Transcendentalism

Transcendentalism:

1) Being SMART!
2) Abolish slavery and give women rights
3) Declare independence from England (and top their writers)
4) Romantics who adopted philosophies from other cultures
5) The "oversoul" (all peoples' souls connected)
6) Open-mindedness
7) All people = pure
8) God communicates through mind, intuition, and nature
9) Did NOT believe in Original Sin
10) Rejected gov't and organized religion


TASK ONE/TWO:

+--Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson--+

1) Story Review

In Nature, what I noticed to be most prominent was Emerson's constant depiction of nature reflecting pure man. His style is much easier to understand than, say, Thanatopsis or Of Plymouth Plantation, and his story very much so reminds me of Romantics. However, what separates Emerson from a Romantic is the fact that he mentions God less (and when so he describes him as being a part of nature) and stresses the importance of being connected to nature and the universe. These ideals, especially purity, remind me of certain Buddhist and other Asian and Indian culture beliefs: chi, the soul, meditation, and chakras. I mostly focused, however, on Emerson's use of nature mirroring man and how nature is good to us through childhood and adulthood. So far I am enjoying Transcendentalist belief because it connects to my own more so than the previous projects. I very much so love what he says about youth and infancy:

"The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood."

"The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood."

"In the woods, too, a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of life, is always a child. In the woods is perpetual youth."

Nature goes beyond "being in nature because it is good." Emerson talks about The Universe (as an entity, it seems) and the stars and our connection to them. He goes beyond your regular "nature"--the word that makes you think of trees and streams and happy little birds--and refers to the entire universe. What I'm curious about now, especially since Transcendentalists are so focused on being knowledgeable, is what a Transcendentalist would think of life beyond our planet (yes, aliens). If they even considered extraterrestrials, would they not feel that they were connected through the "oversoul"?


2) Proof of Transcendentalism

This piece of writing is a good example of Transcendentalism. In the introductory paragraph, I saw a few sentences that perfectly captured the ideas and thoughts behind Transcendentalism:

"Why should we not also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should we not have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs?"

This is pretty much the epitome of Transcendentalism belief. Rather than focus on the traditions of morals and religion (like the Puritans did), the Transcendentalists combined their original idea of pure, open-mindedness with the imaginative freedom of the Romanticists.


+--Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson--+

1) Story Review

What I first noticed about Self-Reliance was how it seems almost too good to be true in the way Emerson describes human nature. Yes, we can have all the good qualities he describes, but many people choose to be not quite so heroic and refuse the capability of being good or bettering oneself.

"And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not pinched in a corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but redeemers and benefactors, pious aspirants to be noble clay plastic under the Almighty effort, let us advance and advance on Chaos and the Dark..."

However, my observation was mostly positive. I do like this story, I just feel that Emerson wants everyone to feel the same way, and that is not possible. Not everyone will decide to be great. However, I do believe that everyone has the potential to be transcended into betterness with hard word.
On a separate note, I do like the way Emerson describes social pressures and societal rules. He seems to understand the way society can act negatively against individuals. He also mentions an interesting view on how society should work, which I liked.

"Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of everyone of its members."

"Society is a joint-stock company in which the members agree for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder."


2) Proof of Transcendentalism

Emerson touches many times on 'working hard to reap rewards'. In a Transcendentalist view, this means doing hard work (mentally or physically) is the only way to receive; or: only by self-reliance can you expect to gain what you initially desired. I think the main idea behind Transcendentalism is getting what you want by utilizing the power you have within you--and that everyone has the power to do anything using their minds.

"...That though the wide universe if full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till."

"It needs a divine man to exhibit any thing divine."

"A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what
he has said or done otherwise shall give him no peace."

On a last note, I noticed that Emerson also talks about how many people don't utilize this ability:

"We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents."


+--Resistance to Civil Government--+

1) Story Review

Thoreau appears to me a mix between a philosopher, an economist, and someone who uses too many metaphors. I found the story good, but slightly confusing from the way he clutters his sentences together. However, I got the point of the story. Thoreau is against all forms of government. Near the end, he seems to give in and say that at least a better form of government should exist, but in the beginning he feels strongly about abolishing it altogether. He has quite a complex view on why government should not exist, but I feel that this quote sums it up quite well:

“The government itself, which is only the mode in which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it.”

What I found interesting about the first half of the story is how Thoreau gradually goes from saying 'government is bad' to 'government controls the people'. It's as if he believes the government has a will of its own. I disagree with him in this respect because any system of government is created by people. I do believe that the government can represent the population it governs, but any Transcendentalist would likely disagree, especially Thoreau. To believe this would mean to believe that the government can become corrupt because the people can, and in a Transcendentalist mind, people aren't corrupt in the first place. It is very easy to me to see why Transcendentalists were so against any form of civil government.

“I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be once step toward obtaining it.”


2) Proof of Transcendentalism

Although it seems as though Thoreau is simply going off on an anti-government tangent, there are many Transcendentalist viewpoints in his writing. A resistance to government in the first place is a Transcendentalist idea: they would rather rely on their own minds than a bigger system of minds. If the minds of the people are good, then let them make choices rather than a system that decides for them.

“Can there not be a government in which majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience?”

[He questions the governmental authority to decide for people]“Why has every man a conscience, then?”

“The only obligation which I have a right to assume, is to do at any time what I think right...”

[Thoreau mentions his stay in prison, in which he meets a man he presumes innocent] “I asked him in my turn how he came here, presuming him to be an honest man, of course, and as the world goes, I believe he was.”

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TASK THREE:

+--Wilderness--+

I liked the video, mainly because I would personally enjoy going to live in the wilderness for a while (but not for as long as he did...). What I find most pleasing about being in nature (without distractions like my cell phone or iPod or anything) is the fact that I feel so much at peace. I find that it allows me to positively reflect on events in my life, when normally thinking of certain events would cause me distress or anxiety. Evidently, Proenneke feels the same way.
He mentions in the video that being in this wilderness allows him to test himself--see what's deep in his mind and contemplate the power he has to achieve things.

"In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life--no disgrace, no calamity (leaving me my eyes), which nature cannot repair."

"Yet it is certain that the power to produce this delight does not reside in nature, but in man, or in a harmony of both."

The entire time Proenneke is in the woods he is working. He adds to his home and collects/hunts for food. Proenneke practices a strong Transcendentalist belief here by completing pure, hard work in order to reap the rewards and get what he wants. These kinds of actions also remind me of a disengagement from civil government, because Proenneke is able to be free of any control except the natural intent of his own mind.

"The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried."

(I could not find a quote from Resistance to Civil Government that fit exactly what I was trying to say, so I took what I learned from the story and made my own.)

"In disconnecting with government, man has the free ability to concern himself with his own affairs--rather than the affairs of the State."