovers that the
human spirit is reflected in nature.
• A philosophy that seeks a life in harmony with
nature
• A philosophy that feels that nature is symbolic of
the inner man (nature/man are the same)
• A philosophy that rebels against the material
world and organized religion
Transcendentalism continued
• Ideas become more important than things
• A philosophy that believes in individualism
• A philosophy that feels that imitation is
suicide
• A philosophy that believes that all forms of
being-God, nature, and humanity- are
spiritually united through a shared
universal soul or Over-Soul.
Background of philosophy
• The ideas for this philosophy come from the Greeks
(Plato)
• Writers
Dante, Shakespeare, Milton
World religions
Hindus, Christians
European philosophers
Kant (German)-understanding through intuition
Pascal (French)-mathematician/moralist
Swedenborg (Swedish)-scientist/mystic
Albert Bierstadt
White Mountains, New Hampshire, 1863
Duke University Museum of Art
Concepts of transcendentalism can
be found in the discussion of
nature.
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How are you affected by nature?
Do you find comfort in it?
Do you see the moods of nature?
What is the role of nature in your life?
What is meant by an individual’s spiritual side?
How would you define it?
Is there a connection between the individual’s spirit and
nature?
• What is the connection?
• What does it mean to know something intuitively?
Transcendentalism in America
• “From 1840-1855, literature in American
experienced a rebirth call the New England
Renaissance. Through their poetry, short
stories, novels, and other works, writers during
this period established a clear American voice.
No longer did they see their work as less
influential then that of European authors.
Transcendentalism was part of this ‘flowering’ of
American literature” (Webster, 3).
Ralph Waldo Emerson
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_.../Emerson_Ralph_Waldo.htm
From Nature
Understanding Transcendentalism
• Emerson essay embodies some of the
most important principles of
Transcendentalism. Three of these
principles are
• A. There is a human spirit that is able to
intuit the fundamental truths of the
universe.
• B. The human spirit is reflected in nature.
• C. All forms of being are spiritually united.
Henry David Thoreau
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_7.../Thoreau_Henry_David.htm
From Walden