1. Transcendentalism

2. TRANSCENDS (verb): to rise above, to go beyond, to surpass the expected, excel, outdo
TRANSCENDENTALISM
Belief in a higher kind of knowledge than can be achieved by human reason

3. Why waste such a gift? TRANSCENDENTALISM
God gave humankind the gift of intuition,
the gift of insight,
the gift of inspiration.
Why waste such a gift?

4. TRANSCENDENTALISM Historical Background
Began in Germany
Immanuel Kant, philosopher
1700’s
Developed in United States in 1836
Transcendental Club
Boston
1836
led by Ralph Waldo Emerson

5. RALPH WALDO EMERSON author essayist lecturer philosopher
Unitarian minister

6. TRANSCENDENTALISM
Emerson and the Transcendentalists led the search for truth
in nature
through self-reliance
“No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature.” Emerson

7. Roots of Transcendentalism
Puritanism
belief in God as a powerful force
belief that each individual can experience God first-hand

8. Roots of Transcendentalism
Romanticism
placed central importance on emotions and the individual
emphasized intuition and inner perception of truth that differs from reason
emphasized nature’s beauty, strangeness, and mystery
emphasized individual expression and artistic freedom

9. TRANSCENDENTAL BELIEFS
Nonconformity:
Follow your own ambition, and do whatever you want in life
THOREAU: if someone acts different, “…perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” (Walden)

10. TRANSCENDENTAL BELIEFS
SELF-RELIANCE:
Rely on yourself

11. TRANSCENDENTAL BELIEFS
OPTIMISTIC:
all is good
evil is an illusion

12. TRANSCENDENTAL BELIEFS
INDIVIDUALISM (Free Thought):
be true to one’s own inner perception or intuition
If I know it is truth, then it is truth.

13. TRANSCENDENTAL BELIEFS
UNLIMITED POTENTIAL OF EACH INDIVIDUAL (Confidence)
set high goals to improve

14. TRANSCENDENTAL BELIEFS
NATURE IS TRUTH
it can be a guide to higher understanding
Nature symbolizes God
or the inner life of human beings

15. HENRY DAVID THOREAU
Lived the philosophy of Transcendentalism that Emerson espoused
Spent 26 months at Walden Pond to “live deliberately - to front only the essential facts of life ”

16. TRANSCENDENTALISM Transcendentalism began with a few and grew.
This philosophy lasted for several years in New England
It ended as the Civil War began.