Why Is Emerson Considered A Transcendentalist

“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.

Individualism in today’s society is the “belief that each person is unique, special, and a ‘basic unit of nature’.” The individualism concept puts an

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “the sky is the daily bread of the eyes.” Emerson was a transcendentalist, transcendentalism came with a deep connection with nature from which this quote seems to be inspired. It can also be inferred that this quote has connections with the lord’s prayer, as Emerson was very religious. The lord’s prayer even states, “give us this day our daily bread” showing that God gave us necessities like food. By restating this in his essays, Emerson connects the sky with the daily food source by its beauty, and that we can feast upon what he believed the Lord had created for us in nature. Personally i am not all that religious and i don’t share the same transcendentalist beliefs with Emerson, but i wholeheartedly agree with his outlook on the sky as a feast of sorts.

Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, central figures of Transcendentalism, expressed their beliefs through works such as “American Scholar” and “Into the Woods” in the nineteenth century. They believed that one must be in simplicity, solitude, and away from technology to appreciate the beauty of nature, which is essential for a better spiritual understanding of oneself. Transcendentalism, which focuses on spiritual interactions with nature, is relevant in today’s hectic life with temptations of materialistic goods and burdens of technology. The retreat that Webb offers every year is a good example of how Transcendentalism shapes students to have spiritual richness and mental strength. On retreats, students go off campus with bare necessities for three days to camp sites in nature to reflect and appreciate the beauty of the outdoors. Viewed through the lens of Transcendentalism, retreats allow students to prepare for a new and busy school year to come by helping them to realize their own goals, to get rid of distractions of technology, to get inspired by nature for a better understanding of themselves, and to enjoy a moment of solitude to truly reflect on the deeper meanings of life.

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds… With consistency a great soul simply has nothing to do.” (Emerson)

Transcendentalism relates to freedom in several ways. Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are two transcendentalists that have different views on freedom. Our project, representing freedom, shows a person how to live his or her life in a way of freedom shown by Emerson and Thoreau.

    Self reliance is a set of ideals according to which one must live one’s life, combining abstract philosophy with someone else's practical advice. According to these ideals, one must have unfailing trust in oneself and confidence in one’s doings, choosing individuality over conformity to society. By leaving society

Society is always changing beliefs and bringing new ideas in. Now millions of people believe in different things, and some of those many beliefs revolve around the idea of transcendentalism. For the people who don’t know what Transcendentalism is, it was introduced by Ralph Waldo Emerson in the 1800s. Another person who believed in Transcendentalism is Henry David Thoreau, who wrote the essay, “Civil Disobedience.” Which consisted ideas of standing up and protesting peacefully. Some of the ideas consist of self-reliance, which is relying on oneself and not trusting others. The other ideas are individualism, being yourself, not living simply, and having a close relationship to nature. These ideas will always be incorporated in modern day society. There’s many programs around and ideas with people saying that others should be themselves, and not act like other people. An idea that branches out from being yourself would be peer-pressure. Peer-pressure basically pressures others into doing things they’ll regret because they’re usually pressured to make bad decisions. This is one of the many examples of why society still revolves around transcendentalist ideas. Even though the Transcendentalist era was in the early-to-mid 1800s, the beliefs such as being different from others, expressing one's feelings to others, and other ideas are still incorporated into modern society.

Every day we think about what we do and what others do, what’s right from wrong what we want and what others want we usually forget what we want for our self’s.

In direct disagreement to Henry James’s statement, Ralph Waldo Emerson indeed knew of the evil that exists in the world and thus used transcendentalism as a means of coping mechanisms for aforementioned wickedness. Within the ideas of transcendentalism, there is nothing that explicitly states that there is an extreme lack of darkness or threat in the world. Instead, the movement promoted more effective ways to make oneself happier and successful in life, despite the hardships. These methods include: trusting yourself, self-reliance, non-conformity to society, appreciation of nature, and simplicity. Emerson publically advertised these ideas after experiencing his own tragedy which, most would agree, was a worldly evil in of itself. To relieve

Transcendentalism is a philosophy in which individuals must rely on their intuition rather than reason. Christopher McCandless, a young man who died from starvation in an attempt to survive “in the wild,” to escape his past life, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, a leader of the Transcendental movement, both reflect the philosophy of Transcendentalism through their life and literary works, respectively.

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.

Humans constantly struggle to make the decision between intuition and logic. However, according to Transcendentalists, intuition is ultimately more important. Transcendentalism was a movement that began in the mid-1800s that consisted of the beliefs that an individual’s life purpose should be determined by their intuition and feelings, and that nonconformity leads to prosperity. The movement was mainly led by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, who spread the movement through essays and other writings. Transcendentalist principles, especially self-reliance, the importance of nature, and free thought, had a pervasive effect on society, and continue to affect American culture today.

For my historical event analysis, I have chosen to write about a Massachusetts-born American poet and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson who was part of the Transcendentalist movement which geared philosophical thinking that involved viewing women as equal. Philip F. Gura, "Transcendentalism and Social Reform," History Now, assessed May 14, 2017, https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/first-age-reform/essays/transcendentalism-and-social-reform.

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.