But one hand, while Emerson's statements are supposed to be true for all human beings, it is hard not to wonder -- isn't this the type of total self-confidence that can lead to tyranny? How can a nation exist, composed entirely of such complete ind Continue Reading...
Like Emerson, Whitman found beauty symbols of American future progress, even in industrial America and standardized and homogenized modern progress like the "Locomotive in Winter": "For once come serve the Muse and merge in verse, even as here I se Continue Reading...
But ultimately, in practice, relativism in action is saying that no system of ethics has been valid for all time, and relativism and subjectivism are constantly evolving in creative dialogue with history and other circumstances. For example, perhaps Continue Reading...
Ralph Waldo Emerson's later "Self-Reliance" far more likely to be appealing to American college students today than his early "American Scholar"-ship Ralph Waldo Emerson's Transcendentalist philosophy shifted and changed over the course of his life. Continue Reading...
Consistent with Emerson and Fuller's beliefs regarding transcendentalism, Justice Holmes' emphasis was on the achievement of a higher level of knowledge, wherein he explicated on the importance of transcendentalist belief when interpreting and unde Continue Reading...
Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Specifically, it will explain Emerson's main idea in the essay. "Self-Reliance" is a celebration of man's creative thought and a quest for harmony in life and the world. Man should listen to his own mind to unde Continue Reading...
American thinkers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and John Winthrop developed cogent visions of their new nation, promulgating utopian ideals and encouraging their readers to actively create an idealized society. As Peyser puts it, both Emerson and Winthro Continue Reading...
Ralph Waldo Emerson was more of a pragmatic and realistic thinker than a philosopher in the true sense of the term. His views on life and existence and human thinking are therefore realist without being influenced by any religious dogma or creed. The Continue Reading...
John Winthrop and Ralph W. Emerson Utopia refers to a visualized state or place of welfare, which is comprised of goodness and freedom from all threats of negative conditions and probable failures. Following this description of 'utopia', a Utopian W Continue Reading...
It is the character's inner nature that eventually triumphs in its fight with the environment. Goethe's main character is apparently obsessed with the fact that he is human, especially given that his point-of-view regarding the topic is that people Continue Reading...
Henry Thoreau and Ralph Emerson were two of the romantic American writers of the transcendentalist movement, which in essence stresses that less is more, that nature is to be studied, to be a true intellect you must read the classics and that living Continue Reading...
Emerson believed that the broader culture could rid itself of slavery through moral persuasion. At the beginning of the renaissance, Emerson "maintained that reform was best achieved by the moral persuasion of individuals rather than by the militant Continue Reading...
Transcendentalism The Perversion of the American Dream The oracle of transcendentalism, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and his acetic companion and one-time roommate Henry David Thoreau (that's correct, when Thoreau got tired of sleeping in the forest, he mo Continue Reading...
Henry uses stirring words about the value of liberty, but he also attempts to win over people who are uncertain if revolution is the correct path: "I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past," he states, and notes a real-life event in Continue Reading...
(Leaves, 680) Similarly Whitman informs us: Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems, You shall possess the good of the earth and sun…there are millions of suns left, You shall no longer take things at Continue Reading...
The silo argument is similar to the laboratory argument, but it focuses on the tangible things nature has to offer -- not just the knowledge of medicine that certain plants can provide, but the plants themselves that are used to make the medicine. Continue Reading...
If the soul is immortal, then the perspective upon death changes. Suddenly, it is no longer so scary, since it does not represent an ending but a mere passage to another type of existence. However, there are other implications which we can not affo Continue Reading...
Nations like Communist Russia and the still practicing Chinese for of Communism show that even when this ideology is perpetuated for the masses in terms of real economic implementation, many individuals within the regime fall into desperate conditio Continue Reading...
Romanticism "Romance," "Romanticism" and "Romantic" are three related words frequently utilized rather loosely by literature readers and hence requiring some clear definition. The most important fact is these words are always written with the first Continue Reading...
18th Century What makes the 18th century such a vast plethora of diverse opinions, creations and philosophies is the fact that the world was changing in a variety of ways. The Industrial Revolution and rationalism were having profound effects upon Continue Reading...
