Ralph Waldo Emerson: Nonconformity, Integrity, and Self-Reliance
Emerson's "transcendentalism" is essentially a romantic individualism, a philosophy of life for a new people who had overthrown their colonial governors and set about conquering a new continent, in hopes of establishing new and unique views. Though Emerson is not a traditional philosopher, the tendency of his thought is toward inward reflection in which soul and intuition, or inspiration, are fundamental. The new American needed less criticism and a rejuvenated sense of personal inspiration. Taking a practical and democratic, yet philosophic interest in all of nature and in individuals of every walk of life. Emerson stresses the potential for genius and creativity in all people.
It is a source of creative insight within which Emerson identifies as divine. According to Emerson, "Mind is the only reality of which men and all other natures are better or worse reflectors." For Emerson, "intuition" is the capability of seeing things creatively. We are limited as humans due to our imperfect nature, but through divine inspiration, and self confidence, we can achieve a higher level of understanding. Therefore, Emerson calls for us to always be prepared to listen to this voice within instead of conforming to societal pressures.
The theme of Self-Reliance is an elaboration of this idealist theme: "we are to follow our own lights." The Over-soul, "the only prophet of that which must be," is both "the act of seeing and the thing seen." It creates our world in depth by means of our insight and interpretations. Emerson's great emphasis upon nonconformity and integrity shows that this Over-soul creates a world through individuals rather than through the conformity of s...
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...nation of how people are seduced into ignoring their own insights and convictions, their own "culture," in order to better profit by their relationship with society. Emerson warns of the seductions of society and supplies a moral counter weight "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. It is better to make your own mistakes and suffer from them than to make the mistakes dictated by another and surrender oneself to dissolution in outside forces."
Though "the sensual man conforms thoughts to things, the poet conforms things to his thoughts." Emerson succeeded in conforming generations of Americans to his thought. Now, in an age where conformity is used in commercials as an advertising gimmick, Emerson would probably offer the following: "Your conformity explains nothing. Act singly, and what you have already done singly will justify you now."
Emerson is known as the father of Transcendentalism because he was the founder of the movement. His writings appealed to both intellectuals and the general public even if his new ideas were hard for most of society to understand. Emerson’s entire life journey was transcendental. He was constantly thinking outside of society’s norms. Emerson once said “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist” (Emerson). Emerson means that to be a real man you cannot conform to what society wants you to be. Society tends to want everyone to think the same way and do what they are told to do. A man cannot go around following others and not thinking for himself.
In "Self-Reliance," philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson argues that people shouldn't be reliant on what others in society think. The main point of this essay is for people in society to realize that the only way to be comfortable is to be uncomfortable first. Throughout the essay it can be complicating to understand what Emerson is trying to accomplish. In the first paragraph Emerson states," The soul always hears an admonition in such lines." He also writes," Watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind." Lastly Emerson claims," we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinions from another."
Emerson, Ralph. "Self-Reliance." The American Tradition in Literature. Eighth Edition. Ed. George Perkins. New York. McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1994.
“The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried” (p.369). Emerson reminds his audience to follow their instinct. He expresses his desire for each of us to trust in our own inner ability to choose what is best for us. Trust yourself! Don’t conform what society wants you to be. He reminds us that no matter what society tells us
Every so often throughout history, great doers and thinkers come along that break the mold and set new standards. People like Caesar, Shakespeare, Napoleon and Jesus have been studied and immortalized in volumes of texts. Then there are others who are not as well known. People like Ralph Waldo Emerson. From his life, writings, associates, beliefs and philosophy, this Concord, Massachusetts man has set his place as a hero in American literature and philosophy (Bloom 13).
In Emerson’s Self-Reliance, he communicates that when a man believes in his own conscience and heart, he is genius. The idea of not conforming to society, yet sticking to personal ideas and practices, was popular among transcendentalists, and influenced heavily by Emerson and Thoreau. Due to those ideas, transcendentalists were and still are stereotyped as “hippies.” However, unlike the hippies of the 1960s, these people did not simply reject society; instead, they formulated ways to influence the nation into a greater and alternative culture. Doing this exact thing is becoming more popular among today’s world, and Emerson and Thoreau’s standing impact on free thinkers could be part of the cause. Those who choose to believe in themselves and rely on their own spirit could be considered the transcendentalists of today.
Transcendentalism is a major concept that originated in New England from 1836 to 1855. It is the idea that people have knowledge about themselves that rises above or goes beyond the five senses. The man credited with leading this revolutionary movement was Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was born in Boston, and used his experience at Harvard and as a Unitarian Reverend to help start this revolution. He eventually would come to the conclusion that the individual is more morally just than religion. He started this shift with his book Nature, which he published in 1836. Nature was a collection of papers, an essay that read like a disjointed nightmare would. This revolution has translated into modern society; however, there are still many aspects of
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Emerson is a firm believer of maintaining self-reliance and values rather than following the crowd. He also explains that in order to be truly successful in life, a person must make decisions and trust in his or her judgment. In today’s society, teenagers are more likely to not be self-reliant because the teens feel they will be judged for having different beliefs. People today need to realize that they should not conform to be like the rest of the world, they must not depend on the judgment and criticism of others, and people must refuse to travel somewhere in order to forget their personal problems. Through Emerson’s piece, readers are able to reflect on how people in the world today must try to be independent of others and uphold their personal opinions and philosophy.
