1. Was transcendentalism a religion?
I do not think transcendentalism was a religion. It seemed more like a new philosophical way of thinking disguised so that Ralph Waldo Emerson could voice his displeasure in the Mexican-American War and slavery. Apart from that, it was a new way of thinking regarding people and their individualism. It was a movement against the mass democracy in America by “arguing for greater individualism against conformity” A French aristocrat called it “tyranny of the majority” which went along with another transcendentalist. It proves that it is not a religion because it talks too much about politics and how a too large majority could potentially “overpower the will of individuals”. Religion is more of a set of rules to follow and an otherworldly over powerful figure of which to pray to and show their dedication to
…show more content…
They were not racist because they wanted equal rights and wanted blacks being equal to whites. They talked about the horrible conditions they were under and what they had to deal with but nothing that seemed like the slaves were in some way superior to the whites. It did seem like they were racist but I think that their want for immediate action on ending slavery rekindled that flame of racism. At the maximum, there were about 4.4 million slaves in the US, but the people in the north saw that as a huge threat because they were already fighting the free African American population for jobs. They saw it as a threat but a lot of those potential freed slaves would go north because they would not want a farm job, they would want factory jobs and take them from the white, mainly immigrant population of the north. The abolitionists were not racist because they were just telling the harsh reality of what slavery was and was trying to get sympathy by taking the planters and big slave owners of their high horse as the superior being in the South and in the US as a
In Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, Christopher McCandless gives up all his material possessions to seek fulfillment in the Alaskan Wilderness. In doing this, Chris is able to escape from his parents and live the life of many transcendentalists that he’s read about. As John Muir once said, “The mountains are calling and I must go.” Like John Muir, Chris has developed such a profound love for nature that he is called into the wild by it. Ultimately, Chris’s life decisions are a fascinating paradox that make him both a transcendentalist hero and a fool.
Transcendentalist believe in the natural man. One who is self-reliant, uncorrupted and one with nature. God is in everything but nothing in particular. "...that great nature in which we rest ... that Unity, that Over-Soul, within which every man's particular being is contained and made one with all other. . . . We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles. Meantime within man is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related; the eternal ONE." (Emerson, "The Over-Soul"). Becoming unified with nature and God. To not let the wrong doings of people in society affect you and live as if you are good and just. Always being aware of what is going on around you. Being as in tune with God and nature, as if you were listening to two teenage girls gossip. "Among democratic nations each generation is a new people."(Alexis de Tocqueville). Transcendentalism has survived because of close relationships with those around you and the teachings of ancestors who may or may not have been extremists. As children grow to be adults they have a tendency to learn and use the teachings/concepts they were raised by, implementing them into their children's lives."The order of nature contains supreme principles, either divine or intrinsic, and we will be wise to learn about them and find the means to conform to them." (Rawls, "Theory of Justice"). Seek to gain a knowledge an...
In the unit “The Spirit of Individualism” there are two parts, “Celebrations of the self” and “The Dark side of Individualism” with pieces that present very different perspectives on human nature. “The Dark side of Individualism” portrays human nature as greedy, confused, easily caught up in fame, and addicted to wealth and possessions. In “Celebrations of the Self”, human nature is viewed in a more positive light. The characteristics shown are self reliance, independence, wisdom and selflessness. “The Dark side of Individualism” pieces are written in a more macabre tone, whereas “Celebrations of the Self” pieces have a more positive and uplifting tone to them. The generalizations of human nature are different because of the pieces in “The Dark side of Individualism” and “Celebrations of the Self” have entirely different views on life and human nature.
Transcendentalism is a social, religious, and literary movement: a philosophy. Combining elements from the romantic period with eastern philosophical beliefs, it sought to fight against rationalism and conformism by inspiring individuals to look into their inner selves and embrace their own beliefs. One of the spearheads leading this movement was Ralph Waldo Emerson: an American writer and philosopher who sought to teach others what he himself had found. Transcendalists, such as Emerson, viewed society as a catalyst for downfall and instead believed that humans were inherently good and pure; embracing our inner feelings and emotions and ignoring expectations and conformity are essential to achieve happiness and fulfillment. Such ideas can
Transcendentalism was a religious movement that started in the late 1820s and 1830s. The main focus of transcendentalism was the perfection and goodness of a human being, nature, and the universe; it was also thought independence brought about the best in people. It was presumed that society was the cause of the corruption of purity in a person. Anti- Transcendentalism was a more realistic view of the world. They thought man was capable of evil as well as easily being deceived and their proneness to sin and self-destruction. Anti- Transcendentalists believed that making decisions solely on logic will create a negative effect in actions and thoughts.
The relative roles addressing abolitionists and slavery was that abolitionists pushed for the emancipation of slaves in america. The issue with this was that although advocates for the removal of slavery there were moderate slavery advocates and free soil advocates within the abolitionist community. Moderate slavery advocates wanted gradual emancipation which basically means that eventually all slaves in all states would be emancipated but not right away. The free soil abolitionists fought to restrict slavery in the states where it was legal and prevent expansion across the U.S. As you could imagine this contributed to the animosity that was already brewing between Northern and Southern states leading up to the Civil War.
The Late Middle Ages saw great theological discrepancies through the progression of Christian mysticism. The exploration into spiritual practices and the unification of the soul during this period led to great philosophical works. The Cloud of Unknowing and The Imitation of Christ are two noteworthy texts that discuss one’s aspiration to attain union with God. The Cloud of Unknowing is an anonymously authored spiritual exercise that accentuates movement toward the contemplative life by acknowledging what is unknown by man. In contrast, The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis is a spiritual guide which emphasizes that the way to be fully Christian is to live in the imitation of Jesus Christ. While many of the thoughts concerning human reason and withdrawal from the corporal world are similar in the texts, the two are inherently different as the account in The Imitation of Christ is more compelling due to its focus on a humanistic objective while acquiring union and salvation with God.
