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Critique of emerson
Ralph waldo emerson the american scholar thesis
Critical analysis of Emerson's Nature
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Emerson’s idea of individualism was so intense that it uprooted years of social acceptance and norms. It was a very egotistic way of thinking, almost self-worship. He spoke of nature as though it was the handwriting of God, and that those who could read nature were able to understand its teachings. According to Emerson, forests, streams, meadows, and lakes were all sources of spiritual and mental pleasure. He proposed that an individual’s intellect is what renders forms and shapes into spiritual visions. Although Christianity, America’s most popular religion, shares like-minded values with Calvinism, and Puritanism, America itself relates more to transcendental thought espoused by writers like Emerson.
In his work “Self-Reliance,” he advocates that following one’s own personal belief system is more correct than following what the rest of the world believes is right. Emerson’s individualism lends advantage to personal will over intellect. Feeling is more important than logic in Emerson’s view of things.
As a new nation looking to characterize itself, America followed two opposing mindsets, those of Calvinism and transcendentalism. Calvinism proclaimed that the self of man was bad by nature and was only saved by the grace of God. Transcendentalism declared quite the opposite, that man was blessed with the special ability to deduce God’s residence in the world. Calvinists believed that human urges came from an inner evil, while transcendentalists thought they were moral insight that came before common society’s unjustified code.
Through Emerson’s eyes, man’s will is predominant, as it is the impetus that drives the intellect to create. He believes that if we do not trust our will and intuition, but rather let society dictate our l...
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... crowd. Articles are consistently published calling people to promote themselves ‘as a brand’, all following perfectly suit to Emerson’s ideals. His ideas are so rampant in today’s American society that conformity is often feared and looked down upon. Even the most radical of figures agree with Emerson’s individualistic principles, as is evident in the Imperial Wizard and Emperor of the Ku Klux Klan in 1926’s assertion that the United States should “insure to every child [the] opportunity to develop its natural abilities to their utmost.” Emerson’s beliefs could not be more pertinent to America’s society today, in which the individual is celebrated highly and encouraged to shine. Emerson’s dependence on solitary influence marks an imperative change in American perspective, not only in his time, but in ours and America’s eternally.
Works Cited
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Anthology of American Literature says, “Like his philosophy, his writing seemed to lack organization, but it swarmed with epigrams and memorable passages” (939). Even though Ralph Waldo Emerson’s works had flaws, he “was nineteenth-century America’s most notable essayist” (Anthology of American Literature, 938). According to Daniel G. Payne, Emerson’s point of view of transcendentalism is “views on nature and its relation to God and the human soul” (Payne). Standing on the bare ground, my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God" (942).
The 1830s was a time of serious religious conflict. Many people, especially authors, had different opinions on how to find true spirituality. In the end, authors in America created Transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is a philosophical and literary movement that searches for individual truth through spiritual reflection, complete solitude, and a deep connection with nature. Because this was established by authors, many of them wrote different pieces reflecting and using the beliefs of Transcendentalism. Ralph Waldo Emerson was considered to be the father of Transcendentalism. He wrote many influential pieces that follow and emphasize major Transcendental beliefs. The major beliefs include the over-soul, nature, and senses. In addition to those, there are minor beliefs and overall ways of living. These beliefs were included in Transcendental pieces as a general way to share the belief and to create a movement. Due to the use of nature, senses, and the over-soul as its three core Transcendental beliefs, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Nature” successfully explain the fundamentals of Transcendentalism.
Religious conscience in America has evolved considerably since the first settlers emigrated here from Europe. Primary settlements were established by Puritans and Pilgrims who believed "their errand into the wilderness [America] was above all else a religious errand, and all institutions - town meeting, school, church, family, law-must faithfully reflect that fact" (Gaustad 61). However, as colonies grew, dissenters emerged to challenge Puritan authority; indeed, many of them left the church to join untraditional religious sects such as "the Ranters, the Seekers, the Quakers, the Antinomians, and the Familists" (Westbrook 26). Debates over softening the stance on tolerance in the church engendered hostility in many religious leaders, priming some officials to take action. Whether it was in direct response to "the liberalizing tendencies beginning to take hold in some [. . .] New England churches" (Westbrook 65), or a "reaction against the attempt in the Age of Reason to reduce Christian doctrine to rationalistic explanation" ("Great Awakening"), the Great Awakening impressed upon the issues of religious conscience. Moreover, what spawns from this controversy is a query over the juxtaposition of morality and spirituality: the question of whether these conditions are actually related. The gradual escalation of unconventional thinking in religious affairs facilitated new ideas on what defined spirituality; one religious theory, boosted by Thomas Paine and his book, The Age of Reason, denounced both Christianity and Atheism, proposing instead, a new concept: the middle path of Deism.
