The Transcendentalists: True Reality Is Spiritual
At the heart of America’s coming-of-age were the
Transcendentalists, who were led by Ralph Waldo Emerson
(page 203). Transcendental refers to the idea that in
determining the ultimate reality of God, the universe, the self,
and other important matters, one must transcend, or go
beyond, everyday human experience in the physical world.
For Ralph Waldo Emerson, father of American Transcendentalism, it was not a new philosophy but “the very oldest of thoughts cast into the mold of these new times.” That “oldest of thoughts” was idealism, which had already been explained by the Greek philosopher Plato in the fourth century B.C. Idealists said that true reality was found in ideas rather than in the world as perceived by senses. Idealists sought the permanent reality that underlies physical appearances. The Americans who called themselves Transcendentalists were idealists but in a broader, more practical sense.
Transcendentalism grafted ideas from Europe
and Asia onto a homegrown American
philosophical stem. Its American roots
included Puritan thought, the beliefs of the
eighteenth-century religious revivalist
Jonathan Edwards and the Romantic tradition
exemplified by William Cullen Bryant (page 189).
A Transcendental View of the World
•Everything in the world, including human beings, is a reflection of the Divine Soul.
•The physical facts of the natural world are a doorway to the spiritual or ideal world.
•People can use their intuition to behold God’s spirit revealed in nature or in their own souls.
•Self-reliance and individualism must outweigh external authority and blind conformity to custom and tradition.
•Spontaneous feelings and intuition are superior to deliberate intellectualism and rationality.
Transcendentalism and The Oversoul
Transcendentalists believed God was actually a spirit that flowed through, and was bound to all parts of creation including human beings (see Star Wars). They believed that because a piece of The Oversoul existed in each of us, each human being was a divine creation and capable of understanding “truth” by allowing their piece of The Oversoul to connect to other parts of creation.
At the heart of America’s coming-of-age were the
Transcendentalists, who were led by Ralph Waldo Emerson
(page 203). Transcendental refers to the idea that in
determining the ultimate reality of God, the universe, the self,
and other important matters, one must transcend, or go
beyond, everyday human experience in the physical world.
For Ralph Waldo Emerson, father of American Transcendentalism, it was not a new philosophy but “the very oldest of thoughts cast into the mold of these new times.” That “oldest of thoughts” was idealism, which had already been explained by the Greek philosopher Plato in the fourth century B.C. Idealists said that true reality was found in ideas rather than in the world as perceived by senses. Idealists sought the permanent reality that underlies physical appearances. The Americans who called themselves Transcendentalists were idealists but in a broader, more practical sense.
Transcendentalism grafted ideas from Europe
and Asia onto a homegrown American
philosophical stem. Its American roots
included Puritan thought, the beliefs of the
eighteenth-century religious revivalist
Jonathan Edwards and the Romantic tradition
exemplified by William Cullen Bryant (page 189).
A Transcendental View of the World
•Everything in the world, including human beings, is a reflection of the Divine Soul.
•The physical facts of the natural world are a doorway to the spiritual or ideal world.
•People can use their intuition to behold God’s spirit revealed in nature or in their own souls.
•Self-reliance and individualism must outweigh external authority and blind conformity to custom and tradition.
•Spontaneous feelings and intuition are superior to deliberate intellectualism and rationality.
Transcendentalism and The Oversoul
Transcendentalists believed God was actually a spirit that flowed through, and was bound to all parts of creation including human beings (see Star Wars). They believed that because a piece of The Oversoul existed in each of us, each human being was a divine creation and capable of understanding “truth” by allowing their piece of The Oversoul to connect to other parts of creation.