The Influence Of Transcendentalism On Education

“There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil” -Ralph Waldo Emerson in Self Reliance. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a transcendentalist. Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that originated in the 19th century and was primarily influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Transcendentalists’ main beliefs are: self-reliance is essential to one’s life, nature is divine, every person should have an optimistic outlook, and humanity needs to adhere to their personal morals and beliefs. In today’s world we still see a multitude of the beliefs of transcendentalism.

With the fact that remained in history, the primary conception of transcendentalism was led by the unitarianism, the reaction to the strict Calvinism, which supported that people should live the spiritual life in terms of a continuing effort to cultivate one’s own spiritual resources. David Robinson explicated it in his article “Transcendentalism”:

The first and most indispensable thought around transcendentalism is self-reliance. This word is rather self-explanatory as it is the ability to depend on one’s self. But, the transcendentalist idea of self-reliance isn’t just being able to act without the authority of another but to think without one as well. Emerson said, “ The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion.” (pg1). To clarify

“Transcendentalism […] has primarily much the position of the sun […] We are conscious of it as of a kind of splendid confusion […] But the circle of the moon is as clear and unmistakable, as recurrent and inevitable, as the circle of Euclid on a blackboard” (Chesterton, 24). These words encapsulate the driving rationale of the anti-transcendentalist argument – that although individuals seek transcendentalism, they can never truly realize it, or, to compare with the sun, see it. Rather, they inevitably place attention on the “moon,” the perspicuous reflection of transcendentalism – that is, individualism – and neglect the responsibilities of society. Emerson institutes the philosophy of transcendentalism in his essay, Nature, teaching that divinity pervades all nature and humanity. Although transcendentalists would offer that man can only better his spiritual life by embracing individualism, pursuing the ideal, and being one with nature, the ability and appeal of transcendentalism to advance enlightenment upon the soul of the individual rests on the false suppositions that feckless man can achieve perfection and that nature embodies God, thus causing transcendentalism to conversely detriment the spiritual life of the individual, isolating him, prescribing his rebellion, and invigorating his selfish pursuits, simply because he confides his soul in creation instead of the Creator (Tocqueville, 482).

Transcendentalism was what Emerson and Thoreau touched most with their writings. They took their words, and created something new that many people would later follow. Transcendentalism is the nature of being one with yourself, and learning to better yourself through nature, and self knowledge. The quote from above is an example of what the two figures preached. Emerson believed that consistency of thought was foolished, and he highlighted the fact that having a consistent mind was mindless. He believed people should have an open mind, and be able to look at things in different perspectives.

Emerson, himself was a Transcendentalist and he influenced other people to be one as well because he believed everyone should create their own ideas and not fall to be just another person in a society, take a leap of faith. “The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried” (Self-Reliance 774). Emerson was able to consider himself a Transcendentalist because he took a leap of faith and always made his very own context as to what he was against, and what he viewed as a current situation. The overall reason Emerson was a transcendentalist is because he created a different view for society and went outside of the norm to create ideas people had yet to even contemplate. Therefore, by creating a new idea for the society, people were able to expand their knowledge and build from Emerson’s ideas. All in all, Emerson believed in his own thoughts so he shared them with the public. As emerson stated as well as lived by, “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart, is true for all men” (Emerson

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

Transcendentalism is an American literary, political and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century, centered around Ralph Waldo Emerson. Ideologically speaking, the movement is not simply to define since its philosophical and religious ideas are marked with a certain mysticism, which defies concise explanation. As well, the transcendentalism had been approached and interpretated by its followers in different ways and these differences embroil generalizations about the movement as a whole. Along Ralph Waldo Emerson, other important transcententalists were Henry David Thoreau, Frederic Henry Hedge, Amos Bronson Alcott and Margaret Fuller. Regarding the world from a radical perspective, the transcendentalists found their inspiration

