Similarities Between Civil Disobedience And Transcendentalism

What can be inferred from Thoreau’s transcendental emphasis on conscience is that the individual’s conscience is naturally above the law. Even though, Thoreau’s ideas and beliefs seem to be very radical or anarchistic even, Thoreau is not being considered an anarchist but an individualist. Individualism, the basis of Thoreau’s perspective of society and its institutions, is a major theme throughout Civil Disobedience and a crucial belief system in transcendentalism, whose proponents were “militantly individualistic, and at the same time so optimistically social-minded.” Emerson, Thoreau’s employer and friend and one of the major figures of American Transcendentalism wrote in this context:
I own I have little esteem for governments. I esteem them only good in the moment when they are established. I set the private man first. He only who …show more content…
Additionally, although Emerson and Thoreau shared the transcendental attitude towards the emphasis of the individual, McElroy claims that Thoreau was different in comparison to other Transcendentalists because of his “practical, earthy ways” and the pursuit of incorporating transcendental principles into his everyday life. Besides Civil Disobedience, this can be perceived best in Thoreau’s famous book “Walden; or, Life in the woods”, describing his life at Walden pond, where he spent 2 years living the simplest life possible surrounded and fascinated by nature – “While Transcendentalists praised nature, Thoreau walked through it.” Thoreau clearly was an advocate of living his life as deliberate as possible, which means in other words having a self reliant lifestyle, focusing on the essential things in life. In this regard, Thoreau wrote in his journal shortly after he moved to his cabin at Walden pond: “I wish to meet the facts of life – the vital