Transcendentalism

 

 

“The spirit of the time is in every form a protest against usage and a search for principles”

--Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Dial

 

 

“I was given to understand that whatever was unintelligible would be certainly Transcendental.”

--Charles Dickens, American Notes

 

 

A Brief History of Transcendentalism

 

1832—Emerson resigns the ministry of the Unitarian Church (difference of ideals)

1836—The “gospel” of Transcendentalism is published—Nature, by Emerson

1838—Emerson delivers his Divinity School Address at Harvard, which brought controversy on the nature of miracles (called “Monsters” by Emerson)

1840—The Dial, a Transcendental magazine, is published.

1841—George Ripley, a Transcendentalist, founds Brook Farm, a utopian experiment

1845—In order to observe nature and its symbolism and sacredness, Henry David Thoreau goes to live at Walden Pond.

1855—Walt Whitman published Leaves of Grass

1862—Thoreau dies.

 

 

 

Basic Pillars of Transcendentalism

 

1.      Stress on individualism.  An individual is the center of the universe.  In an individual can be found the answers to “Life, the universe, and everything”.

  1. The universe is constructed as the individual is.  Therefore, “Know thyself.”
  2. Nature is a living mystery, symbolic and full of signs.
  3. Two psychological tendencies must be reconciled, the tendency to become one with the world, and the tendency to withdraw from the world and remain unique.

 

And the most important assumption:

 

  1. That there is an Universal Soul, an Oversoul, that encompasses the life-force of all humanity.  This Oversoul is known in Hinduism (an often-studied religion by Transcendentalists) as Brahman.

 

 

 

 

Concepts formed by these assumptions:

 

--The thinking man “transcends” his lower impulses, our primitive animalistic instincts.  This is the way to a true spiritual reunion with the Oversoul.

 

--At death, the human soul (called Atman in Hinduism) returns to the Oversoul, since we were all part of It in the first place.

 

--Because we are all part of the Oversoul, each man is to respect his fellow man (“Love your neighbor…”).

 

--The Oversoul can be found everywhere, especially in the untouched virgin areas of nature.

 

--Jesus was also a part of God, like all of us, but he led more of a transcendentalistic life than any of us.

 

--As Emerson said in his Divinity School Address, “Miracle…is Monster.  It is not one with the blowing clover and the falling rain.”  A natural event or object, even a mouse, is truly more miraculous than an unnatural event.

 

--Evil is merely an absence of good, a negative.  “Light is more powerful than darkness because one ray of light penetrates the darkness.”

 

--Fate, or predestination, exists, but usually it works against mankind.  It is man’s job to work against these outside powers, and use “self-reliance.”

 

 

 

The Evolution of Transcendentalism

 

--The philosophy of Transcendentalism derives from Unitarianism.

--Unitarianism emphasizes intellectualism, logic, and reason as the path to divine wisdom.  Unlike Calvinists, they stress voluntary ethical conduct, and doing good simply for the sake of doing good.

--Unitarians, and other liberal Christians, separated from orthodox Christianity during the Great Awakening.

--Unitarians took their dogma from the European Enlightenment.

--Some separated also from the Unitarians, theorizing that emotionalism, not rational thoughts, could lead to enlightenment.  These soon-to-be Transcendentalists yearned for a more spiritual experience.  Emerson would call Unitarianism “corpse-cold.”

--The Transcendentalists found their inspiration from English and German romanticism and the philosophies of Goethe and Kant.

--Transcendentalists truly broke away from Unitarians during an argument over the nature of miracles brought on by Emerson’s Divinity School Address.

 

 

 

Recommended Websites for More Information on Transcendentalism

 

 

http://eserver.org/thoreau/amertran.htm

http://www.transcendentalists.com

http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap4/4intro.html

http://womenshistory.about.com/bltranscend.htm

http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transweb/tr-def.htm