The transcendentalist movement developed in the late 1820s and '30s in the Eastern region of the United States. Transcendentalism is defined as equal men and women containing knowledge about the world around them. However, this knowledge comes through imagination, instead of logic. A concept from this movement describes how Americans trust themselves to be their own authority through ethics. A transcendentalist accepts these ideas not as religious beliefs but as a way of understanding life. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a transcendentalist and poet, urged Americans to stop looking to Europe for inspiration and to be themselves. He believed that everyone possessed natural goodness and potential. Henry David Thoreau practiced transcendentalism as well when he went to Walden

It eventually became apparent that the calm rationalism upon which Unitarianism was based could not satisfy the Transcendentalists’ yearning for a more intense spiritual experience. The group believed that one’s own intuition, no matter how irrational, was the most reliable avenue to truth and God. Transcendentalists also believed that people were intrinsically good and that they didn’t need to use their intellect to make them so. It was the belief of the Transcendentalists that people didn’t have to “learn” to be good because the desire to be decent and good was part of every person’s soul. This concept is made very clear in an essay written by Andrew Norton. Norton wrote that Transcendentalism exists “in undefined and intelligible feelings” that were

The time period of transcendentalism changed the views of many people through setting different principles otherwise known as tenets. These tenets I am going to focus on is: confidence, self-reliance, free thought, nonconformity, and the importance of nature. Transcendentalism was a philosophical movement in the 1800’s where people responded to the strict rules back then. They declared that they didn’t have to follow all of the rules and decided to go off of independent tenets. Many pieces of literature contain some or all of these tenets, the ones I’m going to discuss and analyze today are Still I Rise by Maya Angelou that focuses on self-reliance and stanza 1 and 52 from Song of Myself by Walt Whitman which focuses on all tenets of transcendentalism. All of the 5 tenets are very important, but the one that overcomes all the others in my life is confidence. Many pieces of literature contain at least all tenets, but reference them in different ways.

Emerson's "transcendentalism" is essentially a romantic individualism, a philosophy of life for a new people who had overthrown their colonial governors and set about conquering a new continent, in hopes of establishing new and unique views. Though Emerson is not a traditional philosopher, the tendency of his thought is toward inward reflection in which soul and intuition, or inspiration, are fundamental. The new American needed less criticism and a rejuvenated sense of personal inspiration. Taking a practical and democratic, yet philosophic interest in all of nature and in individuals of every walk of life. Emerson stresses the potential for genius and creativity in all

One of the most famous texts ever written for the sheer purpose of Transcendentalism was Emerson’s Self Reliance. In his essay, he writes about the importance of nonconformity and individualism. In Self Reliance, Emerson tells us to “trust thyself.” From only two words, one can gather the whole purpose of his essay. With nonconformity, man can defend himself against the tendency to become satisfied with life, and lose his own individuality. With “good- humored inflexibility” the self-reliant person can become someone who obeys himself. When it comes to a battle of law or a battle of morals, the self-reliant man will follow his morals and discard the law. One is not to use their logic, but use intuition. Emerson simply was striving for not the superiority of one man, but for originality and individuality of all humankind. He wanted to

There have been numerous religious rebellions throughout history, but none quite like that of Transcendentalism. This movement embodies the idea that spiritual growth can be achieved through personal journey instead of conflicting with organized religion. By the time of the movement’s onset, newly gained religious freedom in the United States allowed for new ideas and beliefs to prosper freely. At the heart of this movement was Transcendentalism philosophy famous ambassadors, Ralph Waldo Emerson and apprentice Henry David Thoreau. These men believed nature is what forces us not to depend on other ideas but to develop our own.

They also gave compelling insight when it came to one's own free-thought based on their own values rather than the values of others. The Transcendentalist were some of the first known non-conformist in America. They went about critiquing contemporary society for their thoughtless conformity. Transcendentalist were not religious but they were spiritual people and comprised their ideas from a variety of sources like Hindu text and various other religious text. As a hole transcendentalism was centered on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s writing and teaching “Self-Reliance” which is a collection of sermons pieced together by the Ex-utilitarian minister from Concord Massachusetts.