1. American Transcendentalism

2. The Transcendentalists: True Reality is Spiritual
These people believed that to find the truth about God, the universe, and one’s self, one must transcend, or go beyond, the everyday experiences of the physical world.

3. Idealism  Transcendentalism
Greek philosophy of idealism was at the root of Transcendentalism
Idealists said that true reality was found in ideas, not in the imperfect physical world.
They sought the pure reality – the “ideal” that was beneath physical appearances.
American Transcendentalists were idealists in a more practical sense.
They believed that humanity could be perfected, and they worked to make this idea a reality.

4. A Transcendental View of the World
Everything, including people, is a reflection of the divine.
The physical world is a doorway to the spiritual world.
People can use intuition to sense God in nature or in their own souls.
A person is his or her own best authority.
Feeling and intuition are superior to reason and intellect.

5. TWO FAMOUS AMERICAN TRANSCENTENTALISTS
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Most influential Transcendentalist
Mentor to Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau
Influenced Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Transcendentalism Clip