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Comparison study between Thoreau and Emerson
Emerson vs thoreau
Transcendentalism philosophy and its relevance today
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Recommended: Comparison study between Thoreau and Emerson
Transcendentalism is a philosophy that has been passed down through the ages. Just like the world and the people that inhabit it, transcendentalism has changed over time. Since technology has advanced over time, people have thought differently about things. Even though many people have changed their thinking, many others haven’t. There are some people who have slight transcendentalist features. Others have strong transcendentalist features and like to spread the word as often as possible. One characteristic of transcendentalism is self-reliance, or individualism. The key concept of this characteristic is that you should only be yourself and do things for yourself as well. John Lennon once said, “It is weird to not be weird.” He said this meaning that everyone is weird in their own way, and if you’re not yourself then that is what’s truly weird. A musical group called Chiddy Bang says, “There is no one like me,” in their song “Mind your Manners”. This is a very strong example of individualism meaning that you are the only you, no one can change that. In the Bon Jovi song “My Life” he talks about how it is his life and he has to live it and do things for himself. Terry Brooks once said, “Who would you be but you?” He is saying, why would you be someone that isn’t who you really are? The old saying, “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself is a very good example of self-reliance, saying that if you send some one else to do your task, it will not be completed as you had planned, so you should do it yourself instead. Another characteristic of transcendentalism is free-thought and being optimistic.. Forming your own opinions is the most basic example of free-thought. Rather than adopting someone else’s opinions, y... ... middle of paper ... ...ranscendentalism is still the same as it was back in the time of Emerson and Thoreau, but some things have changed. Even though it may still be the same, for the most part, it is not as popular today as it used to be. There are still environmentalist groups out there, and people still try to convert you to whatever religion they are, but none of that was really necessary back when most people were transcendentalists. People now-a-days try to make you think their way, damaging the transcendentalist cause, and they don’t even notice it. Even though people will try to take away you transcendentalist features, you will always be you, and the only person who can decide if they will actually get through to you, is you. As you can see transcendentalism is still around today it isn’t exactly the same as Ralph Emerson and Henry Thoreau. But the ideas are basically the same.
What is transcendentalism? Webster says transcendentalism is a philosophy that says that thought and spiritual things are more real than ordinary human experience and material things. The more simplified definition of it is the idea that our spirits have deep connection with. We are more "in tune" with nature and our mood is depicted by nature. So people can come to the conclusion that the “going green” movement and being “eco-friendly” is all a part of transcendentalism, and people who support these movements are transcendentalists. Leonardo DiCaprio, a multi millionaire, lives his life eco-friendly, and donates millions of dollars to protect our environment. By doing this, he is showing that he values the environment and nature more than he values material items, which is part of being a transcendentalist. DiCaprio is also an advocate for the gay rights movement. The other part of being a transcendentalist is the independence of the individual; and in today’s society the gay rights movement has become a great deal and the supporters of gay rights can be considered transcendentalists because homosexuality is interlinked with independence of the individual, which is stressed by transcendentalism.
There have been many minor transcendentalists in today’s society. Martin Luther King Jr. is a prime example. He was a non-conformist.Individuals around the world still continue to look up to Martin Luther King Jr. and really admire him for this. Another transcendentalist is a man named Christopher McCandless. Chris McCandless is admirable like other transcendentalists because he was a non-conformist, fought to overcome the hardships of life, and accepted his fate which proves that he was a modern day transcendentalist.
First off, one of the defining differences between the transcendentalist life and the life lived today are feelings towards self-reliance. Transcendentalists strongly believed that all people are unique and have the power to accomplish anything. Walden by Thoreau is a great example of this value. According to Walden, “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 #). Self-reliance as a trait is defined by confidence in oneself and ability. That excerpt exemplifies
Transcendentalism to some is may just be a long, lengthy word coined two hundred years ago that is not used today, but to other people, people like Chris McCandless, it is a way of life. They use these qualities to shape their life and strive hard to follow them. Chris McCandless was so focused on embodying the qualities of transcendentalism that he failed to see how much danger he was putting himself in. He had little to no common sense as shown by Westerberg. “But there were gaps in his thinking. I remember once I went over to the house, walked into the kitchen, and noticed a god-awful stink. I mean it smelled nasty in there. I opened the microwave, and the bottom of it was filled with rancid grease. Alex had been using it to cook chicken, and it never occurred to him that the grease had to drain somewhere. It wasn’t that he was too lazy to clean it up- Alex always kept things real neat and orderly- it was just that he hadn’t noticed the grease” (Krakauer 45). McCandless embodied the values of transcendentalism by believing in living closer to nature, believing in the dignity of manual labor, and being self reliant.