American society has appeared to have an obscure affinity for progressive, ideals, thoughts and morals, an affinity whose roots can be seen in all aspects of our society today. That hunger to change, to own the “best of the best” is evolving into the idea of perfectionism. Perhaps, it is due to this obsession with originality that prompts us to show who and what we truly are. The perception for individualism gave birth to prominent authors namely Thoreau and Emerson peacefully rebelling against societies ways with the art of literature and thought. Two distinguished authors created this legacy of transcendentalism-- believing in the idea of “free spirit” and the inherent goodness of both people and nature.
The transcendental movement took place solely in America, but was “stimulated by European and German Romanticism” (Goodman); moreover, the “Transcendentalists stood at the heart of the American Renaissance” (Hampson). According to Richard Eldridge, the Romantics, who preceded the Transcendental movement, “represent[ed] ‘the effort to envision human possibilities of the achievement of value’ more strongly and self-consciously than Enlightenment thought did before it, and offers a compelling vision of the human as ‘both a free, noumenal agent and an embodied, natural being’” (Johnson 251). The Romantics, however, had a more negative view on the world around them. The Transcendental
I agree with the statement Benjamin Anastas makes about Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “self-reliance” of how it is “the most pernicious piece of literature in the American canon” (Anastas 602-603). One reason why I agree with Anastas is that Emerson believes the people are timid and apologetic and do not have opinions of their own. Another reason why I stand alongside Anastas is that Emerson thinks people are afraid of each other and the truth(s) that others have are but quotes from a saint or sage. My final reason that I believe Anastas is correct is due to Emerson believing our society does not gain anything new that makes life worth living.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. The American Scholar ; Self-reliance ; Compensation. N.p.: American Book, 1893. Print.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, nineteenth century poet and writer, expresses a philosophy of life, based on our inner self and the presence of the soul. Emerson regarded and learned from the great minds of the past, he says repeatedly that each person should live according to his own thinking. I will try to explain Emerson’s philosophy, according to what I think is the central theme in all his works. “Do not seek answers outside yourself”. This is the main idea of Waldo’s philosophy.
Emerson, Ralph. "Self-Reliance." The American Tradition in Literature. Eighth Edition. Ed. George Perkins. New York. McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1994.
The tone of his work was focused on self-reliance and the problem of how to live. His writings provoked people to ask how instead of what and not we but I (Unger 1). Emerson’s essays spoke to people of the 19th century that were ready for individuality and a new optimism that liked God, nature, and man (Masterpieces 258).
Citizens of today’s society have to comprehend that by conforming to the pressures of others and imitating everyone else, they will get nowhere in life. First of all, a teenage boy attends his first big high school party at a friend’s house one weekend and he is pressured into drinking beer and smoking marijuana so he will seem cool in front of the popular jocks and cheerleaders. Since many teens are so terrified of ridicule and downright embarrassment in front of fellow students, they decide to give in to their peers even though their actions may go against their beliefs. Emerson believed that by being an individual “you shall have the suffrage of the world.” Furthermore, an innocent sixteen year old girl’s parents go out of town for the weekend and she invites her cute, popular, senior star quarterback boyfriend over, but he pressures her into having sex when she i...
If I can successfully shape my life around ideas of self-reliance I can be exactly who I want to be. I look around me and don’t want to conform to society’s standards, I recognize that there is an easy way out, but try my best to remain true to myself by following my heart with pure conviction. Because of my desire to remain true to myself, I closely identify with Emerson in “Self-Reliance”: “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, - that is genius.”
Emerson's message is one of non-conformity and individuality. He views every man as unique within, and feels society, exterior elements and tradition are man's downfall. He urges us to be a product of ourselves, to live in the present, rather than measure our worth against man's past accomplishments or live by old ideas.
In an era of national renaissance and reformation, the United States was evolving into a country that respected the value and potential of the individual. Activism spread like wildfire as citizens fought for rights to freedom and equality for everyone. But while Americans viewed reform as a team-effort, a new philosophy was emerging that introduced a different perspective. Transcendentalism was founded in 1836 by a group of like-minded thinkers who saw the individual’s capacity to improve and transcend beyond the customs of society; among this collection of intellectuals were authors such as Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman; but at the center of it all was “the prophet of self-reliance and individualism,” Ralph Waldo Emerson (“Emerson and the Transcendentalists” 60; Park 491). Emerson believed that, in order for their generation to successfully reform, Americans needed to stop idolizing past generations as
Summarize in Emerson story “Self Reliance,” he talks about being an individual and not relying on others to shape you as a person or mold your ideas into their own. He said society has an effect on the growth of a person’s spirit. Emerson says “society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members.” This means society is shaping people to be the same and have the same values in life.