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.
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