Emerson Blog

Transcendentalism is defined as: any system of philosophy, esp that of Kant, holding that the key to knowledge of the nature of reality lies in the critical examination of the processes of reason on which depends the nature of experience (Transcendentalism). Upon reading that definition, Emerson’s essay on self reliance and a criticism regarding Emerson’s essay on self reliance, I still do not fully grasp the concept of what exactly Emerson is trying to get across, but I do understand it slightly more than I did before.
In Emerson’s essay, he talks of how in order to understand reality, you have to analyze yourself, basically. I agree with Edmundson, who is the critic on Emerson, who said that:

“Considered in its broadest Emersonian sense, to mourn is to misplace one's energies in customs, conventions, usages, and laws that oppress the soul because they are, for all purposes, dead. We tend to deny our own gifts, and to overestimate culture, great men, and, most destructively, the wealth of the past. The object of life, as Emerson would see it, is to redeem our grief over what we are not and have not, "to bring the past for judgment into the thousand-eyed present, and live ever in a new day." In this enlarged sense, mourning assimilates all of the self-inflicted repressions against which Emerson inveighs in the essay "Self-Reliance," his declaration of prophetic independence. Envy, imitation, reticence, craven consistency, prayer, regret, in short, conformity in all of its guises is evidence of a desire to give our bounty to the dead” (Emerson and the Work of Melancholia).

Edmundson is saying that mourning someone’s death will not make them come back, so just move on, and live to see a new day. If we show envy or imitate someone, then it will show that we are not living our live the way we should, which is not very transcendental-like in my opinion. Therefore, I agree with the critic, who agrees with Emerson on his transcendental thinking regarding life. His opinion also correlates with the definition previously stated. We have to gain knowledge and experience about ourselves in order to be successful (Emerson and the Work of Melancholia).

I find it ironic that Emerson later goes on to reject Romanticism, when he has such a unique outlook to life and the way it should be lived. I think he shunned away from Romanticism because he wanted to do his own thing and live his life the way he deemed necessary, different than the romantic-style people. However, that is just my opinion on why he rejected or switched from romanticism into transcendentalism.

So although I still do not fully understand transcendentalism, I do feel I know a bit more than when I previously started writing and reading about this topic. I do agree with the critic in all that he said regarding being a transcendentalist and also the definition. Because, they both helped me to better understand what exactly Emerson was trying to say in his essay regarding self reliance and having to depend on yourself, instead of others. Because people will not always be there to help you out when needed, so you need to learn to rely on yourself. That is what I learned from reading the critic’s analysis and Emerson’s essay.

Works Cited:

"Transcendentalism." Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 08 Nov. 2010. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Transcendentalism>.

"Emerson and the Work of Melancholia." Raritan (Spring 1987). Quoted as "Emerson and the Work of Melancholia" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Updated Edition, Bloom's Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=1&iPin=MCVRWE007&SingleRecord=True (accessed November 9, 2010).