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Age Of Reason Vs Transcendentalism Essay

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The Age of Reason and Transcendentalism are two influential philosophical movements that emerged during the 18th and 19th centuries respectively. While the Age of Reason emphasizes the use of reason and rationality to understand the world, Transcendentalism stresses the importance of intuition and spiritual understanding. In a democracy, it is essential for citizens to have a well-rounded understanding of the world, and to be able to think critically and independently. In this essay, I will argue that by combining the best aspects of both the Age of Reason and Transcendentalism, one can become a truly worthy citizen of a democracy. The Age of Reason teaches us the importance of using reason and logic to make informed decisions. In a democracy, …show more content…

Democracy is not just about making rational decisions, it's also about understanding the needs of others and empathizing with them. Transcendentalism encourages individuals to look beyond the surface level and connect with the essence of things. This kind of understanding is crucial for a democracy to function effectively, as it allows citizens to connect with one another and understand the perspectives of their fellow citizens. When both the Age of Reason and Transcendentalism are integrated, the result is a citizen who has the ability to think critically and independently, while also being able to understand and empathize with others. The combination of reason and intuition allows for a well-rounded understanding of the world and others, which is essential for a healthy democracy. In a democracy, citizens are not just decision-makers, but also responsible for creating a fair and just society for all. It can be argued that too much focus on intuition and spiritual understanding can lead to irrational decision making. This can result in neglecting important facts and reason when making important decisions, which can be detrimental to a democratic

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The Importance of Rationality At often times one may believe that making decisions should be predominantly based upon what one may feel or desire, though in reality such process frequently results in negative consequences, thus why in the process of making decisions, love should not overtake rationality. When love is prioritized in decision making, it tends to cause thoughts that typically won’t better the situation for those who are involved, while rationality would instead provide the proper reasoning to create a suitable outcome. In the process of making decisions, love should not overtake rationality.

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Transcendentalism is commonly seen everywhere. It can be seen in pieces of literature, in plays like The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail, and even in speeches from famous leaders like “ A Time for Choosing” by Ronald Reagan. Transcendentalism is a different way of thinking in which you focus on yourself rather than society. As a transcendentalist, you focus on simplifying your life, being confident in yourself, and not conforming or listening to society. You focus on the importance of nature and believe in a higher power.

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Today, there is a very interesting situation that is happening, where people are questioning the value of past ideas and political systems, but also the mechanisms that they use to bring about the political goals that these systems claim to promote. In the case of democracy, people are not only questioning if democracy can really make all citizens politically equal, meaning that each person has one vote, freedom of speech, and the right to determine their own lives within the bounds of the law. But people are also questioning whether democracy requires rational deliberation at all. This makes sense with not only the amount of people today who refuse to participate in it due to their own biases and often ignorance, but also how much seems to

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Consequently, the concept of deliberative democracy is too absolute to be able to aid the concerns and issues of all; this leaves room for deliberative democracy not to be a means of representation to all

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The Enlightenment was a period of time that stressed the importance of reason and individual ideas. Many philosophers published works criticizing a country’s monarch or divulging the flaws they saw in a system within the government, such as the justice system. The Enlightenment also stressed the importance of education, and as a result of this, literacy rates experienced a major upward trend. Now able to read the philosopher’s works, a larger sum of people now were educated on the corruptions within their government. This caused a questioning of traditional practices, and people began to believe they could revise their government.

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A transcendentalist society seems like it would be perfect in this world. With all the hatred and judgment in the world, it seems like a transcendentalist society would help people throughout the world. Though the goal of a transcendentalist society might be impossible in today’s world. People for the most part have free will, so one cannot force another to be accepting and do not judge people. Also, the outside world and media are both very judgmental, and would have a great effect on how people feel about others.

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The values of individuality, the mind, and nature are a few transcendental ideals I can side with. Transcendentalism is more about spirituality than it is about material items and services. I am certain that if I could live any lifestyle in the world, it would be a transcendentalist

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People consider Emerson the “father of Transcendentalism”. He believed that man would thrive if he trusted himself. Man was inherently good and could do no wrong. In Emerson’s “Nature”, a work about Emerson’s view on nature, he writes: “We must trust the perfection of the creation so far, as to believe that whatever curiosity the order of things has awakened in our minds, the order of things can satisfy” (Emerson Par 2). Man did not need to rely on society, or entangle himself in the patterns of the world; man’s intuition would be enough for his success.

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Transcendentalism is the belief that man is inherently good, is an independent thinker, and goes out into nature to get in touch with himself. Generally, man has good intentions and intends no harm unto others. In addition, man does not need society to give him and develop his thoughts, as he already has them within. To help bring out these already installed beliefs, man has the desire to go out into nature to get in touch with himself and find deeper notions within. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s writings “Self Reliance” and “American Scholar”, he writes about how being a true individual means that one must have his own beliefs, and not copy someone else’s ideas.

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On the other hand, democracy struggle to make quick decisions, their desire is to prevent and intervene fast, but it is difficult to accomplish this while trying to keep making decisions fairly. Democracy debates the moral choices of the policing, and the dilemma between the two in endless. This debate has been an issue since the twenty-first century where England started debating whether police agencies did not elected their commissioners.

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Transcendentalism, a philosophical and social movement, demonstrated how divinity spreads through all nature and humanity. One of the main ideals of transcendentalism, living simply and independently, define as the principle. In matters of financial and interpersonal relations, independence projects as more valuable than neediness. Henry david Thoreau elaborates on these transcendentalist ideals when he travels into the woods and writes an essay.

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