Transcendentalism

-society bad bc it takes away individualism

-be who you are, for your pride

-take the parts of transcendentalism that you like, don’t take the parts you don’t

-ultimately YOU choose the path, and need to believe that path is right

Famous Transcendentalists

Bronson Alcott

-father of person who wrote Little Women

Henry David Thoreau

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Margaret Fuller

-in charge of The Dial (a transcendentalist magazine)

-big on feminism and women’s rights

Emerson Passages

1) from Nature

1. When you enter nature, you stop thinking about yourself and become one that can do naught but appreciate the beauty of nature. All details of society and human relations are insignificant when compared to the beauty of nature. Last sentence:

   “In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature.” Implying that man is innately good?

2. I agree with the passage. When I was in one of my worst places, I found freedom and peace in nature. I continue to find peace and comfort in stargazing, there is not a better time to think than when everyone else sleeps. To become completely involved with nature is to free yourself from the clutches of society and worry not about insignificant matters. You are brought back to your state of pure humanity and are not affected by the perverse expectations of society. Nature is the escape from society and is the true state of the world. It is powerful and beautiful and we should all fall down in reverence to her.

5) from Self-Reliance

1. Society takes away the freedom of the individual. People must conform and follow rigid rules in order to be accepted. To accept society is to relinquish your own dignity and individuality in the place of robotic customs and never experience the freedoms of the world.

The Over-soul

-”We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles.” big religious argument

-everything is connected together by their essence, not singular entities, this one connected being is the Oversoul

Henry David Thoreau

-influenced & taught by Ralph Waldo Emerson (Nature, Self-Reliance)

-Emerson was taught by William Ellery Channing (Unitarian minister)

Economy

“I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew as well. Unfortunately, I am confined to this theme by the narrowness of my experience.”

Where I Lived, and What I Lived For

-the politics and economic ideas of transcendentalism

1) According to Thoreau’s claims here, what is wrong with what “[m]en think”? What is it that “[m]en think,” according to Thoreau, and what should they think instead?

-Men think that we need to constantly advance in our materials and technology, causing us to work constantly and not leave room for thought.

2) How is Thoreau using the symbol of the railroad and the “sleepers” (the “sleepers” are literally railroad ties, but Thoreau is using the term symbolically as well)? What are the economic and political points he is trying to get us to see?

-the people that lay the foundation for our advancement are trodden upon: workers, immigrants, lower class people

-”if some have the pleasure of riding on a rail, others have the misfortune to be ridden upon” means that the people that do not do the work ride upon the rail without trouble, the people that lay the foundation and do the actual work are lower class and experience more misfortune.

-the fortunate people call out for advancements yet don’t do the work, while the people who cannot afford the fortune of the advancements do all of the work to advance society

-the American Dream is a goof opportunity at the cost of the workers

-railroad = industrialization (factories, accessible goods, new product), at the expense of poor working conditions & pay for the workers

3) How does he once again point out what humans do compared to what they should do? Why does he see this distinction as important?

-he points out that humans should be okay with being alone. being alone is not necessarily being lonely, and people should learn to entertain their own thoughts and (modernly) not constantly be doing something

-the distinction between loneliness and being alone is important because being alone is being physically distant from others, and being lonely is to be mentally distant

Transcendentalist Shortcomings using "Transcendental Wild Oats” & Rebecca Harding Davis

-Fruitlands = Brooke Farm

-impractical: transcendentalists do not live in the world, they just think deep thoughts and do nothing about them

-unrealistic attitudes accomplish nothing

-utopias fail

Rebecca Harding Davis:

-wrote about her experiences with transcendentalist philosophers (including Bronson Alcott)

Mr. Lion: represents Charles Lane

-founded for glory & prestige, less belief in the prinicples

-losing $, left the commune

-not ready to work & lacking practical understanding for the necessary work

Mr. Lamb: represents Bronson Alcott

-complete convert to the idea

-crushed by the failure

Sister Hope: represents Alcott’s mother

-lack of reality impacts other people