Alexa Schaefer
PHIL 1030-011
Final Project
12/06/2019
Transcendentalism
Transcendentalism
Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that began around the 1830's near Massachusetts. These philosophies mainly centered around Ralph Waldo Emerson. Other
important transcendentalists were Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Lydia
Maria Child, Amos Bronson Alcott, and Elizabeth Palmer Peabody. Some of the highlights of Transcendentalists can be their devotion to intuition over reason. They believe in a strong connection between man and nature, and that best decisions can be made when one is in touch with themselves and their instinct. They reject conformity and challenge their followers to always question the material and what is socially acceptable. Transcendentalism stems from a mixture of German Romanticism and Unitarianism. Unitarianism is the belief that Jesus was inferior to god but superior to humans as opposed to the traditional view of the trinity of god. Some core philosophers who influenced the basic ideas of transcendentalism are Emmanuel Kant, George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Emanuel Swedenborg.
Beliefs
Transcendentalists are well known for their belief of humans always striving to be the best they can be, with a connection to the world around them. This is highly opposed to the common point of view that humans are inescapably
wicked. Transcendentalists value imagination over reason, creativity over theory, and action over contemplation.
Kantian ideas
A subsection of German philosophy created by Immanuel Kant. Their core beliefs are as follows:
1) The human mind “forms” experience
2) The existence of such mental operations is a counter to skepticism
3) “Transcendental” does not mean “transcendent” or beyond human experience.
Key Events and Organizations
The Transcendental ClubThis group of people originally got together in 1836 to discuss the issues of Unitarianism and how they can be improved. After originally meeting in a hotel, these philosophers decide that meeting regularly could be beneficial, and they begin to meet at George Ripley's house. In over four years they hosted over 30 meetings and the group stayed active until 1840. After these meeting stopped, transcendentalists began to use The Dial as an outlet to share their ideas.
The Dial
For writers and philosophers, the only way to share ideas was through the news. Transcendentalists used publishing companies such as The Christian Examiner, The Western Messenger, The Boston Quarterly Review, and The Dial. The Dial in particular was unique, due to it's being owned by Margaret Fuller, a key player in the transcendentalist movement.
Brook Farm
Some transcendentalists decided to put some of their theories to the test like other Utopian groups. They set up shop in West Roxbury, Massachusetts and were led primarily by George Ripley. It was a public living community in which people were able to live out their theories of philosophy, and push the boundaries of moral and ethical limits.
Later Transcendentalism
During the mid-nineteenth century transcendentalists focused their critiques on the inner workings of the government and:
- Their treatment of Native Americans
- The war with Mexico
- The expanding practice of slavery
Important Characters
Lydia Maria Child
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Lydia Maria Child was a well-known female writer. She grew up in a Unitarian family, but was influenced most highly by her brother. Her brother worked as both a Unitarian clergyman and a professor in his life. Using the inspiration she was given she wrote extensively on many different topics. She was highly regarded for her defense of minorities such as Native Americans, slaves, and women. One of her most successful yet controversial works was An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans. This piece called out issues of inequality and the poor treatment of slaves. As a result of this, the magazine failed, but the popularity of the book did end up helping the abolitionist movement.
Elizabeth Palmer Peabody
Elizabeth Palmer Peabody believed in a just society run by Liberal Christianity. She was a strong minded transcendentalist who held great interest and passion for German philosophy. During her career she introduced Boston to its first kindergarten and wrote First Steps to the Study of History. She was greatly influenced by Friedrich Froebel, a German educationalist most well known for his theories on kindergarten education. Later in her career she opened her west street bookstore and began to write for The Dial. She published Aesthetic Papers, a transcendentalist paper which, among other writings, contained Thoreau’s “civil disobedience”.
· Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau was the other big name in transcendentalism aside from Emerson. He served as Emerson's apprentice, and later was invited to write for The Dial. He moved to Walden Pond, in Massachusetts where he finished his book A Week on the Concord and the Merrimac Rivers, and a draft of Walden. As opposed to Nature, Walden was more particular. Thoreau writes more about trees and birds. He seeks out wildness in nature, but eventually finds it in works such as Hamlet or the Iliad. He believed writing was the work of art closest to life itself. As a challenge to himself, he moved to set up a cabin at Walden Pond, and lived separate from society without material desires holding him back.
Quiz Questions
1) Is transcendentalism logic based or intuition based?
2) Who were some key players?
3) Where did transcendentalists meet?
4) What were some important works written by transcendentalists?
5) Who mentored Thoreau?
6) Why did the transcendental club start?
Discussion Questions
1) Emerson writes that people are distracted by the demands of the world. Do you agree?
2) Emerson believes that for a person to truly experience "the sublime" they must rid themselves of material cares. Is this necessary?
3) Socrates and Emerson believe every society has a code of conduct that people living in it follow. Do you agree?
4) Do you believe intuition is more valuable than reason?
5) How do you think the main players in transcendentalism affected the overall philosophies?
Sources Cited
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Bronson Alcott.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 24 June 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Bronson-Alcott.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Elizabeth Palmer Peabody.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 24 June 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Elizabeth-Palmer-Peabody.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Lydia Maria Child.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 16 Oct. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Lydia-Maria-Child.
Goodman, Russell. “Transcendentalism.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 30 Aug. 2019, plato.stanford.edu/entries/transcendentalism/.
History.com Editors. “Transcendentalism.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 15 Nov. 2017, www.history.com/topics/19th-century/transcendentalism.
“Transcendentalism, An American Philosophy.” Ushistory.org, Independence Hall Association, www.ushistory.org/us/26f.asp.
“Transcendentalism.” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/the-early-republic/culture-and-reform/a/transcendentalism.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Brook Farm.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 21 May 2019, www.britannica.com/topic/Brook-Farm.
“Henry David Thoreau.” The Walden Woods Project, www.walden.org/thoreau/.
Fascinating period. Have you seen Robert Richardson's biographies of Emerson and Thoreau (and of Wm James), and Maria Popova's "Figuring"?
ReplyDeleteAre we "distracted by the demands of the world?" For sure, but not just the demands... increasingly, by trivia and idle amusements. As Neal Postman wrote, we seem to be "amusing ourselves to death." It would be bracing to hear what the Transcendentalists would have to say about our world. They'd be intrigued but also disgusted by the Internet, as we should be as well.