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Henry Thoreau comparison to Emerson
Henry david thoreau civil disobedience Orgin
Henry Thoreau comparison to Emerson
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The difference between a rock and a human truly just comes down to a few different variations of carbon molecules. Yet this straightforward science ignores why humans, in all of their complexity, stem from such a random happenstance. Only knowing this science of life has not necessarily led to understanding its meaning. For that answer, famed transcendentalists Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau look within the self, rather than in a laboratory. In his essay, Self-Reliance, Emerson hypothesizes the meaning to be in independence; whereas, Thoreau, from his nature experience in Walden, theorizes it to be in simplicity. At the least, Thoreau finds it in a life without an intrusive government, which is the reason he pens Civil Disobedience. …show more content…
Rather, he should always protest for his autonomy. Thoreau expands on this subject in Civil Disobedience. After expressing his desires for a small government, he questions the idea of government itself: “Must the citizen ever for a moment...resign his conscience to the legislator?...[W]e should be men first, and subjects afterwards” (Civil Disobedience 171). Placing the individual over the government, Thoreau shows his passion for the self. That person’s actions may go awry, but, at least, the person still has the right to learn from his or her wrongs. Thoreau likens a meaningful existence with unyielding trust in a person’s inner voice. Without nurturing this voice, an individual loses his or her personhood. Such unwavering loyalty to the self best characterizes the transcendental ideal life, where one only needs to follow intuition to be …show more content…
Yet, in Thoreau’s view, many take it too far. Some sacrifice happiness for altruistic causes; others relinquish self-fulfillment for these missions. After first promoting his reader to stand for those causes, he reveals some caveats with a full preoccupation with activism. He writes, “I have other affairs to attend to. I came into this world, not chiefly to make this a good place to live in, but to live in it” (Civil Disobedience 172). Thoreau acknowledges that self-sacrifice, while noble, is not what the transcendentalists support. Although this may be in line with an ardent moral conscience, it fails to consider the whole self. The person in question would start living for the results. He or she would aim to please others and not him or herself. To live meaningfully, Thoreau advises individuals to take care of themselves and make sure that whatever they offer the world comes from their entire effort. Like Emerson, Thoreau makes it clear that the self, above all else, must grow independently to enjoy the
In conclusion, by temporarily removing himself from society and thrusting himself into nature, we are better able to understand how Thoreau conveys his attitude towards life. He believes that in order to enjoy it one must free himself or herself from the high-tempo nature of society, live life more simplistically, and experience the reality that is hidden by all the things that are irrelevant in our
Mahatma Gandhi, a prominent leader in the independence movement of India once said, “Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state becomes lawless and corrupt.”(brainyquotes.com) Gandhi states that protest and civil disobedience are necessary when the authority becomes unscrupulous. This correlates to “Declaration of Independence,” by Thomas Jefferson; “Civil Disobedience,” by Henry David Thoreau; and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” by Martin Luther King Jr., because all three leaders felt that civil disobedience was important to help protest against an unjust ruling. Jefferson stood up to the injustice of the king by writing the Declaration of Independence and urged others to stand up for the independence of America. Thoreau exemplified
In the great era of foundational philosophers, two stand out, Plato and Thoreau. Each had their own opinion on various topics, especially on civil disobedience. Plato’s life span was approximately 428-348 BC. Plato wrote numerous works throughout his lifetime, however we will be focusing on one, the Crito. Thoreau’s life span was 1817-1862. To help us determine what civil disobedience means to both of these philosophers we will first look at a general definition. According to Merriam-Webster civil disobedience is defined as “refusal to obey governmental demands or commands especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government.” This definition will act as a springboard to compare and contrast both of their thoughts on the topic. We will determine, according to Plato and Thoreau, when we are called to engage in civil disobedience and when the moral parameters of civil disobedience are pushed too far.
While Emerson never truly factored his transcendentalist ideals into his daily life, Thoreau made a point out of living out his days as a man free from society and connected to nature. In 1846, he refused to pay his poll tax to the government because he believed the war was unjust and did not want to support the government. In doing this, he showed that he remains strong in his own beliefs and will not agree with something just to conform to society. He also showcases Emerson’s philosophy on learning by forming beliefs based on his own life and morals, which were based in nature, receiving instruction from Emerson’s ideas on self-reliance, and taking action against something he believes is unjust. In an excerpt from one of Thoreau’s books, he says, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived” (Thoreau 16). What he is saying through this is that he wants to evaluate himself in the context of nature and understand what life is like in its purest and fundamental form. He hoped to gain a knowledge of the world and explore what nature had to offer and learn from his experience. Also, Thoreau is letting his readers know that connecting with nature is essential in finding yourself and
know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my
Thoreau states, “I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary”. In this statement is is trying to distinguish between the life that he already has and the life that he wants in solitude away from civilization so that he has time to think through the deeper meaning of life.
