Do I identify myself as a transcendentalist? In some aspects, I see myself as one. The biggest problem with it is that I am not the quickest to agree with ideas or believe them or quickly buy into fads so that would be one major reason that I don’t always agree with the newest and latest fads. I do realize that this would have been in the 19th century. The 19th century was a major turning point in our country’s history, beginning with the new ideas in the earlier part of the decade to the Civil War in the middle, and ending with the Industrial Revolution.
The parts of transcendentalism that I agree with would be the forward thinking aspects. I really would have been in agreement with abolishing slavery and the rights of women. It is very easy for me to make those decisions, because they should both definitely be considered part of our society today and should have been long before. Look at all of the ideas that African-Americans and women have brought to our country as a result of being instated fully into our society. Those impacts are everlasting and can’t be destroyed. Today we have an African-American president and who did he defeat in the primary, a woman. That would have been unthinkable in that time period to most; however, that is what the transcendentalists had in mind all along.
The parts that I have trouble agreeing with would be the self-reliance part. Emerson’s Self-Reliance was a very interesting read, but there is no way that I could ever completely agree with all of his thoughts. In life you can’t expect to take on the journey by yourself. A main part of society is companionship and community; those are aspects that are necessary. To live your life by secluding yourself and believing that you have the godly powers that it takes to live on your own without much outside help is absurd. The only place to go from that point of thought is to live a long lonely life without any help from anybody, and that is something that I cannot completely buy into.
You looked at aspects of transcendentalism that I did not even think of mentioning. I centered on self-reliance and perseverence and failed to mention my position on slavery or women's rights. On the other hand, I do not believe that Emerson meant for us to pull away from all of society or community, only to not conform to set ideals. "Your conformity explains nothing. Act singly."
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a very interesting point concerning slavery and women's rights. Concerning you last point, was Emerson against marriage? I never considered that point, it is quite possible he considered marriage an institute in itself.
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