Transcendentalism In Literature Essay, Research Paper

Transcendentalism is the belief that affairs of ultimate world transcend, or

travel beyond, human experience. Transcendentalist believing began during the

American Renaissance with authors like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David

Thoreau. However nonnatural believing did non get down with Thoreau and Emerson,

but as Emerson called it, ? it is the really oldest of ideas cast into the

cast of these new times. ? Transcendentalism is based on the antediluvian doctrine

of Idealism, which originates with Plato, a well-known philosopher from antediluvian

Greece. Transcendentalism is an appropriate manner of believing for the period known

as the American Renaissance because it puts one into a province of head that is

more contributing to creative authorship and idea. Transcendentalism is a batch to

sup, particularly for many people of that clip. Herman Melville wholly

captured the common adult male? s reaction to the whole construct when he said, ? what

material all this is. ? It truly takes a trained head to hold on the construct of

this religious universe that Emerson describes. Many people do non believe in

things that they can non see, hear, touch, gustatory sensation, or odor, so the highly

abstract construct of transcendental philosophy is wholly out of their range. However,

for the people that can hold on this thought, it is really fulfilling.

Transcendentalism makes people experience nearer to God, in melody with nature, and

gives a individual a sense of dignity. A major facet of nonnatural thought

is the single rebelliousness against the constituted orders of society. Henry

David Thoreau conveys his feeling about this when he says ; ? That authorities is

best which governs non at all. ? He believes that the awkwardness of the

political leaders far out-weighs the sum of good that they could make. He besides

provinces that? They who have been bred in the school of political relations fail now and

ever to confront the facts. ? In this, he means that politicians ignore world

wh

en it does non function their intent. This is true for modern times as all can

see in the present political state of affairs of the United States. Politicians are

disregarding world to function their ain personal and partizan dockets. The

transcendentalists even went every bit far as to put up their ain communities, the most

famous of which, Brook Farm. Brook Farm, a autonomous, experimental

community, lasted merely six old ages, ( the longest of all the transcendental

communities ) , is where many celebrated writers of the American Renaissance call place

for a portion of their lives, and is even the scene for Nathaniel Hawthorne? s

Blithedale Romance. Hawthorne lived at the Farm for a small piece, but left

because he could non stand the extremely rational and religious conversation.

Brook Farm was a great mercantile establishment for these people to show their thoughts and

communicate with people who portion those same beliefs without the fright of

persecution by people that did non understand. The transcendentalist motion

can and frequently is compared to another celebrated motion in American history, the

? hippy? motion of the 1960ss. In many ways the? flower peoples? ? motion

paralleled the transcendentalists? , and the? flower peoples? even organize their ain

small communities, like Brook Farm, called communes. Both of these motions

were of import to assist form thought, authorship, and societal ideals. The

transcendentalist motion brings to the tabular array an increased consciousness of the

universe around oneself, with and a committedness to the religious facets in this,

and the? hippy? motion in the 1960ss gives Americans an increased

consciousness of their fellow adult male, with and accent on freedom and love. The

transcendentalist motion has many good facets to it that if applied today,

could still learn everyone a few things about themselves and their lives. Plato,

Emerson, Thoreau, and many others truly did hold a degree of intelligence that

transcended their coevalss and the coevalss and coevalss after them.