1. Ralph Waldo Emerson (transcendentalist)
Readings from
Nature
The American Scholar
Self-Reliance
Fate

3. Journals were evolving body of thought
Most important word in writing is soul
Not spiritual self
Rather, related to our intellectual perceptions, moral nature as individuals, and our sense as organic beings alive in the world
Soul is the “activator” or power source
Inspirational and exhilarating b/c it is the power of God within each of us

4. Over-Soul
Beyond natural law and human reason there must exist a higher, spiritual law that permeates all forms of life
Over-soul is an ultimate spiritual unity that encompasses ALL existence

5. Critical Questions from Nature
Why in nature, as opposed to society, can we become a “transparent eyeball”?
What transcendental belief does “the distant line of the horizon” imply? Can we reach the horizon?

6. from Nature
Chief obstacles to change are personal comfort and the safety of traditional beliefs
Habit and tradition have become a way of living
The truths and ideas of other times are the barriers against our soul’s insights

8. from Nature Nature is divine inspiration
Need to experience nature through our own eyes, not through the eyes of historians, philosophers, etc… [“transparent eye”]

9. Emerson’s “transparent eyeball”
Describes the indescribable
Represents the influx of divinity that lets one look inwardly and see that he or she is part of the whole creation
Most of Emerson’s literary images are of sight

10. Humanity and nature pre-existed in God’s mind, so all are related, none are insignificant, and all contain God’s spirit
Facts of nature and human nature show spiritual truths (acorn oak = something mighty has small beginnings.)
Seeing the connectedness of man and nature frees us from the past
Must not conform to society
Must insist on INDIVIDUALISM

11. Calls for practical reform and renewal to renovate life and social state
Most important:
Nature emphasizes that the secrets of nature and human nature are one, and we have a potential of which we’ve never dreamed
OPTIMISM & POTENTIAL

12. American Scholar To Harvard College Phi Beta Kappa (scholars of US)
“Man thinking”---thought is never ending process
Man must not rely on books or knowledge from the past as they are limited to the times
Must see interconnectedness of nature and man
Limitless potential of nature = limitless potential in self

13. Homework: Critical Questions from American Scholar
Who is the scholar?
What is the responsibility and nature of the scholar?
What pitfalls must the scholar avoid?
What is the scholar’s role in building the future?

14. “For non-conformity the world whips you with its displeasure.”

15. from Self-Reliance Sums up his ideas up to this point in his life
Complicated thought boiled down into short sentences
Criticism directed at society and social institutions
Individualism is in sharp, deadly conflict with society

16. “Trust thyself; every heart vibrates to that iron string.”
“A foolish consistency is the hobglobin of little minds.”
“To be great is to be misunderstood.”

17. Homework: Critical Questions
The effect of “society” is to do what?
What does it mean to conform in Emerson’s terms?
Why does Emerson see society as the enemy of individuality?
What opens up a persons power of perception, of virtue, and of “the sense of being”?

18. What does Emerson mean when he says “envy is ignorance and imitation is suicide”?
How is trust a part of being self-reliant?
What is the role of nonconformity? What does this word mean to Emerson?
What is a foolish consistency and does it get in the way of genius?

19. from Fate Contrast to Nature
Life is precariously poised between the expansive freedom promised by the soul and the “fate” imposed by natural and societal constraints around every life
Fate = limitations, but even limitations have their limits
Power is the antagonist of Fate

20. “So far as a man thinks, he is free.”
“…yet it is wholesome to man to look not at Fate, but the other way”

21. Critical Questions from Fate
How does the imagery used in Fate contrast with that used in Nature?
In what way has Emerson’s views on human freedom and potential for change changed since his writing of Nature?
Is he pessimistic or just realistic?