1. transcendentalism

3. Why/How did it begin?
Like Romanticism, it was a reaction to Age of Reason and industrialization/rise of cities in America
Came from variety of sources, like Hindu texts, various religious ideas, and German idealism
Still a time period in which thinking people wondered if there would ever be a great American writer (like England’s Shakespeare)

4. Transcendentalism – Background
“transcendental” comes from German philosopher Immanuel Kant
The idea that one must go beyond basic, physical human experience (the everyday) to discover truth
Intuition (gut feelings, instincts) are important as part of this process of discovery
Idealism – belief in human perfectibility

5. Transcendentalism – basic beliefs
Nature = God
Language and lessons of nature bring us closer to the divine
God is everywhere
No need for religion or churches
Man = divine
We are God or particles of God
We know morality
We don’t need books or society to tell us what is right/wrong
Society = corruption
Intuition/natural instincts help us do the right thing
Born pure, but conformity to society’s ideals make us artificial beings

6. Transcendentalism – basic beliefs
Materialism = bad
Money is evil – causes us to place artificial value on objects and people
Technology = bad
Causes more problems
Ends up running our lives
Emphasis on here and now
The past doesn’t matter
Knowledge gained from experience, not from studying history

7. Transcendentalist writers
Emerson
Thoreau
Born in 1817
Harvard grad as well
Spent time on Emerson’s land, built cabin on Walden Pond
Lived here for 2 years and 2 months to read and write
Gave lectures about experience at Walden
Jailed for not paying polling tax (didn’t want to fund war) – here he wrote “Resistance to Civil Government”
Inspired Gandhi, MLK, Jr., and others
Born in 1803 – son of a Unitarian minister
Went to Harvard Divinity School
Ordained as a minister of the Second Church in Boston
Gave lectures, mostly in MA – captivating speaker
Nature and essay, “Self-Reliance”