The core idea of transcendentalism is that people can surpassfeelandreasonBut direct knowledgetruth, emphasizing the importance of intuition, who believes that everything in the human world is a microcosm of the universe -- the world shrinks itself into a drop of dew（Emerson Language), which was diluted with the birth of practical philosophy.Transcendentalists emphasize the unity of all things in essence. All things are restricted by the super spirit, and the human soul is consistent with the super spirit.This affirmation of the sanctity of man makes transcendentalists despise external authority and tradition and rely on their own direct experience.Believe in yourself, this famous quote of Emerson, becomes the motto of transcendentalists.This transcendental view emphasizes people's subjective initiative, which helps to break Calvinism's evil human naturepredestination And other dogmas to express enthusiasm and individualityRomantic LiteratureLaid the ideological foundation.[1]
It can be regarded asMysticismA branch of, andApriorismThe same cannot be falsified and is full of mystery. Mysticists of different traditions do not need to rely on regular clergy, specific rituals, magic tools, shrines and other props. Ordinary believers can enter the state of trance directly, because after the religious reform,protestantismEncourage believers to communicate with God by themselves and further develop their spiritual words, involving the special form of mysticism of Protestantism.
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American Transcendentalism is also called "New England Transcendentalism" or "AmericaThe Renaissance”Is a literary and philosophical movement in the United States.AndRalph Waldo Emerson andMargaret Fuller It claims that there is an ideal spiritual entity, which is beyond experience and science, and can be grasped through direct perception.The leader is Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American thinker and poet.
Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
American Transcendentalism is an important trend of thought in the United States. It rose in New England in the 1930s, spread to other places, and became an important ideological liberation movement in the history of American thought.It is a combination of Ralph Waldo Emerson andThoreau A related literary and philosophical movement claims the existence of an ideal spiritual entity that transcends experience and science and is grasped through direct perception.Transcendentalism is the third stage of American literature, which is the beginning of the literary style that really affects the United States.
It is generally believed that Emerson is the initiator of transcendentalism. His essays, especially his speeches, are cordial, strange in voice, and full of strong personal feelings;In his dignified preaching, his prose often overflows with unique and charming wisdom, sense of humor and depth of literature and philosophy.His words and texts are eloquent and brilliant, and his tone is unpredictable, which shows his profound literary skills.
In 1831, Emerson resignedbostonThe ministry of the Second Church went to Europe for tourism.During this period, he met many literary celebrities at that time, such as English poets and essayistsWatt RandWalter Savage Landor, poetColeridge（Samuel Taylor Coleridge），william wordsworth William Wordsworth, Scottish essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle.Especially after he met Carlyle in the Scottish countryside, he began the lifelong friendship and communication between the two writers.
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In 1837, when Emerson wrote《American scholar》During the speech, another master of transcendentalismHenry David Thoreau(Henry David Thoreau) Just graduated fromHarvard UniversityGraduation.For many people, Thoreau is a textbook. Through him, people can understand the world with the facts of nature, so the world becomes a whole for people to read, taste and chew.He hopes for a simple life.
Thoreau said: "The reason why I went into the forest is not to live cheaper or more expensive, but to do something with the least trouble I want to do." Therefore, his writing is delicate and natural, full of a sensitive writer and a thoughtful philosopher's sincere feelings and feelings about nature.
Compared with Emerson's speeches and writings, Thoreau is more about practice and action. In his character, the spirit of advocating life and nature, freedom and independence, and the spirit of brave, heroic, rugged, and wild pioneers who have been shown in the development of the United States, especially in the development of the West, have some internal connection.
From the historical data, it is impossible to know whether Thoreau listened to Emerson's speech in person, but Thoreau lived up to Emerson's call in American Scholar: he paid more attention to the American mainland and pursued its originality.
As an ideological movement integrating European and American ideological trends, it has spawned a series of classic works, such as Nature, American Scholar, and so on.
The United States in the 19th century was considered by some historians to be a period of birth and growth of a unique American culture. It was a period of true independence of the American spirit and culture after the political independence.It is in this special era that the trend of "Transcendentalism" represented by Emerson and Thoreau "broke through the void" and became the declaration of spiritual independence of Americans.
