Emerson v. Thoreau: A Comparison of Philosophies
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Transcendentalism is a philosophy that evolved out of 19th Century, prior to the Civil War, specifically in the New England area ("What is Transcendentalism?" para. 3). The generation of people involved in this movement were artists, intellectuals, and activists who were "struggling to define spirituality and religion," as well as morals and the individual at a time when the bible was being re-examined and Hindu and Buddhist sacred texts were just coming to light in the western part of the world (para. 4,5,10). Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are two of the most well known voices from that movement. Though they were similar in much of their philosophy, they differed in some key areas, such as slavery and responsibility for one's fellow man. This paper will compare the beliefs of Thoreau and Emerson, examining both where they agreed and where they differed. Transcendentalists typically believed in the self-examined life, reason, independent thought (not dependent on what others teach, but on what someone learns on their own terms), and that there is a "Divine Soul" in everyone that leads them to do right for themselves ("What is Transcendentalism?" para. 4, 8, 9, 11). It is important to understand this because this is where Emerson and Thoreau agreed. In Emerson's essay, "Self Reliance," he noted: Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Thoreau Emerson, Self Reliance, Walden Thoreau, Chaos Dark, England Transcendentalism, Civil Disobedience, David Thoreau, Divine Soul, Hindu Buddhist, Network Accessed, self reliance, thoreau emerson, para 3, essay self reliance, fellow human, themselves immediate, refused pay, 3 thoreau, ralph waldo, civil disobedience, november 13 2008, accessed online november, online november 13, accessed online,
Approximate Word count = 1015
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page)
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