emotion supernatural atmosphere nature individual subjectivity transcendentalism gothic romanticism
TRANSCRIPT
TRANSCENDENTALISM
Emotion
Supernatural
Atmosphere
Nature
Individual
Subjectivity
Transcendentalism Gothic
Romanticism
American Transcendentalism began in the 1830’s and started to die down around 1860
Many of the Transcendentalists resided in Concord, Massachusetts
The Transcendental Club was formed in 1835 Members included Ralph Waldo Emerson and
Henry David Thoreau The Dial, a Transcendental magazine,
flourished from 1840-1844
Transcendentalists believed that through intuition the individual could go beyond everyday experiences and arrive at higher truths Placed emphasis on self-reliance Required deep faith in the individual
To Go Beyond
Transcendentalists wanted “to go beyond” the limitations of the senses and everyday experience
“I have never seen a man who was quite awake” (Thoreau). People do not see the roots of things or get to
the heart of the matter
How Do We Go Beyond Everyday Experience?
By depending on upon our intuition rather than reason and logic
What Happens When, by the Use of Intuition, We Go Beyond Everyday Human Experience?
People discover higher truths and insights
Emerson’s Ideas
Emerson was the leader of the Transcendentalists
He believed in intuition – the capacity to know things spontaneously and immediately rather than through our reasoning abilities
Emerson’s Ideas
God can be found in every aspect of nature God is good and
works through nature
Everyone is capable of understanding God through intuition
Nature is a reflection of the Divine Spirit
Emerson’s Ideas
Believed in an Over-Soul (Divine Soul) A large entity that
all individual humans were a part of
Everything in the physical world is a reflection of the Divine Soul
Emerson’s Ideas
His outlook was optimistic Everyone should
follow his own path Believed that God
is good
Characteristics of Transcendentalism
Everything in the world, including human beings, is a reflection of the Divine Soul
The physical facts of the natural world are a doorway to the spiritual or ideal world
People can use their intuition to behold God’s spirit revealed in nature or in their own souls
Self-reliance and individualism must outweigh external authority and blind conformity to custom and tradition
Spontaneous feelings and intuition are superior to deliberate intellectualism and rationality
Similarities between Puritanism and Transcendentalism
God could be experienced directly by each individual and did not need to be filtered through external authorities
Both valued self-reliance, industriousness, education, and simplicity
Differences between Puritanism and Transcendentalism
Puritans looked to the Bible for divine revelation; Transcendentalists looked to Nature
Puritans viewed mankind in two groups, the saved and the damned; Transcendentalists believed that all people were connected to a divine force
Born Bad or Good?
PuritansSinful Transcendentalis
ts
Good
Enlightenment
Blank Slate