Features
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Transcendentalism's pursuit of human freedom has become an important heritage in American culture.This trend of thought originated from monotheism, and at the same time accepted the influence of romanticism, emphasizing the direct communication between man and God and the divinity in human nature, which resulted in the liberation of human nature, the improvement of human status, and the possibility of human freedom.Transcendentalism has a strong critical spirit, and its social goal is to build a moral perfect, truly democratic and free society, despite the utopian ideal color.
The core view of Transcendentalism is that people can understand truth directly beyond feeling and reason, and that everything in the human world is a microcosm of the universe - "the world reduces itself to a drop of dew" (Emerson).It emphasizes the unity of all things in essence. All things are restricted by "super spirit", and human soul is consistent with "super spirit".This affirmation of the sanctity of man makes transcendentalists despise external authority and tradition and rely on their own direct experience.
There are three main ideas of Transcendentalism.First of all, Transcendentalists emphasize spirit, or oversoul, as the most important existence factor of the universe.Supersoul is an omnipotent, omnipresent force that promotes good and suppresses evil. It is the root of all things and belongs to all things. It exists in people and nature.Second, Transcendentalists emphasize the importance of individuals.They believe that individuals are the most important part of society, and social innovation can only be achieved through personal cultivation and improvement.Therefore, people's primary responsibility is to improve themselves, not to deliberately pursue wealth.The ideal person is one who depends on himself.Third, Transcendentalists look at nature with a new view, believing that nature is a symbol of supernatural or God.In their view, nature is not just matter.It has life, the spirit of God fills it, and it is the cloak of super spirit.Therefore, it has a healthy nourishing effect on people's thoughts.Transcendentalism advocates returning to nature and accepting its influence in order to become a perfect person in spirit.The natural connotation of this view is that everything in the nature has symbolic meaning, and the external world is the embodiment of the spiritual world.
Emerson's famous saying - "Believe in yourself" has become the motto of transcendentalists.This view emphasizes the subjective initiative of people, helps to break the shackles of dogmas such as "evil human nature" and "fatalism", and lays the foundation for the American culture that is passionate and unrestrained and expresses personality.
Just because Emerson's transcendental view abandonedCalvinismThe idea of God as the center believes that in a sense, "man" is God, which makes Transcendentalism clearly branded with the era of the rise of capitalism: "A person must be able to become the person he wants to be." This has always been called the self-reliance and self-improvement of American civilian religion, which has inspired the development and improvement of the American national spirit.
Therefore, the contribution of Transcendentalists is to re-examine the philosophical proposition of "beauty" under the banner of idealism, liberate American thought, and make American literature (including prose creation) stand out from imitating the style of Britain and the European continent, creating the American Renaissance.
In fact, "Transcendentalism", as an imprecise name, may only show a feature of this trend of thought in the sense of epistemology, that is, it advocates intuition and feelings, and the significance of this trend of thought may be more importantly reflected in its lovenatural, respect for individuality, call for action and creation, oppose authority and dogma and other aspects with life philosophy implications, which has had a tremendous impact on the American spirit and culture to form its own new and unique face from the mother body of the European continent.
Doctrine and source
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Its main doctrines are as follows:
1. Absolute good
2. Innocence of nature
3. Human was godlike and that evil was nonexistent appeared to be an optimal soul[2]
This transcendentalism emphasizes the subjective initiative of human beings. It believes that human spirit can transcend the limitations of the material world, the perceptual world, and the experience world. Life is to explore, express, and enrich oneself.This humanistic spirit and the idea of self-reliance have great significance and far-reaching impact on the development of human history.It is undoubtedly a timely wake-up call for people who are addicted to material desires.[3]
Works representative
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As an ideological movement integrating European and American ideological trends, it gave birth to a series of classic works of American prose: Nature (1836), The American Scholar (1837), Natural History of Intelligence (1893), Walden,Or Life in the Woods, 1854 Thoreau), etc.
