1. TRANSCENDENTALISM
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson  

2. 3.Theology. (of the Deity) to be one with the universe, time, etc.).
Transcend- Verb
1.to rise above or go beyond; overpass; exceed: kindness transcends courtesy.
2.to outdo or exceed in excellence, elevation, extent, degree, etc.; surpass; excel.
3.Theology. (of the Deity) to be one with the universe, time, etc.).

3. American transcendentalism was an important movement in philosophy and
What is it?
American transcendentalism was an
important movement in philosophy and
literature that flourished during the early to middle years of the nineteenth century
(about ).

4. How did it come about…
Began as reform movement in the church that focused on God’s presence in every individual and emphasized intuition
(tuition=that which can be taught, thus INtuition=cannot be taught)
Believed that the soul of each individual is identical with the soul of the world and contains what the world contains
Emerson called this the OVERSOUL.

5. The I’s of Transcendentalism
Interconnectivity of man, God, and
nature
Individualism and self-reliance
Intuition leads to knowledge
Inherent goodness of people
Imagination and emotions celebrated

6. What do Transcendentalists believe?
Unity of man and creation
All is one- DIRECT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
Truth can be understood fully only through experience
Essential nature of human beings is good and if left in a state of nature, human beings would seek the good- Transcendentalists seek MORAL AND PHYSICAL PURITY
Society is to blame for the corruption that mankind endures
Only by transcending the limits of rationalism and received tradition can the individual fully realize his or her potential

7. What do Transcendentalists believe?
An individual is the spiritual center of the universe- MAN IS DIVINE—and in an individual can be found the clue to nature, history and ultimately, the cosmos itself. It is not a rejection of the existence of God, but a preference to explain an individual and the world in terms of an individual.

8. What do Transcendentalists believe?
The structure of the universe literally duplicates the structure of the individual self—all knowledge begins with self-knowledge, similar to Aristotle’s “know thyself.”
Nature is a living mystery, full of signs. Nature is symbolic. As Emerson said, “Every natural fact is a symbol of some spiritual fact.” LIVING CLOSE TO NATURE is important (Walden)

9. What do Transcendentalists believe?
4. The belief that individual virtue and happiness depend upon SELF-RELIANCE— this depends upon the reconciliation of two universal psychological tendencies:
The desire to embrace the whole world, to know and become one with the world.
The desire to withdraw, remain unique and separate.
But, INTELLECTUAL COMPANIONSHIP is also key to transcending.

10. Ralph Waldo Emerson
1803 – 1882
Unitarian Minister (Seventh generation)
Educated by Aunt Moody who taught him to be an independent thinker
Death of first wife from T.B. caused him to question traditional Christianity
New faith eliminated the historical and external elements of Christianity
Focused on personal experience of the spirit

11. In my writing… Genres: Poetry, Essays, Sermons Major Themes:
Reliance on self
Redemption lies within the individual
Individual perceptions matter most
Importance of building your own
philosophy
Non-Conformity
Nature as ideal

12. From Nature (1836)
“…Let us demand our own works and laws and worship...”
“…Standing on the bare ground… all egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball. I am nothing. I see all.”
“In the woods is perpetual youth… In the woods we return to reason and faith…”

14. From “Self-Reliance” (1841)
“There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation in suicide…”
“What I must do is
all that concerns me,
not what people think…”
“…none but he knows what that is which he can do, not does he know until he has tried.”
“Trust thyself…”
“…to be great is to be misunderstood”

15. Henry David Thoreau
1817 – 1862
While at Harvard read Nature by Emerson and was greatly influenced by the work
After teaching for a few years and death of his brother, he decided to retire to a cabin owned by Emerson near Walden Pond
He kept a journal while in the woods and this became a basis for Walden
Focused on living deliberately in nature and the importance of the environment

16. In my writing… Genres: Books, Essays Themes
Relationship between man and nature
Relationship between divine and individual
(spiritual enlightenment)
3. Society’s limitations and restrictions on the
individual

17. “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation”
From Walden (1854)
“Our life is frittered away by detail…simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!”
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation”

18. From Civil Disobedience (1848)
“That government is best which governs least”
“If a government is maintaining unjust laws, people should at once effectually withdraw their support, both in person and property, from the government”