Henry David Thoreau in his essay “Civil Disobedience” Thoreau asserts that men should react from their conscience. Thoreau believed it was the duty of a person to defy the law if his conscience says that the law is unjust. He believed this even if the law was made by a democratic action. Thoreau
While Emerson and Thoreau certainly have difference of opinions, they recognize the need for public discussion and discourse. Emerson declares “a foolish consistency” to be “the hobgoblin of little minds” (Emerson 367). This is shown in their essays “Self-Reliance” and “Civil Disobedience” in which they support individuality and personal expression. Despite their contrasting views of society and government, the two most prominent transcendentalists in literary history share a passionate belief in the necessity that every American must exercise their constitutional rights and make known their views even and especially if it challenges the status quo.
Henry David Thoreau was born in 1817. Famous for many reasons he was a leading transcendentalist, a movement that believes our knowledge of reality comes from our own thoughts as opposed to scientific evidence. For example, they believe that proof of g-d can be found by reflecting upon yourself. Thoreau is best known for two writings the book Walden and an essay titled Civil Disobedience. The essay was first published in 1849 was to convince individuals to not obey civil laws in order to induce change.
To trace the origin of the Transcendental movement one needs to go back to the city of Concord, Massachusetts. There during the early 19th century many well-known and world-renowned authors were following the practices of one man, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson, who was considered America's first philosopher, had earlier traveled to Europe and became fascinated by the concepts of one German philosopher known as Kant. According to Emerson's understanding of Kant, there were two pure objects in the world in which are the bases of everything, nature and soul. He took this philosophy and brought it back to America where it later, with the help of Henry David Thoreau, revolutionized American literature.
Throughout Thoreau’s essay, he expressed his opinions and beliefs on the importance of civil disobedience in a society. He talked about how one must use his or her moral sense, conscience, to decide what is just and unjust. From here, Thoreau urged his readers to take action, to stop the machine from continuing its lifeless duty. His call to action is if a system is prone to corruption, the people must disobey it. This means that personal endangerment may be needed to do what is right. Going against the status quo to uphold justice and ethics is the basic message behind Thoreau’s essay.
Thoreau conveys many points in his writing and a large recurring one is the state of society. As stated before, he believed that people are too focused on physical gain and modernization which leads them into desperation. He adds on to this belief later in the book asking that above all else whether it be money or fame he be given honesty (Thoreau 246). To Thoreau, the truth is more important than anything measurable in status. Thoreau believes that a minimalist lifestyle is a good lifestyle, similar to Mccandless. He speaks of how it is good that he can put all of his belonging in one pile in his yard because it removes the clutter from his life (Thoreau 85). He also says that his best quality in life is to want very little, because it keeps himself true to himself and keeps him from distraction. Thoreau also believes that every man should be one in himself not oppressed by the government. He says that everyone should be able to be themselves whether is is in accord with the government or not (Thoreau 240). He is essentially saying that the government should not be a part of people's life decisions only to maintain the
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one.” In this quote, Eleanor is expressing that you should always take advantage of the universal human right to be an individual. From time immemorial, many of those who have led meaningful and enjoyable lives have shared one particular trait in common: individualism. Chris McCandless and Thoreau were no different, they both embodied individualism and as a result they have unknowingly inspired generations.
Thoreau, among the most heralded writers of the North American continent, may have lived on his little as possible, but the grandeur of his writing style suggest quite the opposite. This does coincide with a key part of Transcendentalism - putting matters of the mind and spirit far above any materialistic preference. Chapter 5 of Thoreau’s memoir Walden explains his reasonings for isolation through several rhetorical strategies that emphasize the splendor of aloneness and nature.
...have the capacity to be self-regulating and independent. This is seen in the first chapter, when he states, “Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinions” (p.10). From this, one is able to see Thoreau’s desire to limit the power of states and he guarantees freedom and equality for all the citizens living in a state.