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Transcendentalism and Transcendentalists

Transcendentalism and Transcendentalists. Pick One and Write a Brief Response. The only way to have a friend is to be one To be great is to be misunderstood Life only avails, not the having lived. That government is best which governs not at all.

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Transcendentalism and Transcendentalists

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  1. Transcendentalism and Transcendentalists

  2. Pick One and Write a Brief Response • The only way to have a friend is to be one • To be great is to be misunderstood • Life only avails, not the having lived. • That government is best which governs not at all. • The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

  3. The New England Renaissance1840-1855 • An outburst of creativity that occurred in the Concord New England area • A movement within Romanticism • Associated with abolition and Transcendentalism New England Renaissance1840-1855 Romanticism 1800-1860 Puritanism 1620-1720 Enlightenment 1720-1800

  4. Causes of Transcendental Movement (1840-1855): • Economic Progress: • America was becoming capitalistic • Establishing itself as an economic power • 2. Technological Progress: • Capitalism increased reliance on technology • as apposed to relying on fellow man • Growing urbanization resulted • 3. Condescension of European literary scene: • “In the four corners of the world, who reads an American book?” • --Alexis de Toqueville

  5. Lyceum • Program of adult education courses spread through country, named after grove in Athens where Aristotle taught • Many of the best-known artists, writers, politicians, and journalists of the day appeared on the lyceum circuit • Audiences heard lectures and concerts, watched scientific demonstrations and dramatic performances, and participated in debates and discussion groups. • Played an important role in American public education and social reform

  6. Brook Farm • based on Emerson’s Utopian ideal for communal living • Goal to unite the mind with the hand and eliminate distinctions between societal classes, everyone participated in farm work and schooling • Founded idea of pastoral retreat, simplicity, cooperation in opposition to capitalist industrialism of larger society • Influenced formation of communes in 1960’s and 70’s • Hawthorne lived there for a short time- referred to in his “Customs House” essay

  7. Prominent Writers of the Time • Anti-Transcendentalists: Hawthorne, Melville • Transcendentalists: Emerson, Thoreau, Alcott, Fuller • Poets: Longfellow, Holmes, Whittier, Lowell, Dickinson, Whitman

  8. “a new philosophy has risen, maintaining that nothing is everything in general, and everything is nothing in particular.” What the heck does that mean? The doctrines of Transcendentalism are not easily defined. The movement was made comprised of a variety of people who had differing philosophies on what it meant to be a Transcendentalist

  9. Varying Philosophies • Emerson and Thoreau decided not to be Brook Farmers; they felt that engaging in social or political action dissipated creative energies Vs. • Bronson, Peabody, Alcott believed individualism was part of problem; they thought social change could only occur through social means • One area all Transcendentalists agreed; they were all abolitionists

  10. While the philosophies themselves may have varied, the sources of these philosophies are more easily defined… Influences that contributed to Transcendentalism 1.Neoplatonism: a 3rd century philosophy that combined doctrines of Plato with the ethical and moral tenants of Christianity, Judaism and the mysticism of Eastern religions 2. Roots in Romanticism- optimistic view of man 3. Calvinism- moral gravity and responsibility

  11. Source of Transcendentalism Philosophies ? Locke’s assertion - everything in our intellect is the direct result of the experience of the five senses, known as empiricism

  12. Then Kant’s reply: There is an important class of ideas- intuitions- through which experience is acquired; the mind has an active role in shaping the experience

  13. As in, the mind can so know certain things without having experienced them.

  14. Transcendentalism takes one more step: The mind can apprehend absolute spiritual truths directly, without going through senses.

  15. Break on Through to the Other Side

  16. Major Tenets of Transcendentalism 1. Nature: There is a direct connection between the universe and individual soul, Nature is the gospel of the new faith, reveals God 2. Over-Soul: By reflecting upon objects in nature we can transcend the world and discover the Over-Soul, the union of God, man and nature 3. Intuition: it is more reliable than logic or the senses -since all people are inherently good, the individual’s intuitive response to any given situation will be the right thing to do Therefore 4. Self-realization should lead to responsibility for society In Self-Reliance, Emerson said, “If the single man plant himself indomitably on his instincts, and there abide, the huge world will come round to him.” 5. Every individual is of singular importance

  17. God’s Idea Nature Spiritual and Moral Truth Discipline Intuition Man Oversoul

  18. Emerson said that the writer is a seer and a searcher for truth

  19. Emerson’s “Nature” - 1836 • first published anonymously • first published statement of Transcendental precepts, • unofficial mantra of Transcendental Club • Way to truth is not reason, it is paying attention to nature • Nature rewards and punishes depending upon how man uses it

  20. R.W. Emerson

  21. Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” - 1841 • “Trust thyself” need for self-trust, bravery in one’s search for truth • “God will not have his work made manifest by cowards.” • Hard work “A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into • his work.” • Nonconformity, search for truth will call for a man to be different • “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.” • “What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think.” • “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds” • “To be great is to be misunderstood” • Distrust of state • “Society everywhere is in conspiracy against manhood” • “must explore goodness if it be goodness”

  22. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1863) • Emerson’s disciple • Walden—supreme work of Transcendentalism • Three levels • Autobiographical account of two years, two months, and two days spent at Walden. • Spiritual Quest • Social Criticism

  23. “Civil Disobedience” • Written after spending night in jail for refusing to pay taxes • Anthem of passive resistance: Ghandi and Martin Luther King

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