Transcendentalism

Transcendentalism . . .

is “a loose collection of eclectic ideas about literature, philosophy, religion, social reform, and the general state of American culture”. flourished in Concord and Boston during the 19th Century.had a dramatic and lasting impact on American literature and culture.

Major Tenets

The individual is important, inherently good, and has free will.Conscience, intuition, and morality are present at birth.“Truth” about the universe and mankind’s place in it lies beyond our physical senses. Individuals must use their intuition to “transcend” sensory knowledge to perceive this truth.

Basic Belief System

self-reliance

self-discipline

individuality

simplicity

Transcendentalism's Influence Then & Now

Abolition (Anti-Slavery Movement)Utopianism (Creation of a perfect society)Women’s Suffrage and Equal RightsEnvironmentalismCivil Rights Movement (Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.)American Literature (Emily Dickinson and F. Scott Fitzgerald)

Major Transcendentalists

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Henry David Thoreau

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

“It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion: it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is one in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the integrity of the soul.” – Self-Reliance

Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps he hears a different drummer.” – Walden