Seeking Alternatives: Part 1

Part 2: How Does Transcendentalism Affect the Individual?
Part 3: How Does Transcendentalism Affect the Culture?
Part 4: How Does Transcendentalism Affect Government?

Societal change has always had its antagonists. For good or for ill, there are always people who oppose large-scale cultural changes. In nineteenth century America, a time and a place bursting with the change and activity caused by the Industrial Revolution and the Civil War, a group of people called transcendentalists were among the most actively against what they perceived as harmful trends in American society. Men like philosopher and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson developed and made transcendentalism, a radical derivative of European romanticism, popular. America as a whole never accepted transcendentalism, but the culture unconsciously absorbed many of its basic principles. Emerson believed his philosophy could produce a progressive and peaceful society, one characterized by self-reliant citizens in touch with their inner genius. Unfortunately, the transcendental influence on America has not reflected his philosophical hopes. Any culture that followed the principles of transcendentalism would be characterized by instability and uncertainty, rather than genius and self-reliance. Transcendentalism has made an impact on the American perception of the individual, of culture, and of government, but not the kind Emerson would have desired.

WHAT IS TRANSCENDENTALISM?

Transcendentalism is a pantheistic, romantic philosophy heavily influenced by eastern religion. Emerson, the primary developer of transcendentalism, loved famous Hindu works like the Bhagavad-Gita. It is also a philosophy that is difficult to understand because of Emerson’s ambiguous writing style. To him, self-contradiction did not denote sloppiness; it simply meant that he knew more when writing his second statement than when writing his first (Bickman). It is easiest to analyze transcendentalism by dividing it into three parts: principles relating to the divine, to man, and finally, to morality and knowledge.

In his essay ‘The Over-Soul,’ Emerson described the transcendental deity: ‘We see the world piece by piece, as the sun, the moon, the animal, the tree; but the whole, of which these are shining parts, is the Soul.’ Instead of a traditional deity, Emerson believed in the Over-Soul, a pervasive, pantheistic energy source animating all things. This Over-Soul was the ultimate reality, but impersonal as well, despite its pervasiveness. Also, it was entirely good and incorruptible.

Concerning humanity, Emerson believed that people are the advanced products of the evolutionary process. Humans are distinguished from animals because each person possesses a piece of the Over-Soul inside him. This spark of the divine within each individual serves as a guide, communicating truth from within. This spark enables him to transcend the commonplace and walk in the light provided by the Over-Soul, his inner compass. Not all men trust themselves and the Soul within them, but those who do are transcendentalists, able to overcome their faults by self-reliance.

The transcendentalist’s beliefs about morality, history, knowledge, and relationships spring from his conception of ultimate reality, the Over-Soul. Emerson deviated from the opinions of his contemporaries by theorizing that one learns about truth and morality not from outer sources but from the Soul inside oneself. In Emerson’s system, a man could instinctively perceive nearly everything he needed to know by trusting the divinity within. Likewise, morality also springs from the Over-Soul. One who obeys the promptings of his Soul always does right, but one who succumbs to ‘animalistic impulses’ does evil. Actually, in the traditional sense, evil does not even exist. It is not a deliberate action, merely the absence of sensitivity to the Soul.

The consequence of this radical emphasis on self-reliance is that history loses its significance. Tradition and study of the past to gain insight about the future are unnecessary; a transcendentalist can surpass such knowledge by examining the riches of his own soul. Dependence on history means not trusting one’s self. In his most famous speech, ‘The American Scholar.’ Emerson said,

The book, the college, the school of art, stop with some past utterance of genius. ‘This is good,’ they say, Let us hold by this.’ They pin me down. They look backward instead of forward: the eyes of men are set in his forehead, not in his hindhead: man hopes: genius creates.

A transcendentalist trusted himself rather than the past. He also trusted himself far more readily than other people. Relationships were good, but they were not a primary source of knowledge and understanding. In fact, Emerson was one who believed man lost something when he congregated with other people. He prized solitude above society because he felt men are most complete when alone (Wagenknecht 110).

As with all philosophies, Emerson’s transcendental beliefs arose from his conception of ultimate reality. His foundation was the Over-Soul. Building on that, his highest values were genius and self-reliance, which, he believed, led to the individual’s discovery of truth and morality. This system left no room for tradition or man’s sin nature. Emerson saw only the high, noble nature of man and insisted that as a race, he was always evolving into a higher, more pure form. Looking at the events that have transpired since Emerson’s time – two world wars, increased terrorism, the rise and fall of Communism – the transcendental perspective seems naïve and insufficient to account for the reality of the modern world.