The second major influence on scholars, Emerson claims, is the past. The history of ideas, the development of science, the influence of philosophy -- these are the forces that shape one's thinking about thought. However, Emerson claims there is a difference between thinking, and reading with a mind to accept someone else's thought at full value. In the essay "Self-Reliance" he clarifies this thought when he writes that "To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, -- that is genius" (Essays, 31) . This idea is closely linked to the earlier discussion of nature, in that the past serves to inform, but nature itself serves to inspire. Why should Americans take their thought second-hand from the European continent or elsewhere, when they have as ready access to the stuff of nature as any other people, Emerson asked. This is not to say that scholars should reject study of the past; as Thoreau writes in Walden, "We might as well omit to study Nature because she is old." (Chapter III). It is just to point out that history shapes the scholar but it should not bind him or her.
Finally, Emerson claims that the scholar ought to be influenced by experience. Here he presupposes an influence of practical experience on theoretical knowledge. He says in the speech that "the final value of action, like that of books, and better than books, is, that it is a resource." Emerson has in mind a kind of active intellectual who lives in the world and is aware of what the farmer down the road and the politician at the statehouse are doing. He doesn't believe that scholars ought to isolate themselves from the daily existence of the people they represent, but should be involved in their communities and understand the ways of living displayed by the people. This doesn't mean they should follow the crowd, however. But they should let living in the world inform their views and beliefs. Here again, Thoreau proved a worthy student, as he went to jail to avoid paying taxes which he believed supported the Mexican-American...
Transcendentalism The Perversion of the American Dream The oracle of transcendentalism, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and his acetic companion and one-time roommate Henry David Thoreau (that's correct, when Thoreau got tired of sleeping in the forest, he moved in with Emerson and his family for a few weeks) both had a lot to say about man, nature, the nature of man, and the communion between nature and man, which if properly exploited can
American Cultural History And Cult of Matthias There had been many changes occurs in terms of the progress of the economy, population and intellectual abilities during the 18th century and these could be considered as the possible reasons for the evolution of a fresh thinking in all the various spheres of life, and this pertains to religion as well. This was in complete a need for change and a great desire
Writers such as Poe, Herman Melville, and Nathaniel Hawthorne became known as the key figures in the Dark Romantic sub-genre that emerged out of Transcendentalism. American literature also found its voice through poetry during the 19th century, particularly in the works of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. The two poets produced remarkably dissimilar bodies of work. Whitman rose to prominence during the American Civil War with his free verse extolling
Consistent with Emerson and Fuller's beliefs regarding transcendentalism, Justice Holmes' emphasis was on the achievement of a higher level of knowledge, wherein he explicated on the importance of transcendentalist belief when interpreting and understanding the rudiments of law. In "Common Law," he argued that understanding the law would entail the avoidance of "two errors" by the "writer and reader" (of law): "One is that of supposing, because an idea seems
This gave everyone motivation to let themselves be heard and say whatever it was that was on their mind. This was what American life at the time was all about, and it was through American Literature that they were able to do so. Transcendentalism brought upon a literary era that encouraged the succeeding eras of literature to define American Literature. Realism was a literary period in American history that came
Faulkner's attitude on race relations at the outset of the civil rights movement in the south is best expressed in one of his lesser works, Intruder in the Dust. The main theme in this book is a simple one: an old black man, Lucas Beauchamp, known for his temper is accused of murdering a white man by the name of Vinson Gowrie in the South, and his friends must prove
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