Ralph Waldo Emerson

Jocilyn Pak Background: y His father, William Emerson, distinguished minister of First Church, Boston, had drawn his congregation with him into Unitarianism y Began his career as a Unitarian (God is only one person) minister o Decided to leave the church because he could not serve communion knowing that the members construed the meaning of the rite differently than he did y Emerson considered his ideas consistent with the teachings of Jesus. Brook Farm: y A utopian society by the Transcendentalist Unitarians to be the city of god, anew y Brook Farm influenced many of the social reform movements of its day: abolitionism, the workingmen's movement, and the women's rights movement. o There were many movements for change (e.g. transcendentalism, women's role in society, the utopian Brook Farm community) o Declared itself a Fourier Phalanx y Emerson was not enticed enough to join Brook Farm; however, he visited often and wished them well "Fourierism and Socialists": y Fourierism: philosophy of social reform developed by the French social theorist Charles Fourier, who advocated the transformation of society into self sufficient, independent phalanges o Fourier believed that the cause of conflict and suffering was the perversion of natural human goodness by faulty social organization.  The result was to create a situation where "Attractive Industry" would contribute to the rise of social harmony and unimaginable bliss- producer and consumer cooperative Transcendentalism: y By German Philosopher Emanuel Kant- he used the word transcendental to refer to intuitive or innate knowledge- knowledge which is a priori (known or assumed without reference to experience) rather than a posteriori (reasoning observed from facts or events back to their causes) y Transcendentalists called for the moral reform of the individual o Generally asserted that reforms of society must begin within the individual conscience, but also realized that the institution of slavery called for immediate action y Emerson emphasized individualistic ideals y Believed that every human being has inborn knowledge (conscience or intuition) that enables him to recognize and understand truth without relying on information gained through education, living, etc. y Self Reliance : in the essay, Emerson brings up the issue of self reliance and claims that mankind is somewhat of a coward because people never express themselves o Emerson claims that humans are afraid to fail; and they are pleased if successful, but are never happy with where and what they are expresses his transcendentalist ideals by saying that a true person would be a non-conformist o For Emerson the self and self-reliance is the way to knowing the source of all creation, divine perfection or the Over-soul."

To be self-reliant, in Emersonian terms, was to listen to and heed the still, small voice of God within. Therefore, self-reliance also meant to him self-mastery, especially of the passions and temper. He regarded the true self, or the ideal self, as innately capable of a natural experience of and knowledge of the Divine, present in all creation. o To be great, is to be misunderstood y Nature : nature is a divine entity known to us in our free innocence, rather than as merely a component of a world ruled by a divine, separate being learned by us through passed-on teachings in our experience." o Living in accordance with nature and a perpetual striving toward cultivation of character were other common attitudes Anti Slavery Movement y Spoke out strongly in defense of Elijah Lovejoy, lynched for his anti-slavery publications, and later defended the abolitionist radical John Brown. He delivered his first public antislavery address in 1844, a commemoration of the British emancipation of the slaves in the West Indies. o "This is a law which every one of you will break on the earliest occasion; a law which no man can obey or abet without loss of his self-respect and forfeiture of the name of gentleman." "Do the duty of the hour," he wrote. "Just now the supreme public duty of all thinking men is to assert freedom. Go where it is threatened and say, 'I am for it and do not wish to live in the world a moment longer than it exists. y The Fugitive Slave Clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article 4, Section 3, Note: Superseded by the Thirteenth Amendment) guaranteed the right of a slaveholder to recover an escaped slave. o Furthermore, the slave catching industry grew as a result of this law, returning many slaves to their former owners. This made it more difficult for African Americans whether free or runaways, as slave catchers went after freed blacks too. There were numerous instances in which people who were legally free and had never been slaves were captured and brought south to be sold into slavery.  Emerson was outraged by the Fugitive Slave Law & wrote journals and letters y Example : And this filthy enactment was made in the 19th Century, by people who could read & write, I will not obey it, By God y 1851: delivered a speech on the Fugitive Slave Law and openly advocated breaking the law on the grounds that an immoral law carried no authority (similar to Civil Disobedience by Thoreau) o "An immoral law makes it a man's duty to break it, at every hazard: For virtue is the very self of every man. 'It is therefore a principle of law that an immoral contract is void, and that an immoral statute is void. . . ." The [Fugitive Slave Law] is a statute which enacts the crime of kidnappings crime on one footing with arson and murder. A man's right to liberty is as inalienable as his right to life. . . . o "By the law of Congress March 2, 1807, it is piracy and murder, punishable with death, to enslave a man on the coast of Africa. 'By law of Congress September, 1850, it is a high crime and misdemeanor, punishable with fine and imprisonment, to resist the reenslaving a man on the coast of America. : . . What kind of legislation is this? What kind of Constitution which covers it? . . . o "I suppose the Union can be left to take care of itself. . . . But one thing appears certain to me, that, as soon as the Constitution ordains an immoral law, it ordains disunion. The law is suicidal, and cannot be obeyed. The Union is at an end as soon as an immoral law is enacted. And he who writes a crime into the statute-book digs under the foundations of the Capitol to plant there a powder-magazine, and lays a train." 

"Be a man," he said. "Wherever a man comes, there comes revolution. The old is for slaves. . . Refuse the good models. . . Cast conformity behind you, and acquaint men at first hand with Deity." y "Self-reliance, the height and perfection of man, is self-reliance on God." He preached the God within, not the God of authority and tradition."It is by following other men's opinions that we are misled and depraved." Materialism: y Emerson and Thoreau shared similar thoughts upon many things, such as Materialism o Thoreau considered the ownership of material possessions beyond the basic necessities of life to be an obstacle, rather than an advantage. He saw that most people measured their worth in terms of what they owned, and stood this common assumption on its head.  I see young men, my townsmen, whose misfortune it is to have inherited farms, houses, barns, cattle, and farming tools; for these are more easily acquired than got rid of. Better if they had been born in the open pasture and suckled by a wolf, that they might have seen with clearer eyes what field they were called to labor in. (Walden, 5) a man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone. (Walden, 82)  Thoreau proposed to determine what was basic to human survival, and then to live as simply as possible. By the words, necessary of life, I mean whatever, of all that man obtains by his own exertions, has been from the first, or from long use has become, so important to human life that few, if any, whether from savageness, or poverty, or philosophy, ever attempt to do without it. (Walden, 12) Most of the luxuries, and many of the so called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind (Walden, 14) my greatest skill has been to want but little. (Walden, 69). Oppositions: y Harsh dismissal of Biblical miracles, which were accepted by Unitarian theologians y Emerson had denounced miracles to highlight his own emphasis on soul , person and selfevident experience of the Divine y "They say the world is vexed with us on account of our wicked writings. I trust it will recover its composure." He wrote to Prof. Ware, "These things look thus to me! To you, otherwise. Let us say out our uttermost word, and let the all-pervading truth, as it surely will, judge between us." y Emerson did not like the term, "Transcendentalism," and preferred "Idealism." o He once said to Octavius Brooks Frothingham that Transcendentalism was simply a protest against formalism and dogmatism in religion, not a philosophical but a spiritual movement looking toward a spiritual faith. y Emerson published a poem, "Grace," in which he flatly contradicted some of his earlier assertions. There he spoke of reliance on "example, custom, fear, occasion slow" to protect us from our inclination to sin; they are "hedges to my soul from Satan's creeping feet." General Theories: y He championed woman's educational and economic rights. He held forth for more freedom and scope in university education and for purer methods in politics and trade. y Slavery is an evil institution that must be abolished. y