Transcendentalism

1. Transcendentalism “Who so would be a man must be a non-conformist.”

2. Transcendentalism • Emerson started the Transcendentalist movement – part of the Romantic literary movement or the first American Renaissance • It stressed individualism, intuition, nature, and self-reliance

3. Beliefs of Transcendentalism • Direct connection or “communication” between the universe and the individual soul. • Nature is the gospel of the new faith. In other words, nature is worshiped and all answers can be found within it.

4. The “Over-soul” • Transcendentalists believed that the over-soul encapsulated the universe • Connected man with nature and everything else in the world • Believed they could unlock all of the answers to the world by communicating with the over-soul • “I am a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all”

5. Say Whaaa? • What is the “Over-Soul”? • The over-soul is the combination of all your life experiences, all the lives people have lived, all the things everyone has learned and all of the workings of nature • In order to connect with the over-soul, one had to listen to his or her intuition and follow it to translate the symbols of nature into spiritual facts.   • In other words, your reading the signs of nature to understand how the world works.

6. By connecting with the oversoul… • The belief is that all people can change and become more than they are now. • With each lesson comes more understanding of our purpose for being (on the earth). • It is also believed that with meditation you can gain insight into your own personal path.

7. Following Your Intuition • Follow your own intuition and own beliefs, however divergent or different from the social norm they may be. • Since all people are inherently good, the individual’s instinctive response to any given situation will be the right thing to do.

8. Characteristics of Transcendentalism • Non-conformity • Self-reliance • Free thought/ individualism • Importance of Nature

9. Non-Conformity • Failure or refusal to conform to the majority • Non-conformity and Transcendentalism • Transcendentalists realized that it had been decades since America gained independence and that it was time to seek literary independence as well. • These people wanted to create literature unique to America different from anything England had to offer • Began as a protest against popular culture

10. Self Reliance • Depending on only oneself for all needs • Self reliance and transcendentalism • Before this time, no one had thought of looking into ones self to find answers. • It’s better to listen to your own intuition than to follow someone else’s beliefs.

11. Self Reliance Continued Free thought and Transcendentalism • Another way to look at the Transcendentalists is to see them as a generation of people struggling to define spirituality and religion (hippies of their day) • The spiritual hunger for understanding of the world (which is why they tried to connect with the oversoul) • Transcendentalists believed in an intuitive, experiential, passionate, more-than-just-rational perspective.

12. Importance of Nature • Experiencing nature was of critical importance because the natural world was the face of God. • Becoming physically closer to nature, contemplating it, understanding it—these were the actions that brought man closer to his maker.

13. The A List • Ralph Waldo Emerson • Writer • Philosopher • Henry David Thoreau • Writer/Naturalist • Margaret Fuller • Feminism/Free Thought • Bronson Alcott • Educator