Transcendentalism An important American Literary and Philosophical Movement (though NOT a religion) 1830s to 1860s

Transcend (v) to go beyond a limit or range, for example, of thought or belief So, TRANSCENDENTALISM, at its core is about “moving beyond” common experience and understanding.

So who were a few Transcendentalists? Ralph Waldo Emerson (former Unitarian minister from Massachusetts who became the most well known Transcendentalist.) Henry David Thoreau (his pupil, the son of pencil maker who dropped out of society to live a solitary and transcendent life). Margaret Fuller (teacher and renowned literary critic who wrote on women’s issues, indians, and a wealth of other subjects.)

Pics… Margaret Fuller Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau

Why did Transcendentalism become popular? As with Romanticism, Americans felt that there must be more to life than logical, rational experience. The Transcendentalists sought to regain a spirituality that they thought was missing from current thought and philosophy.

Major Premises of Transcendentalism 1. An individual is the spiritual center of the universe - and in an individual can be found the clue to nature, history and, ultimately, the cosmos itself. It is not a rejection of the existence of God, but a preference to explain an individual and the world in terms of an individual. EACH PERSON HAS ALL OF THE DIVINE ASPECTS OF GOD WITHIN THEMSELVES.

Premises cont… 2. The structure of the universe literally duplicates the structure of the individual self - all knowledge, therefore, begins with self-knowledge. This is similar to Aristotle's dictum "know thyself." TO KNOW THE UNIVERSE, YOU CAN LOOK AT YOURSELF.

Premises cont… 3. Transcendentalists accepted the neo-Platonic conception of nature as a living mystery, full of signs - nature is symbolic. JUST LIKE IN ROMANTICISM, NATURE HOLDS THE KEY TO DEEPER UNDERSTANDING.

Premises cont… 4. The belief that individual virtue and happiness depend upon self-realization - this depends upon the reconciliation of two universal psychological tendencies: a. the expansive or self-transcending tendency - a desire to embrace the whole world - to know and become one with the world. b. the contracting or self-asserting tendency - the desire to withdraw, remain unique and separate - an egotistical existence. THESE TWO IDEAS HAVE TO EXIST TOGETHER; TRANSCENDENTALISTS SOUGHT TO UNDERSTAND AND JOIN IN WITH THE WHOLE WORLD, BUT THEY ALSO STROVE TO REMAIN INDIVIDUALISTS AT ALL TIMES.

Major works… Emerson’s essays “Nature,” “Self Reliance” Thoreau’s book Walden. Essay “Civil Disobedience” Fuller’s book Women in the 19th Century.

Source Reuben, Paul P. "Chapter 4: Early Nineteenth Century - American Transcendentalism: A Brief Introduction." PAL: Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide. URL: http://web.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/c hap4/4intro.html (10 January, 2007)