What is transcendentalist view society?
Transcendentalists believe that society and its institutions—particularly organized religion and political parties—corrupt the purity of the individual. They have faith that people are at their best when truly “self-reliant and independent. It is only from such real individuals that true community can form.
What are the beliefs of transcendentalism?
Key transcendentalism beliefs were that humans are inherently good but can be corrupted by society and institutions, insight and experience and more important than logic, spirituality should come from the self, not organized religion, and nature is beautiful and should be respected.
Who were well known transcendental writers?
Transcendentalism attracted such diverse and highly individualistic figures as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Orestes Brownson, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, and James Freeman Clarke, as well as George Ripley, Bronson Alcott, the younger W.E. Channing, and W.H. Channing.
What are Emerson’s beliefs about self reliance?
In his essay, “Self Reliance,” Emerson’s sole purpose is the want for people to avoid conformity. Emerson believed that in order for a man to truly be a man, he was to follow his own conscience and “do his own thing.” Essentially, do what you believe is right instead of blindly following society.
Why did transcendentalism become so popular?
The philosophy of transcendentalism arose in the 1830s in the eastern United States as a reaction to intellectualism. Its adherents yearned for intense spiritual experiences and sought to transcend the purely material world of reason and rationality.
Was Thoreau a transcendentalist?
American essayist, poet, and practical philosopher Henry David Thoreau is renowned for having lived the doctrines of Transcendentalism as recorded in his masterwork, Walden (1854). He was also an advocate of civil liberties, as evidenced in the essay “Civil Disobedience” (1849).
How did Thoreau meet Emerson?
Some sources say Thoreau first met Emerson in February of 1835 at Harvard where Emerson was giving a lecture, but the two were not close friends yet. In the fall of 1837, Thoreau became more casually acquainted with Emerson, whose book, Nature, Thoreau had read at Harvard and greatly admired.
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