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TRANSCENDENTALISM

TRANSCENDENTALISM. What is it?. The world we perceive in our senses is not all of existence and reality Transcendent reality (term first used by German philosopher Immanuel Kant) that lies beyond sensual experience

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TRANSCENDENTALISM

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  1. TRANSCENDENTALISM

  2. What is it? • The world we perceive in our senses is not all of existence and reality • Transcendent reality (term first used by German philosopher Immanuel Kant)that lies beyond sensual experience • Only through transcendent reality that truth about humanity’s place in the universe, humanity’s relationship with God, and nature of God can be revealed • Lies outside of human experience

  3. If it lies outside of human experience, how can we connect with transcendent reality to find truth? • Each individual had an innate ability to transcend (go beyond) ordinary sensory experience • Called INTUITION • Conscious and morality inherent at BIRTH • Everyone experiences intuitive insights, but they are mostly unrecognized or disregarded

  4. How do you experience intuitive insight? • Be open to transcendental experiences • Clear the mind of petty details from everyday life and concentrate on the significant and important • Return to God’s direct creation: Nature • Contemplation and study of Nature would cleanse the individual of the accoutrements of the man-made and enable the person’s intuition to make its connection with transcendent reality

  5. What else did they believe in? • God was the Universal Being, or Over-Soul, present throughout Nature and within EACH individual human being • Each person had a “spark of the divine” and all people were connected to each other and Nature through Over-Soul • Each individual, not only equal in the eyes of God, but also in the eyes of humankind • Each was important and had potential for greatness

  6. Major Tenets • The individual is important, inherently good, and has free will • Conscious, intuition, and morality are present at birth • The basic truths of existence and human kind’s place in the universe lie beyond the knowledge we obtain from our senses • Intuition is the tool the individual must use to transcend sensory knowledge and perceive these basic truths • Within each individual is a genius that is connected to God • God is considered to be the Universal Soul, the Over-Soul, present throughout Nature • One of the best ways to find our genius and connect with the Over-Soul is by contemplating and studying Nature

  7. Where did this idea come from? • Ralph Waldo Emerson gave German philosopher Immanuel Kant credit for popularizing the term “transcendentalism.” • It began as a reform movement in the Unitarian church. • It is not a religion—more accurately, it is a philosophy or form of spirituality. • It centered around Boston and Concord, MA. in the mid-1800’s. • Emerson first expressed his philosophy of transcendentalism in his essay Nature.

  8. Why do I care? • Extremely important element of American culture • While the roots reach all the way back to the Ancient World and stretch to Europe and India, in both its expression and application, it is very American

  9. Ok Ms. Do, but do I care? • It influenced: • Abolition of slavery • Utopianism • Women’s Suffrage and Equal Rights • Environmental Movement • American Civil Rights Movement (Martin Luther King Jr. and Ghandi) • American Literature

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