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Transcendentalism   

Transcendentalism   . Why it happened. 1. In REBELLION of the rigid way of life of Puritanism. Why it happened. 2. Change in LIFESTYLE: development of science and industry- introduction of machine to New England farm . Why it happened.

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Transcendentalism   

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  1. Transcendentalism   

  2. Why it happened.... 1. In REBELLION of the rigid way of life of Puritanism

  3. Why it happened... 2. Change in LIFESTYLE: development of science and industry- introduction of machine to New England farm 

  4. Why it happened... 3.  A REJECTION of Realism and Rationalism (the idea that all knowledge comes from scientific fact and reason, not from feelings and emotions).   Chemistry Teacher: Quite an unusual class you had today...     Keating: ...funny, I never pegged you as a cynic.  Chemistry Teacher: I'm not a cynic. A realist. 

  5. Why it happened.... 4. The INFLUENCE of the American Revolutionary War         1775-1783

  6. Why it happened... 5. INFLUENCE of other cultures and religions: • Hinduism and Buddhism  • European ideas/Romantic Movement:  • John Locke- when we are born our minds are a blank slate (a "tabula rasa") and we fill them with knowledge from ourselves, not from facts from science •  Jean-Jacques Rousseau- men are born good, but man-made institutions make them wicked

  7. Where it happened... 1840-1855 Began in New England around Concord, Massachusetts.  Ralph Waldo Emerson thought the Unitarian Church's doctrine and laws were becoming too conservative 

  8. Major Beliefs... • the importance of the individual  • Emotion • Imagination • Intuition= "gut feeling" • Still a belief in God, the afterlife, etc. However, the emphasis should be on the here and now, not the past or the future • NOT a rejection of God, but a preference to explain the world in terms of the individual   • DENIAL of Original Sin 

  9. Major Beliefs... • The human soul is part of The Oversoul (God/universal spirit) to which it and other souls return at death • Therefore, every individual is to be respected because everyone has a portion of that Oversoul (God) within them • we have to try to strike a balance between being connected to others while still remaining unique and separate.   • there is a relationship between all things

  10. Major Beliefs • we must be self-reliant  • All knowledge begins with self-knowledge • we are evolving thinkers- it is okay to change our minds  • love of nature

  11. "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." -Henry David Thoreau

  12. What it is... Transcendentalism is... • A Literary Movement (books and essays) • A Philosophy • A state of mind • a form of spirituality

  13. What it is.... Transcendentalism: 'Transcend'= to rise above, go beyond the limits of trans= across (transfer, transport)  scend= climb (descend, ascend)     Transcendentalists wanted to 'rise above' logical reason to find truth 

  14. What it is... Transcendentalism- A philosophy of individualism, aimed at the creation of the new American, the self-reliant man, complete and independent.

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