Inspirational Ceremonial Speech Dear Graduates, Today, as your professors, friends, and family members stand before you, we are looking at the future: a future that is filled with hope. You, sitting in your chairs, dressed in blue caps and gowns, ar Continue Reading...
This may seem cruel and ungenerous, but Emerson would argue that the most generous thing that can be done for people is to help them become individuals. That will benefit them more than tossing a dollar in the alms box. Hence, through his essay, he Continue Reading...
The second major influence on scholars, Emerson claims, is the past. The history of ideas, the development of science, the influence of philosophy -- these are the forces that shape one's thinking about thought. However, Emerson claims there is a d Continue Reading...
Ralph Waldo Emerson's idealized and mesmerizing description of the role and life of the poet describes not only the particular calling and obligation of those who choose to follow the poetic muses but also -- because of Emerson's own influence on the Continue Reading...
Yet through his explorations of order, Franklin admits that it is "extremely difficult to acquire" as a virtue (p. 88). Franklin further claims that of all the virtues, "my scheme of order gave me the most trouble; and I found that, tho' it might be Continue Reading...
Whilst I talk, some poor farmer drudges & slaves for me" (Journals 9: 126). He feels that a real reformer is the one who would refuse to purchase or use slave-produced goods and in this regard he noted: "Alas! alas! my brothers, there is never a Continue Reading...
Ralph Waldo Emerson's Influence on the Poetry of W. Whitman and E. Dickinson During 19th century American literature, orthodox teachings and values are evident in most literary works, which is an evidence of the strong influence religion has over th Continue Reading...
" The narrator of the film asks: "What's this war in the heart of nature? Why does nature vie with itself, the land contend with the sea? Is there an avenging power in nature?" Because it is a war film set during the Battle of Guadalcanal, the film e Continue Reading...
The Evolution of American Identity Through Literature The diversity within the American experience, and as well within the canon of American literature, precludes the possibility of singling out two or even ten of the novels, poems, or short stories Continue Reading...
Emerson, he believed resistance to conformity and exploration of self, led to a kind of self-reliance that permeated the inner workings and imaginings of the human soul. What began as a simple analysis of self-explored concepts, took on the form of Continue Reading...
The similarities between the two perspectives - the Vedic and the Transcendentalist ones - start with the stress over the virtues of intuition when it comes to both social and spiritual knowledge. Truth must agree to an individual intuitive notion Continue Reading...
Nature It is quite true that the advancements and the technology of the world today have gone to make the world far more complicated. Life itself and the things around us have become so objective and materialistic at the same time. Thoreau went on s Continue Reading...
Henry David Thoreau left us two most important options when things go very bad in this world: a bloodless but effective way of saying "no" and a fitting advice to rely on ourselves. He did this through his famous works, "Civil Disobedience" and "Wald Continue Reading...
Self-Reliance....Thoughts on the Frontier in American History. Reaction paper: Self-reliance The concept of self-reliance is extremely important in the discourse of politics today, as people argue that self-reliance from the federal government is Continue Reading...
Self-Reliance Explain at least 3 different sources of suffering in Leo Tolstoy's the Death of Ivan Ilych The Death of Ivan Ilych by Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy is a novel penned in 1886 by a great Russian author and perhaps an even greater moralist i Continue Reading...
Gardner, like Emerson, Russell, and Einstein, also criticizes the substantive choice of subject matter and the ineficiency with which traditional educational methods inspire genuine understanding or long-term retention of what is learned that way. Continue Reading...
Romanticism No other period in English literature displays more variety in style, theme, and content than the Romantic Movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Furthermore, no period has been the topic of so much disagreement and confus Continue Reading...
I know that the case you cite, of Dr. Drake, has been a common one. The religion-builders have so distorted and deformed the doctrines of Jesus, so muffled them in mysticisms, fancies and falsehoods, have caricatured them into forms so monstrous and Continue Reading...
3.4B: Collage Description Lines 118 & 119: "Home is the place where, when you go there, / They have to take you in." These two lines are by far the most compelling lines of the entire poem. It is here that the importance of what home is, trul Continue Reading...
