Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay examples

"In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, - no disgrace, no calamity (leaving me my eyes), which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, - my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space, - all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball. I am nothing. I see all. The currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God."

While taking an English Composition course, my class discussed several ideas behind the American Dream and what influenced its fruition. One day, my professor hands us a stapled copy of Self Reliance, a piece written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and I shout out “he’s a Transcendentalist!” because that’s all I knew of him (something I remembered from high school). As the year went on we were told to write a research paper with a variety of topics. Since I was very interested in knowing a little more about him, I took on the task to learn more about Ralph Waldo Emerson. As I went through article after article, book after book, I became very enlightened, yet very confused. I learned how his whole life was a tragedy- from one family member to the next, they all kept passing away. His story moved me and taught me that anyone can become great after going through darkness if he has a sense of perseverance. Emerson kept on working, no matter the crisis at hand, and pushed his way to becoming one of the most talked about writers of all time. Yet, I was stunned to find that many people don’t enjoy his work and criticize his beliefs that he preached, as he was a minister for quite some time of his life. Some say that his writings should stop being read in classrooms because they are not understandable. My goal in this paper is to recognize whether Ralph Waldo Emerson is considered to be the first great American thinker or not.

Not only did Emerson bring up great men, he also talked about the Bible and connected his ideas to God. In the first paragraph, Emerson speaks not only of Moses, but also the trumpets of the Last Judgement. In doing so, he describes how fear holds us back from being an individual, having individual thoughts. Somewhat contradicting to himself, in the second paragraph he says “God will not have his work manifest by cowards”, meaning that men need to be original and not live in fear of judgement for their individuality, despite God having been responsible for the trumpets of the Last

Transcendentalism is an idealistic,philosophical,and social movement that developed in New England around 1836. It taught that divinity pervades all nature and humanity and that by experiencing nature one could experience divinity. A Transcendentalist is someone who lives outside the confines of societys rules, finding inspiration and meaning through experiencing nature. Transcendentalism rose as a reaction against 18th century rationalism,sensualism ,and calvinism, it is composed of a variety of ideals spanning from Hindu texts and other such various religions. Several authors came about that influenced and pushed the transcendental movement to progress and evolve past what it originally was, among them being Ralph Waldo Emerson, (who is credited with pushing Transcendentalism to become a major cultural movement) and other such

American Transcendentalism was an important philosophical and literary movement which placed an emphasis on staying true to one’s beliefs and expressing oneself no matter the situation or consequence. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau fully embraced these beliefs as their influence has allowed these

     Emerson’s writing focused on nonconformity and individuality. In his essay "Self-Reliance," he wrote, "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind," and, "Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist."

From the 1830’s to the 1860’s, a group of idealistic philosophers known as the American Transcendentalists spread their new and unique beliefs across the nation. Some well-known influential thinkers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, and many others introduced the philosophical social movement that established due to rationalist thoughts. These thinkers focused on being one with nature and the divine. After these ideas flourished in the mid-1800’s, individuals from the 20th and 21st century such as Christopher Smith and Christopher McCandless have also taken part of the Transcendentalist ideas. However, transcendentalist ideas seem to backfire than succeed in these modern day cases.

Transcendentalism was an early philosophical, intellectual, and literary movement that thrived in New England in the nineteenth century. Transcendentalism was a collection of new ideas about literature, religion, and philosophy. It began as a squabble in the Unitarian church when intellectuals began questioning and reacting against many of the church’s orthodoxy ways regarding all of the aforementioned subjects: religion, culture, literature, social reform, and philosophy. They in turn developed their own faith focusing on the divinity of humanity and the innate world. Many of the Transcendentalists ideas were expressed heavily by Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essays such as “Nature”, “Self Reliance”, and also in his poems such as “The

In the early mid-nineteenth century, a philosophical movement known as transcendentalism took root and flourished in America. It evolved into a predominantly literary expression which placed an emphasis on the corruptions of organized religion, political parties, and societal involvement; above all, the movement promoted the wonders of “nature” and its deep connection to the divine. The adherents through transcendentalism believed that knowledge could be arrived through intuition and contemplation of the internal spirit rather than by the means of the senses. As the two most prominent figures in the transcendentalist movement, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau whole-heartedly embrace the principles of nature

Transcendentalism became an official movement with the founding of the Transcendental Club in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Putnam, and Frederic Henry hedge, The group frequently published poems and articles expressing the importance of self-worth and nature. In the article “Self- reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, an understanding of the ideals of transcendentalism come

It is interesting that with the growth of Roman Catholicism and Christianity in general in America during this time, Emerson, a Unitarian minister, looked to the East for spiritual guidance; particularly to Hinduism. This wasn’t always the case, as early in his life, Emerson was dedicated to the Church and expressed animosity toward Eastern religion. The transcendental movement shared many beliefs with the Unitarian church, but digressed from the belief in the Trinity and a beneficent God toward an amalgam of the many different approaches and ideas of the time. It is later in his journals that Emerson quotes Hindu scripture and expresses interest in the Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavad Purana, and Upanishads, among other scriptures. Both Vedantic tradition and Emerson’s philosophies emphasize that, “self transcendence is central to self-actualization,” and that, “without transcending the passional ego, the true self cannot be revealed” (Versluis, pg. 67). It was thinking such as this that was at the heart of the transcendental movement in the 19th century. Gura (pg. 6) explains that during this period, transcendentalism was split between two ideologies. There were those that followed Emerson, such as Thoreau, who promoted introspection and being one with Nature, and another

	Emerson believes that government is bad, which I, in some way, believe too, because we as human beings should be able to get along with each other without the government

Although Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau shared similar views and beliefs relating to Transcendentalism, the approach each author took in writing and making the ideas that were so important and concrete was not always so closely related. Thoreau's argument calls for less government and more independence while Emerson's consistence need for more self-reliance and independence from others. Thoreau viewed God as the higher authority over government, “The church is a sort of hospital for men's souls and as full of quackery as the hospital for their bodies.” (Walden) In "Self-Reliance," Emerson express the idea that the individual should be completely reliant on God. “When a man lives with God, his voice shall be as sweet

“If a person wished to know what transcendentalism was he should empty his mind of everything coming from tradition and the rest would be transcendentalism” (Boller 34). This literary period has dramatically shaped literature and religion, in America. Many writers like Henry David Thoreau and Emily Dickinson have been influence by transcendental ideas. It is astonishing how an inspiring literature movement can change so much of the world’s view and still is around today.

The theme of individualism is present in several of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s works. It was also his philosophical views on how to live life. He believed that human beings had remarkable capabilities, more than they can possibly identify. With these capabilities a person should govern themselves, not be governed by a society. Emerson also believed that nature played a large role in how man should act and to follow nature’s actions of growing without obstruction (“Nature”). This is why he lead the Transcendentalism movement in the nineteenth century, along with Theodore Parker, Frederic Henry Hedge, Amos Bronson Alcott, Margaret Fuller and Henry David Thoreau (Lewis). This philosophy was not only significant then, it was imperative throughout times in history.