Transcendentalism
- Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that developed in the late 1820s and 1830s in the eastern United States.
- The term transcendental itself was first coined by the 18th Century philosopher Immanuel Kant in the 1781 publication of his Critique of Pure Reason.
- It is a reaction against intellectualism and spirituality.
- Their core belief is in the inherent goodness of people and nature.
- Transcendentalism emphasizes subjective intuition over objective empiricism.
- Transcendentalism is closely related to Unitarianism.
- It is centered on Ralph Waldo Emerson.
- Other important transcendentalists were Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Amos Bronson Alcott, Frederic Henry Hedge, and Theodore Parker.
- It is a belief in the essential unity of all creation, the innate goodness of humanity, and the supremacy of insight over logic for the revelation of the deepest truths.
- Transcendentalism became a coherent movement with the founding of the Transcendental Club in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on September 8, 1836.
- A second wave of transcendentalists came, including Moncure Conway, Octavius Brooks Frothingham, Samuel Longfellow and Franklin Benjamin Sanborn.
- Transcendentalists are strong believers in the power of the individual and their personal freedom.
- Transcendentalism has been directly influenced by religions especially Indian religions.
- Many important Transcendentalists were also social reformists who campaigned for the abolition of slavery and for women’s rights.
- Transcendentalists also came to criticize existing social arrangements, which they thought prevented individual spiritual development.
- According to them one must go beyond the material world to a higher, spiritual plane in order to reach basic truths.
- They believe that nature is a spiritual force and a source of inspiration.
- The Transcendental Movement dramatically shaped the direction of American literature.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson has been recognized as the father of Transcendentalism.
