1	Transcendentalism “Nature” “Self-Reliance” Ralph Waldo Emerson
2	A social and intellectual movement. . . Argued that America was a unique and formidable site of intellectual, artistic, and cultural achievement. Maintained that the geographic fact of the American landscape would contribute to the country’s material, intellectual, and spiritual greatness.
3	Similarities to Puritanism A desire to return to fundamentals. A desire to experience a purification. A desire to do away with empty ceremony--religious ceremonies for the Puritans; social and intellectual for the Transcendentalists. Non-conformists: “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.”
4	Differences from Puritanism Attitudes toward God: Winthrop’s distinction between Civil Law and Natural Law. For the Transcendentalists, God’s laws could best be perceived in the laws of nature, not in the customs and ceremonies of man.
5	Differences from Puritanism Attitudes toward Nature: The Puritans located temptation, evil, and Satan in Nature. The Transcendentalists located God and goodness in Nature. Satan wasn’t necessarily in civilization; God was simply absent from it. A belief not so much in evil, but in the absence of goodness.
6	Religious and Social Changes Puritanism had waned with an increasingly diverse and growing population. The Age of Reason focused on the power of man within society. Unitarianism--a kinder, more forgiving God; a more liberal tradition; man as basically good rather than evil.
7	Religious and Social Changes Early 19th century: Between 1820 and 1860, the US population rose 226%. Percentage of Americans living in cities rose 79%. 75,000 people jailed for debt in 1829. 1837--a recession and financial panic.
8	Religious and Social Changes Astronomy and physics made the natural world less frightening and more “ordered.” The Romantic movement in Europe privileged the child, the individual, the imagination, and nature. Civilization became a place of corruption and nature was a refuge from that corruption, a moralizing influence.
9	Basic Concepts: Religion The Bible simply restates the truths the heart knows intuitively. Intuitions are valued over book knowledge. Nature is the true source of religion. Christ was a very moral man, a human, but not a “God.” Religious experience as individual; you don’t have to go to church to know God.
10	Basic Concepts: Self-Reliance The need to cast off the old and become self-reliant. Why should America have to follow in the footsteps of England and Europe to achieve greatness? The advantages of having no past, no history--“History is now.” The need to think for ourselves.
11	Basic Concepts: Self-knowledge “Know thyself.” Self-knowledge is best achieved by studying nature. Knowledge must relate to your experiences and lead to self-enlightenment. We have to know ourselves before we can consider learning anything else of value.
12	Basic Concepts: Equality The possibility to achieve transcendence is open to all, but not everyone can achieve it. People are potentially perfect as long as they are willing to make the effort. Democratic elitism.
13	Basic Concepts: Man is Good You’ll find in the forest what’s in your own heart. Nature reveals yourself to you.
14	Basic Concepts: Physical and Spiritual Realms Physical reality has parallels in the spiritual realm. Man can transcend the physical by “rightly perceiving” nature. There is a vital connection between the mind and nature and between God and nature. In nature and through nature man can encounter God.
15	“Nature”: The Essay Common conception of America as a “new Eden” and Americans as a “new Adam”—a chance to start over. There are no unanswerable questions. (486) Our lives provide the answers to our own questions. (486) Childhood. (487)
16	“To what end is nature?” Emerson’s nature—a cultivated space between corrupt civilization and untamed wilderness. A pre-Darwinian view of nature—neither threatening to man nor a “tool” for him to use. “Nature never wears a mean appearance.” (487) Nature always mirrors man; it is a “metaphor of the human mind.” Nature isn’t beautiful without the presence of a spiritual component.
17	Crossing the Commons (488) “a perfect exhilaration” Grounds himself in a common—this experience is available to all. Glad/Fear—a motif of contradictions that make sense when viewed “rightly.” Lifted from finite space into infinite space. A relationship among God, man, and nature.
18	“Self-Reliance” Drawn from journal entries written during a time of great controversy for Emerson. “Self-Defense”? The past as a crutch and a weight that all—Americans especially—must escape. Society is a negative force. (541)
19	“Self-Reliance”—self-confidence “Genius” comes from believing in yourself. (539) Perceive and accept the genius within yourself. (540) “Trust thyself.” (540) What are the logical implications of that advice?
20	“Self-Reliance”--society Society vs. the individual; conformity vs. self-reliance. (541) Society teaches us too much fear. (547) Society requires—even demands—conformity. So what good is society? “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.” Consider the logical implications of that advice. The great man can be an individual but still live within society.
21	Questions to Consider How many nonconformists and original thinkers can there be? Is it realistic to believe in the perfectability of man? Why does Emerson rely so much on the “masters” he urges others to reject? Is it evil to ignore the existence of evil?
22	Questions to Consider Is God manifested everywhere in nature? Is society really so bad? Is being childlike always positive? Does Emerson’s naiveté about the “real” world give him the arrogance or the ignorance to suggest that we ignore it?
23	Thoreau & Walden His aim: to reject emerging middle-class materialism to “live deliberately” Optimistic about improving our lives The need to simplify The role of Nature Attitude toward work Childhood as an ideal time Seeing vs. Perception and Understanding (insight)