Transcendentalist writing had to do with the human sprit and its connection to nature. Transcendentalist thinkers believed that all things that occurred in nature were supposed to happen. For example, if there were forest fire that happened naturally, it would be looked at as a good thing because the ground gets nutrients. An anti-transcendentalist would see forest-fires as an act of destruction.
Transcendentalism, a philosophy that began in the 19th century, advocates that humans are naturally good and all individuals have potential. In high school, developing into a unique and self-assured person can be a difficult task. Students feel the need to be accepted by their peers and standing out against the crowd can be difficult. Students should be exposed to transcendentalist ideas would be able to fight this battle and leave high school unscathed. Many argue that transcendentalist beliefs cause problems as students cannot think for themselves at a young age. However, students who do not think for themselves while in high school will never develop the ability to think for themselves. The morals and beliefs of a student should not be handed to them on a silver platter the way there are in realist teachings. Instead, they must discover and test their beliefs. Although some argue transcendentalism would cause students to rebel, students in high school should embrace transcendentalist ideas as students would be more likely to believe in their capabilities, rely less on the opinion of others, and find their own way of thinking.
Transcendentalism is based on the belief that institutions in the society corrupt an individual’s purity. Transcendentalists believe that people are at their best when they are truly independent and self-reliant. They also believe that from independence and self-reliance, a true community is formed. Even though Transcendentalism is not recognized, it still exists in the modern society. Though not clearly outspoken as in Emerson and Thoreau’s times, many people in today’s society still have transcendental beliefs. Transcendental ideals are found in songs, films, books and other works such as media and advertisements. One example is the song “Get up, Stand up,” by Bob Marley, it is found to be influenced and has inspiration of transcendental elements such as Solitude (individuality), self-reliance, non-conformism (anti-institution), anti-materialism, nature and spirituality.
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.
Modern day transcendentalists are not easily found anymore in society. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what a transcendentalist is. By being your own self, following your own standards and being yourself, you become transcendental. By looking at the Robertsons’ way of life, they would make a tremendous example of modern day transcendentalists. Their religion, love of nature, and individualism create a transcendental lifestyle.
Transcendentalism is about connecting with nature. Mark Twain influences these aspects of transcendentalism with his masterpiece The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. However in today's society students and teachers view the novel as being obscene. Which is because society is ruling their lives. Their view The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain as a racist novel but they miss the transcendental aspects of it such as the society of the time, Huck’s beliefs and Huck’s actions.
“The term transcendental came from the German Romantic philosopher Immanuel Kant. The term refers to the idea that matters of ultimate reality, God, the cosmos, the self transcend, or go beyond, human experience.”(www.geocities.com). Transcendental later developed into Transcendentalism, which is
Thoreau wrote, “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.” The words transformed people’s lives to think more of the why in life and live with a purpose not just do what they are told, which was a driving idea within the Transcendentalist movements. Transcendentalist were hard to define, but perhaps one of the fathers of transcendentalism Ralph Waldo Emerson defines it most gracefully in a speech he gave, “The Transcendentalist adopts the whole connection of spiritual doctrine, He believes in miracle, in the perpetual openness of the human mind to new influx of light and power: he believes in inspiration, and in ecstasy”. As Emerson’s key student and self-proclaimed Transcendentalist Thoreau fulfilled these requirements to help further this movement of higher
Transcendentalism is where people feel empowered and their surroundings surpass their five senses. Where intuition and imagination overpower logic and reason. There are five tenets that go along with transcendentalism: non conformity, self-reliance, free thought, confidence, and importance of nature. Non conformity is failure or refusal to conform to a prevailing rule or practice. Self-reliance is reliance on one's own powers and resources rather than those of others. Free thought is anything you think and express unaffected by other people's views. Confidence is the state of feeling certain about the truth of something. The importance of nature is where people need nature to relieve their feelings and connect to their home. Qualities of transcendentalism
After learning what a transcendentalist is and what they do i've decided that I wouldn't want to be part of that. A transcendentalist is a philosophy that started in the mid 1800’s that promotes intuitive, spiritual thinking instead of scientific thinking based on material things. Throughout this unit I've learned how to join, their beliefs, negative impacts, and benefits to join.
Emerson: Transcendentalism comes from the romanticism of Britain and Germany, whose core belief is the natural goodness of man and nature. We insisted that society and its system have undermined the purity of the individual and that the people are in the best state of "self-reliant" and independence. Transcendentalism emphasizes the subjective intuition of objective empiricism. In my opinion, individuals can produce completely original ideas and do not care and respect the masters of the past. We are strong believers in personal power. It focuses on personal