Name ______

Transcendentalism

Definition: to transcend –

  • was a philosophy that became popular in the late 1700’s and 1800/s and was based on the belief that knowledge was not limited to and solely derived from experience and observation; it opposes the idea that knowledge comes from experience
  • It has its origins in the German Romantic movement
  • Transcendentalists believe that “what a person observes in the physical world is only appearances, or impermanent reflections of the world of the spirit. People learn about the physical world through their senses and understanding, but they learn about the world of the spirit through another power, called reason, [defined as] “the independent and intuitive capacity to know what is absolutely true.” It is possible to discover the nature of reality from one’s thoughts from within, rather than from the use of one’s physical senses.
  • In particular, Emerson believed that “human beings find truth within themselves, and so (he) emphasized self-reliance and individuality.” A person, according to Emerson, must ignore social customs and codes and instead rely on reason to learn what is right.
  • Emerson emphasized optimism, individuality, and mysticism; he stressed “the recognition of God immanent, the presence of ongoing creation and revelation by a god apparent in of all thoughts, persons, and things in the divine whole.” He wanted each person to undergo a quest to “break free from the trappings of the illusory world . . . in order to discover the godliness of the inner self.”
  • The Transcendental Club formed after Emerson’s small book Nature was published. Comprised mainly of ministers, such as Bronson Alcott, they met for four years. These men (and women – Margaret Fuller!) “were repelled by John Locke’s views that the mind is a passive receiver of sense impressions” and sought a more spiritual approach to finding truth.

Transcendental Beliefs

spiritual world > physical world

the individual > the masses

emotion > physical senses

nature > man

Prominent Authors

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Margaret Fuller

Other American authors influenced by transcendental philosophy

Emily Dickinson, Nathanial Hawthorne, Martin Luther King, Jr.