Introduction:
Transcendentalism and Individualism are the corner-stones of Emerson’s thought is true about Emerson. Ralph Waldo Emerson stands as one of the central figures in American intellectual history, whose philosophy is deeply rooted in the principles of Transcendentalism and Individualism. Emerging in the early 19th century, Transcendentalism was a spiritual and philosophical movement that emphasised the inherent goodness of human beings, the importance of intuition over reason, and a deep connection between humanity and nature. Emerson became its most influential voice, shaping its ideas through his essays, lectures, and poems.
At the heart of Emerson’s thought lies a profound belief in the power and potential of the individual. His doctrine of Individualism encourages self-reliance, independence of thought, and nonconformity. In his famous essay Self-Reliance, Emerson urges individuals to trust their inner voice and reject societal pressures that hinder personal growth. For him, every person possesses a divine spark, and true knowledge comes not from external authorities but from inner intuition.
Thus, Transcendentalism and Individualism are inseparable in Emerson’s philosophy. While Transcendentalism provides the spiritual and philosophical foundation, Individualism serves as its practical expression in human life. Together, they form the cornerstone of Emerson’s vision of a self-reliant, morally strong, and spiritually awakened individual.
Interpretation of Transcendentalism:
A transcendentalist is one who believes in the existence of a divine world, beyond and above the world of the senses. The divine cannot be known by reason or rational analysis, but it can be felt and experienced by the spirit through intuition. The divine is referred to as ‘the over-soul’ by Emerson and it was referred to as the ‘Soul of all the Worlds’ by Wordsworth. The external world is but the raiment or outer covering of the divine. Men can know the divine and ultimately become one with it through the agony of Nature which speaks to the soul and not to the reasoning faculty. If man comes to Nature in a mood of ‘wise passivity’ and allows influences from Nature to enter into his soul, he can see into ‘the heart of thing’. Thus, there is oneness of God, Man and Nature. Emerson stressed the worth of the individual, the dignity of the human soul. He taught man to rely on himself, on his own intuition, natural instincts and impulses, and not on any authority outside himself or on tradition, however sacred or old. In this way, his transcendentalism is closely linked with his individualism.
The Rejection of Unitarianism:
The early transcendentalists rejected Unitarianism because of its dependence on the reigning sensuous philosophy dating from Locke. This rejection of the empirical tradition led them to believe that they could have a direct relationship between the soul and God. This relationship transcends or passes beyond all the traditional forms of communication with God or Reality. Consequently, man is said to have the power to intuit the ultimate truth. This intuition is similar to the supernatural sense of Jonathan Edwards.
Faith in Progress:
The transcendentalists did not set aside faith in progress. Only this faith was grounded on the doctrine of self-reliance. If a person explores his own inmost thoughts honestly and firmly, he will find there universal truths and these truths contribute to the progress of man. To this, is added a faith in a supernatural order which can be revealed only by intuition. Anything that restricted the free activity of the intuition, is suspect. Thus science, history and tradition are not accepted because they seek to limit the activity of the human mind.
Developing a New and Fascinating Conception of Good Life:
This new life is characterized by self-trust, a joyous love of beauty and an earnest altruism. They subjected the American institutions to a keen and searching criticism. They gave an environment for the emergence of great writers. It is said that transcendentalism was saturnalia of faith, a reaction against Unitarianism, and a revulsion against commercialism.
Emerson’s Developing a Transcendentalist Faith:
Emerson came to hold as central to his thought, the idea that the soul of man is of the same substance as God. This would reject the idea of original sin. It would lead to a kind of altruism. In this process, Emerson came under the influence of Plato, Neoplatonists, Cambridge Platonists, Boehme Swedenberg, German Idealists of the 18th and the 19th centuries, Coleridge, Carlyle and the Quakers. Emerson may not have had any mystical experience. But he had mystical feelings and he did experience moments of exhilaration brought forth by an experience of harmony.
