Transcendentalism

The authors Emerson, Thoreau, Krakauer, and Donovan share many ideas and themes in their writing. Emerson and Thoreau are the founders of transcendentalism. Krakauer and Donovan have their own works that relate to the tenets of transcendentalism. The works of these authors share the ideas of individuality and self-reliance. The following paragraphs will explain the works of these authors and how they relate to individuality and self-reliance. Emerson and Thoreau are stark followers of…

As an inspiration from Rationalism, Transcendentalism developed in the 1800s in an effort to change the minds of individuals. It was a philosophical movement that arose as a reaction to protest the general state of intellectualism and spirituality. Inheriting the goodness of people and nature and having faith that people are their best when truly self reliant. Transcendentalism emphasizes subjective intuition over objective empiricism. Although this era has come to an end, core beliefs of the…

independence from England, the nation was navigating its way through creating its own literature apart from England as well. Emerson, particularly in his essay “Self-Reliance”, was highly influential to this new style. Emerson, the main spokesperson of transcendentalism in this time period, includes many of his beliefs in the themes of the essay, which is very critical of society. Three of these themes, solitude, the divinity within, and self-trust not only play a part in Emerson’s time but also…

the charge of the movement. Transcendentalism or the term transcendental is the idea that spiritual experiences or of the related such as God, the cosmos, “transcending”, are beyond a normal human experience. It is an extreme version of Idealism, but as described by Emerson it was based of emotion rather than it being a rational or deliberate thing and could be experienced through nature for God works through nature. Both Thoreau and Emerson “achieved” transcendentalism through isolation from…

The definition of transcendental is relating to a spiritual or nonphysical realm, transcendentalist seem to make the most out of nature and are independent thinkers. I feel that I am the opposite of this. By this I mean, I spend most of my day at school, rushing to get assignments done and to socialize with others. When I get home, I find myself on my computer playing games and surfing the internet for numerous hours a day until I must fall asleep and repeat. In the fast-paced world that is only…

course of history, many different ideas and ways of finding the purpose of life have been constructed, but few truly captivated and drawn the attention of a mass following. Three philosophies which have done so are those of Puritanism, Deism, and Transcendentalism. The first, emphasizing God and the strict following of his word, the second, reasoning and rationality, and the third, connecting and finding the answers to life through oneself. The canonical literature created by some of the…

Thoreau narrates his experiment that involved living prudently in a cabin on the shores of Walden Pond. He believed he could discover all things that add up to human nature without dealing with human society. Reflecting on the key aspects on transcendentalism,…

to Whitman to Thoreau, each writer looked toward nature for both inspiration and meaning and tried to determine how nature was connected to mankind as a whole. Furthermore, due to each distinct mindsets of this era- sublime, romanticism, and transcendentalism-, each writer observed nature for different reasons and found and had different explanations for and experiences with the natural world. As stated previously, David Thoreau was one of these writers who looked toward nature, experienced it,…

promoted an idea called transcendentalism. It was a literary movement that focused on ideas such as self reliance, being yourself rather than trying to impress others, and human reason. (Barcelo). Various icons such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Thoreau, expressed their ideas of the movement of independent thinking in essays such as “Walden”, “Civil Disobedience”, and “ Self Reliance”. In addition, movies such as “Dead Poet’s Society” also reflect the ideas of transcendentalism. Specifically,…

Christopher McCandless, the protagonist of the movie Into the Wild sheds his identity and life behind in exchange for the life of Alexander Supertramp who lives by transcendentalist values and ideals. He as well as the people he meets adopt beliefs similar to transcendentalist philosophers Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. In Into the Wild both philosophers and Christopher believe that a man must live and think truly independent of himself, modest and in pursuit of knowledge. They…