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Examples Of Transcendentalism In Society

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Transcendentalism in Society Emerson, the great Transcendentalist author, once wrote,”There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion [...]”(“Self- Reliance”). Transcendentalism was a literary movement, where simple ideas such as equality, self-knowledge and individuality, and learning from nature became a quiddity of life. They believed that knowledge came from intuition and imagination rather than logic and reasoning. This movement gained many followers, so the Transcendentalists Club was formed. Many well known thinkers and writers were in the club: Ralph Waldo Emerson, the club’s leader, Margaret Fuller, …show more content…

Since nearly all transcendentalists were writers, there are many of their works still read and analyzed today. As Woodlief stated, “Many writers were and still are inspired and taught by Emerson and Thoreau in particular, and struck out in new directions because of the literary and philosophical lessons they had learned”(“Literary Legacy”). Therefore Transcendentalism was and is used as an inspiration in people’s writings. Many people may use ideas from this literary movement to express individualism, nonconformity, and self-realization. According to “Transcendentalism: Impact on American Literature,” “The Transcendentalists, particularly Emerson, perpetuated the idea that writers are seers. It's the writer's duty to see the world clearly, to summon the world to life.[...] Literature was a platform to liberate people, to help them see what needs to be seen: nature, spirituality, self-identity, and social injustice” (“Transcendentalism: Impact on American Literature”). Writers who write as seers are expressing ideas that are based on Transcendentalism. Most writers today, write to express the effects of nonconformity, individualism, nature and even social injustice, in society. Hence, Transcendentalism has played a role in the literature that is still around

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Transcendentalism is a major romantic movement during the 19th century. It was a period of romance where people learned to love themselves. The poem Self-Reliance, is by Ralph Waldo Emerson. In this excerpt, he emphasizes the traits of being a transcendentalist. The selection Tia Chucha, is by Luis Rodriguez.

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It also revived the emotional side of religion which led to Transcendentalism. This was a philosophical and literary movement in response to rationalism and the enlightenment. It was centered around Ralph Waldo Emerson. Transcendentalists were critics of own society. They thought that society corrupted the purity of an individual.

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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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Everyone has their own set of views of the world. However, sometimes these are not individual views; instead, they are imposed upon people who are forced to accept them. Opinions like these are against the transcendental point of view. Transcendentalist finds the importance of finding one's own truth or judgments despite it possibly being in the minority. There have been many famous transcendentalist writers, such as Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, who have written many essays, and books about their views and opinions.

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Transcendentalism is a philosophy focusing on idealism; these beliefs look to material objects holding the truth rather than ideas about them. One can describe the idea of carpe diem as a profound focal point in the movie Dead Poets Society and many transcendental concepts. In the film, a group of boys come together and take a liking to Mr. Keating, a teacher that expresses the saying “seize the day” and its importance. The result is the adolescents’ decision to make the best of their possibilities and take chances. Any actions looking at the motto “seize the day” as an exemplar, and following Mr. Keating, yield a positive reaction; adhering to these actions, one can acquire a maturation of character.

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183 Words | 1 Pages

The Transcendentalism movement was a time where people wanted to be free of rules out in nature and just be an individual. The two men who led this movement were, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. In today’s society Transcendentalism isn’t seen abundantly throughout the average city. Emerson and Thoreau did not like the government and wanted to be free of its laws and regulations, but they loved nature and individualism and they wanted everyone to be “one” with nature while being their true self. In modern society today that can be tough.

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Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are two well known transcendentalist authors who significantly

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Transcendentalism was a philosophical and literary movement that emerged in the United States during the mid-19th century. It was a reaction against the prevailing intellectual and cultural climate of the time, which was dominated by rationalism, empiricism, and materialism. Transcendentalists believed in the inherent goodness of humanity and nature, the power of individualism, and the importance of spiritual and moral values. One of the key figures of transcendentalism was Ralph Waldo Emerson, who played a significant role in shaping the movement's philosophy and ideas.

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“Transcendentalism is the belief that some truths transcend proof reflected both a reaction to growing American materialism and a confidence in humankind that led to social experiments and reform movements and continued to influence social movements through the twentieth century” ("Transcendental Movement Arises in New England"). In the early to mid-nineteenth century, a philosophical movement known as Transcendentalism expanded in America and evolved into a predominantly literary expression. “Adherents to Transcendentalism believed that knowledge could be arrived at not just through the senses, but through intuition and contemplation of the internal spirit” (Rahn). The beginning of the movement can be accurately traced to 1836 and the first

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Transcendentalists were a movement of this time that had both its ups and downs. In other words failure and successes. When it comes to reform movements the things most people really care about is the success of it and if it made any real change to people during the time period. Transcendentalism had an effect on people of the time that really started something completely unheard of and misunderstood. What transcendentalists did was take what was known and look far beyond it.

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Transcendentalism in the 21st Century Now Ralph Waldo Emerson created this philosophy that he called transcendentalism over 150 years ago. There are many ways people can represent these ideals of transcendentalism such as being a nonconformist, rebelling against things that contradict one’s opinion, living a simple life, appreciating nature, accepting the circumstances in life, searching for the meaning of life independently, and standing up for personal beliefs. Now with technology sweeping nations all over, some people might argue that these ideals are not valued anymore while others disagree. In small ways, all over the world, people are doing simple things that pertain to the transcendentalism philosophy.

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Ever since its creation, the United States of America has given people the opportunity to speak and practice their own philosophies and religion. As a prime example, transcendentalism is a philosophical and literary movement that gained followers during 1836-1860 that encouraged social reform, self-transformation, and people to rise above their immediate experiences. Developed by Ralph Waldo Emerson and lived by Henry David Thoreau, the essence of transcendentalism was to live life with simplicity and to elevate intuition and imagination over logical reasoning. However in today’s society, true transcendentalism is irrelevant and cannot be practiced.

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Transcendentalism increased in popularity during the 19th century with the help of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Emerson and Thoreau had both grown up in Massachusetts which contributed to them having similar ideas on the individual's self. Another reason for their similarities in their ideas was that Emerson had been a role model for Thoreau growing up. Transcendentalism was more than a philosophical and social movement, but as well as a religion. Both Emerson and Thoreau described how to use nature in order to become closer with God.

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Transcendentalist is a philosophy that was started in the early 19th century. Walt Whitman, Ralph Emerson, and David Thoreau are some of the more popular writers of this movement. Emily Dickinson was born during the middle of this movement. Many people call her a transcendentalist writer. Others think that since Dickinson was influence by some of the writers of this time period, the ideas of transcendentalism just reflected in her own work.

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Transcendentalism developed mainly during 1820s to 1840s and as a protest to the liberal New England Congregationalists. Transcendentalists believed in inheriting goodness of both man and nature, and its definition is “The view that the basic truths of the universe lie beyond the knowledge we obtain from our senses, reason, logic, or laws of science. We learn these truths through our intuition, our ‘Divine Intellect’” (“Transcendentalism” para 1). However, transcendentalists criticized Harvard University for emphasizing intellectualism and Unitarian church teaching at Harvard Divinity School. Transcendentalists thought that formulating religion and political parties were depraving the purity of the individual (“Thoreau and Emerson” para 3), which caused disrespect toward other races, especially African Americans.

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