Someone once said, “ A revolution isn't always an act of violence that results in a bloody battle”. Transcendentalism has affirmed that fact indeed, since it is a movement expressed in a form of revolution that uses letters and words as its only weapon, its a form independence and individual improvement in which one reflects his own opinion, and radical ideas through using a pen and critical thinking as the best form of expression. Ralph Waldo Emerson, was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet who led the transcendental movement of the 19th century. To Emerson, independence and self-reliance were his main focus, hence they provide a unique link between one’s self and what goes beyond. His sole abstract ideas, vivid expressions, and symbolic
One of the primary issues that Emerson tried to convey was that one must follow what they believe is true for themselves and not listen to what other people think. He states, “It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps perfect sweetness the independence of solitude(Emerson 151).” One of the definitions of the word “world” is “human society.” The word “opinion” means “a view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter.” By putting these words together, Emerson is implying that the “world’s opinion” is the general point of view accepted by most of society. Emerson also uses the word, “solitude” which means, “the quality or state of being alone or remote from society.” By also using the word “solitude” in this sentence, he shows a contrast between the majority (society), and the individual. What Emerson suggests is that if one can live in a world full of people who think a certain way because they were taught to believe that way, but still hold your own ground and follow what you believe, you are a great person.
In closing: Emerson wanted to inspire the people who sat in the room that day, he felt that Americans needed to develop their own cultural tradition instead of depending on Europe. These men were the leaders of tomorrow but they possessed stagnant ideas, he wanted them to look inwards and be more than a Scholar more than a teacher. Emerson wanted them to start a revolutionary of inspirational proportions. This conclusion is reflective in respects to the way I want to live my life, I am one of those people who rarely take an opportunity and run with it. I do much better when I have a motivator, in a sense Emerson's speech was just that, motivation.
In an address to the scholars in the Phi Beta Kappa society at Cambridge in Massachusetts Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1837 delivered a speech in which he stated that the literature during the European influence required scholars to memorize texts written by other writers. The speech was titled The American Scholar and the main idea of his speech was that the literature in America should be completely different from the European literature. Basically the scholars should have the freedom to write in any form they wish to write in and not copy the way other writers have already written. By this statement Emerson reminds the citizens of America that their culture were modified by the Europeans so much that people had already started to forget their own culture. In this respect Emerson is reminding the citizens of America that since they won the war of independence against the Europeans and that they now had a chance to start afresh every developmental activity. Therefore in literature to start fresh the Americans needed to write in a new form that would be different from how the Europeans wrote and had taught Americans to write. Emerson claims that the new form of writing can be achieved through influences from nature, books and action. He was thus a transcendentalist.
In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance,” Emerson calls for each person in society to be wholly true to themselves. He claims that it is most rewarding to the individual and the society for people to believe in one’s own thoughts and not in the thoughts of others. Emerson believes that conformity will ultimately lead to an individual’s demise because by living for others, people are not being true to themselves. Therefore in order to have a well-formed society, citizens should focus inward and have confidence in their own ideas before beginning to look towards other individuals; moreover, Emerson calls individuals not only in “Self-Reliance,” but also in numerous essays to act independently from conformity and to live for themselves.
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” was written in 1841 in New England during the Transcendentalist Movement, which was a revolt against the “Age of Reason” and the beginning of Romanticism. Emerson’s essay is about Transcendentalism, the belief that every human has his own way of thinking and personal inborn knowledge to build his opinion, independent from the common beliefs of the community and he should believe in and express his opinion to be successful. Emerson supports the idea of Transcendentalism by urging his readers to trust their own ideas, beliefs and common sense, to listen to and to trust their inner voice and to hold the popular opinion back from influencing their way of thinking, if they want to be successful. He tells them to be proud of their own opinion and not to be shy to express it.
“To believe in your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men—that is genius.” This quote is a summary of what Emerson, as well as the Transcendentalists of the time, believed in. Emerson encompasses a lot of different ideas in his essay “Self-Reliance.” He writes about a man’s genius, self-expression, conformity, society, virtues, man’s nature, and what it actually is to be self-reliant. So what does it mean to be self-reliant? Can we truly be self-reliant? Or do we have to rely on other people in order to live our lives happily and healthfully? In this essay, I will go over what Emerson thought it was to be self-reliant, what I think about his essay, and what it actually means to be self-reliant (if self-reliance is even possible).