Transcendentalism- How Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government" Relates to Phillip Berrigan's Beliefs about Individualism

Transcendentalism, a philosophy based on principles that reality is to be discovered by the study of the thought processes, or a philosophy emphasizing the intuitive and spiritual above the empirical. Society has taken this philosophy and has implemented it as part of the daily lives of its people. Transcendentalism makes its connection to society and real life in many ways. The “Resistance to Civil Government” by Thoreau embodies what transcendentalists believed. Throughout time there have been more people like Thoreau who believed in Transcendentalism. For example, Phillip Berrigan who’s dying words were “I die with the conviction, held since 1968 and Catonsville, that nuclear weapons are the scourge of the earth; to mine for them, manufacture them, deploy them, use them, is a curse against God, the human family, and the earth itself.” Thoreau’s piece relates to Phillips Berrigan’s Quote because they both represent the fact of individualism and to not abide by what the government says.

Resistance to civil government can represent how individualism affects not only the people escaping from the human norms of society but also those who control them. The Human Norm’s of society are to go through life and to listen to whatever your government says. All with the purpose of trying to prevent chaos which would result in the down fall of civilized society. The government is a crucial factor in every To a certain extent it is allowable but at the risk of its own society or people being unable to explore the truths of what they believe is a costly consequence. A man should be allowed to resist his own government if he truly believes what is being done is wrong and therefore not agreeing with his own perception on how life works. This...

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... “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” How we decide to represent ourselves to others when we need them and how they perceive us determines how they will further shape our future. People sometimes believe that it is okay to do whatever anyone else is doing the saying goes “If everyone else is doing it…” This concept is usually reflected on the negative side such as with drugs and alcohol but can also be showed on a positive or in everyday life. If everyone else is paying taxes then why shouldn’t I, it connects to the quote but people don’t think that it affects with the quote because it is not used in a negative light. Transcendentalism finds its way to modern day society with it being something that people just see occurring everyday and there are something’s that people cannot do anything about but there are those who seek justification and reason.