transcendentalism

Why/How did it begin? Like Romanticism, it was a reaction to Age of Reason and industrialization/rise of cities in America Came from variety of sources, like Hindu texts, various religious ideas, and German idealism Still a time period in which thinking people wondered if there would ever be a great American writer (like England’s Shakespeare)

Transcendentalism – Background “transcendental” comes from German philosopher Immanuel Kant The idea that one must go beyond basic, physical human experience (the everyday) to discover truth Intuition (gut feelings, instincts) are important as part of this process of discovery Idealism – belief in human perfectibility

Transcendentalism – basic beliefs Nature = God Language and lessons of nature bring us closer to the divine God is everywhere No need for religion or churches Man = divine We are God or particles of God We know morality We don’t need books or society to tell us what is right/wrong Society = corruption Intuition/natural instincts help us do the right thing Born pure, but conformity to society’s ideals make us artificial beings

Transcendentalism – basic beliefs Materialism = bad Money is evil – causes us to place artificial value on objects and people Technology = bad Causes more problems Ends up running our lives Emphasis on here and now The past doesn’t matter Knowledge gained from experience, not from studying history

Transcendentalist writers Emerson Thoreau Born in 1817 Harvard grad as well Spent time on Emerson’s land, built cabin on Walden Pond Lived here for 2 years and 2 months to read and write Gave lectures about experience at Walden Jailed for not paying polling tax (didn’t want to fund war) – here he wrote “Resistance to Civil Government” Inspired Gandhi, MLK, Jr., and others Born in 1803 – son of a Unitarian minister Went to Harvard Divinity School Ordained as a minister of the Second Church in Boston Gave lectures, mostly in MA – captivating speaker Nature and essay, “Self-Reliance”