Transcendentalism
The term transcendentalism refers to a school of thought that came about in the United States in the first half of the nineteenth century, centered specifically in the area of New England. It arose when a group of thinkers decided to break away from a society with which they had become highly disillusioned and which they believed had become too passive and accepting of ideas and beliefs fed unquestioningly to them. It emerged as a set of new views that encouraged the transcending of one's basic physical and material needs in order to enter a more spiritual framework that is individualized and reliant on intuition, knowledge and awareness. It was advocated through the use of philosophy, religion, literature and culture.
There are many famous names that are counted among the ranks of the transcendentalists. Among them are Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson is generally considered to be the lynchpin of the movement, since it was the publication of his essay Nature in 1836 that served as the “call to arms”. That same year saw the start of the Transcendental Club in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Web Resources On Transcendentalism
SEP: Transcendentalism
Wikipedia: Transcendentalism
Book Resources On TranscendentalismEmerson on Transcendentalism by Edward L. Ericson (Editor)
Transcendentalism: A Reader by Joel Myerson (Editor)
|
|
|