Transcendentalism was a philosophy that became influential during the 1800's. It was based on the belief that knowledge is not limited to and solely derived from experience and observation but from the truths seem through reason. In the United Sates, transcendentalism became both a philosophy and a literary, religious, and social movement. Emphasis was placed mainly on oneness with nature and God while making the possibility of social change a reality. Ralph Waldo Emerson was the leading American transcendentalist whose theories were a primary influence in transcendentalist thought and writing. Through the knowledge and direction of Ralph Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau also became leading scholars of their time by means of their influence on early American intellectual history and literature.
As far back as I can remember I have been raised in a Christian setting. Upon coming to Williams I knew I would be entering another world in which I would have to learn to view and accept other individuals inputs and values regardless of our differences. It is interesting to see the diversity of the campus religiously despite the predominance of certain ethnicities. Like Hegel, Schleiermacher, Nietzsche and Kierkegaard I actually have my own ideologies behind the concept of religion.
The novel Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, tells the true story of a young man named Chris McCandless who left his life, his family, and everything he ever had to go out into the Alaskan bush north of Mt.Mckinley in April 1992. Chris gave away all of his saving which was $25,000, renamed himself Alex Supertramp and was found decomposed, after the last person saw him, by four moose hunters on an abandoned bus called Bus 142(Krakauer 1). The question still remaining today is if Chris McCandless was a true transcendentalist and to know if Chris was a true transcendentalist you first have to know what the word means. Transcendentalism is an intellectual, aesthetic, and spiritual ferment(Harding 1). Chris McCandless is a true transcendentalist because of his drive to push hard at accomplishing things, his spiritual values, and his liking to being alone sometimes.
Modern literary works have in the past years the changed the way some of the writers and literature fans and enthusiasts change the way they view the world and the religious notions as a whole. In the past centuries, most of the individuals have held on strongly to certain believes and myths. As a result, most of their actions and life was defined by these myths and beliefs. In the 20th century, however, some of these beliefs have been shaken up by literary works. Ideas and thoughts brought forward by writers have changed the way some individuals think and view the world, leading to loss in transcendental certitude. Transcendental certitude usually is a belief in something that cannot be topped. Most of the individuals around d the world have
The principals of ethics provides society with the moral basis for decisions making and it changes throughout history as it reflects the knowledge and beliefs of the world at one particular time (Begley, 2009). Today, a new branch of moral philosophy has been developed with a more predominant regarded and value for science, fact and reasoning, placing more emphasis on evidence based practice in modern society (Begley, 2009). This moral philosophy is based on principals of logic and reason, a dramatic contrast to past philosophies, which were influenced deeply by spiritual and religious models. This new branch of philosophy is known as secular ethics. Secular ethics was established through the influences of both science and philosophy (Begley,
Immanuel Kant analyzes metaphysics and claims that the validity of it depends on the foundation of the theory. He attempts to strengthen the foundation of metaphysics to help people accept it as an explanation of the universe. Metaphysics is the sector of philosophy that deals with general concepts such as knowing, being and existence of substances, (OED, n. 1.d). Kant’s theory of knowledge is based on transcendental idealism. This form of idealism is a system of thought that claims objects of knowledge to be dependent on how we perceive them in our minds. Kant stresses that things are the way that they appear to us when we perceive them, which is opposed to the idea that we perceive things being in themselves. Transcendental idealism is opposed to the theory of transcendental realism, a concept adopted by rationalists and empiricists. Transcendental realism is the failure of to see the distinction between things appearances and things in themselves. Kant claims that humans cannot see things in themselves due to the cognitive limitations that they have, (Grier). Using his theory of transcendental idealism, he proves transcendental realism wrong. Kant’s ‘Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics’ constitutes his theory of knowledge, while disproving any scepticism caused by Hume, by claiming that knowledge of objects are independently determined by how they are perceived by us.
Transcendence is what we are working towards when we use noble love as a metaphor for communication. When transcendence is achieved we are able to look past our own personal experiences and focus on a new experience all together, one that is formed from our old experiences and will be completely different. It might help to think of our past experiences as scenes from a movie. All of them could stand on their own but we do not get the full picture. The only way we can get the full picture is when we combined all the scenes, past experiences, together. When we do this a new experience all together is formed. Shepard explains how communication can be used to allow us to transcend ourselves and get to a place where we can connect with others and
“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.” According to Buddha, everyone needs some form of spirituality to define his or her life and existence. Webster Dictionary defines spiritualism as “a system of beliefs or religious practices based on supposed communication with the spirits of the dead, often times through mediums.” Though this is one general definition of spiritualism, this concept is one that does not hold a conclusive meaning. Each and every single person has the ability and right to create and practice their own idea of spiritualism. From ancient times to present day, the term and practice of spirituality has transformed, particularly from region to region. Despite the discrepancies in practices and overall understanding of this idea, spirituality has had an effect and impact upon all of humanity since the creation of time. This religion that is believed to have been established in the early eighteen hundreds, after two little girls claimed to have the ability to talk to spirits, sparked interest in this spiritual movement, allowing it to spread rather rapidly over many geographical locations. Aside from being recognized as a religion, spiritualism is also believed to be a form of philosophy and a science in which spiritualists believe that there is life after death and try to demonstrate this through the ability of attempting to communicate with those that have passed on. Spiritualism was socially different from other religions in existence at the time because it presented followers with a more tolerant belief system that assimilated the principles and facts from a selection the world's religions. Spiritualism also made it acceptable for women to play a disti...