During the 1830s, an intellectual movement took place called Transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is the idea that an individual is the center of the universe and is more powerful than any institution. This way of thinking was very new to the people during that time. Even though the movement took place well over one hundred years ago, traits of Transcendentalism are still abundant in society today. For example, the movie Wall-E contains many traits of Transcendentalism.
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.
“You think that I am stubborn, but you are even more stubborn than me. You had a wonderful chance on your drive back to see one of the greatest sights on earth, the Grand Canyon….. fail to discover all the wonderful things that God has placed around us to discover. Don't settle down and sit in one place. Move around, be nomadic, make each day a new horizon.” (57) Transcendentalism is built off of Christianity, the biggest call to being a Christian is to teach, spreading the word of God.
Transcendentalism is a highly competitive world of the market revolution which strongly encouraged the identification of American freedom without any restraints on people who were seeking financial improvement and personal development. It was a world in which regional developments along with the market revolution crushed traditional and social borders. For example moving from one place to another was a common characteristic of the American life. Transcendentalism believed in individual judgment over existing social traditions and institutions.
The philosophical idea of Transcendentalism
Transcendentalism is the idea of striving to live a life of independence, simplicity, and coherence with nature. An element of transcendentalism is having the euphoria of one life over society. A modern example of a song that supports transcendentalism is “Try” by Colbie Caillat. Transcendentalism is when someone does not meet society’s expectations and they are their own individuals. This song relates to transcendentalism because the singer, Colbie Caillat is singing about how women do not have to change so much to meet society standards of beauty.
The key to transcendentalism is confidence in a person’s own beliefs, but one more could be
Transcendentalism is a term used to describe people who don’t comply to societal norms, and do what they please, instead of what’s expected.
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”- Henry David Thoreau. Transcendentalism is an American philosophy that revolves around self-reliance and independence, commonly in nature, a Transcendentalist wants to find the true meaning in life. I believe that Chris McCandless was a Transcendentalist because he was able to leave his whole life behind and take on a minimalist lifestyle while having a strong relationship with god. However, I believe that I am not a Transcendentalist, but simply an adventurer.
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.
Transcendentalism is one of the most influential fundamentals of man-kind. Transcendentalism is the enjoyment of nature, surpassing yourself to find a greater purpose, and connecting with the Oversoul. In the movie Dead Poet’s Society, one of the professors believed education was meant for teaching people to think for themselves; he believed that if you can’t think for yourself, then you’re not truly living your life, you’re living someone else’s. The man in question was English Professor John Keating. Keating was a true free thinker, he pushed his students to think for themselves.
After the American Revolution people were inspired to create their own identity separate from England, some people wanted something different from the traditional Age of Reason. Transcendentalism is a branch of Romanticism that began in Germany, it’s beliefs are separated into three topics nature, individualism, and optimism. They believed nature is where one could reach the highest level of spirituality. Individualism is where they believed in nonconforming and rejecting society’s beliefs. Lastly optimism where beliefs that people are naturally good and they were convinced of the essential goodness of life.
Transcendentalism was a religious movement popular in New England. The transcendentalist movement was
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.
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.