Revelation of Emerson’s Basic Philosophical and Mystic Ideas:
Emerson held that God is moral law, that the world is an emanation from God, that man has divinity within him; that self-reliance is a supreme value, and that the religion of the spirit alone is true. This is an ethical Idealism. Speaking of God, he said, “We have faculties to perceive his laws, but himself, how obscurely.” Again, we are told the motive force of life and of every particular life, is moral.
A Clear Expression of Emerson’s Transcendentalism:
Emerson’s transcendentalism finds a clear expression in Nature, American Scholar, and the Divinity School Address. Here we are told that man and his world formed a perfect harmony, and that one’s own intuition is more valuable than the voice of tradition or orthodoxy. As he said, “Books are for the scholar’s idle times.” One must be true to himself. Introspection gives man Universal Truth: “the deeper he dives into his privatest, secretest presentiment, to his wonder he finds this is the most acceptable, most public, and universally true. The people delight in it; the better part of every man feels. This is music; myself.”
Emerson’s Attacking Torpor, Sensuality, Incuriosity and the Like:
The Divinity School student is a new-born bard of the Holy Ghost. He is asked to cast behind conformity, and acquaint man at first hand with Deity. Life offers many clues which can be understood by the observant and the active. This led Emerson to attack torpor, sensuality, incuriosity and the like. He saw that little things are often filled with great beauty.
Emerson’s Attacking Formalism:
Emerson accepted that each natural form is an expression of some property inherent in man, the observer. The inner or moral law of life is apprehended by intuition and it is paralleled by the outer-law of nature as perceived by the senses. Thus, he proceeded to attack formalism and tradition in learning and literature.
Romanticism, a Developed System of Thought and Feeling in the Hands of Emerson:
The philosophical ideas set in motion by the German Idealists, and English Romantic writers were reconciled with the realities of life in America. In this developed system, the central doctrines are self-reliance, moral sense, and correspondence between natural and moral laws. It was the individualism which supported religious liberalism, political democracy and literary romanticism. At the philosophical level it is a synthesis of Vedanta, Neoplatonism, post-Kantian Idealism and Mysticism.
The Importance of Beauty and Truth for Emerson:
When Emerson says that their life is embosomed in beauty he means by beauty the over soul, within which every man’s particular being is contained. Once we realise this, we do not see surface facts alone, but the soul that is immanent. Through the triangular relationship of man and Nature and of man and God, the position of man is explained and ascertained. However, Emerson knows it is not possible for him to explain why and how the universal soul incarnates in man and thus the major part of this mystery cannot be unravelled. But there is no uncertainty in Emerson’s thought as to the over-soul being the ground of man’s existence.
Emerson’s Loving the Freedom of the Individual:
Freedom is man’s most precious inheritance. Man has various faculties; they must be given free scope to develop to the fullest extent. The soul must have a free play. When man’s soul breathes through his intellect, it is genius and when it breathes through his will, it is virtue. When it flows through his affection, it is love. No doubt great men are representatives of the essential humanity and, therefore, their thought and feeling cannot be impounded by any fence or personality. But great men are also those who have their special faculty developed to the highest pitch, and who never remind us of others. Such men are born once in centuries. On the other hand, every individual is left free to grow independently. Nature wishes everything to remain itself and it steadily aims to protect each against every others. Each is self-defended. Nothing is more marked than the power by which individuals are safeguarded from other individuals. The integrity of the individual’s personality must remain unencroached upon by systems, institutions or society.
Such is Emerson’s Transcendentalism. It is there in Nature, and it is developed and elaborated all through his career in his Journals, lectures, numerous essays, poems other works. There might be contradictions here and there, but then it must be remembered that he was essentially a man of literature and not a philosopher. His philosophy is a way of living, not a system of thought.
Related Questions on the Same Topic:
1. What do you understand by Transcendentalism? Explain with reference to the essays of Emerson you have read.
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2. “Transcendentalism and individualism are the corner-stones of Emerson’s thought and the two are closely related.” Elucidate.
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3. “Oneness of God, Man and Nature is the central theme of Emerson’s writing.” Do you agree? Give reason for your views.