Transcendentalism

It is hard to say whether I am or am not a transcendentalist. I should first mention that I do not claim affiliation with any religion, but the most recent regular attendance I had was at a Unitarian Universalist meeting house. I grew up with some Lutheran influence, especially from a summer camp that I visited and returned to for many summers. For this reason and because I am a very logical, science-minded person, there are many parts of transcendentalism that I don’t agree with. However, there are also numerous intellectual points that I do agree with in this ideology.

To begin, I don’t believe that we all have God’s light inside of us, but rather that we are neither good nor evil—we are neutral. It is possible to find the good and the evil in every person; it is simply in the eye of the beholder. Another thing that I disagree with is Emerson’s attitude towards society. He describes it as a “conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members.” I think that his reasoning behind this is unsound since society is just the interworking relationships between people. In this way it cannot be purely destructive.

On the other side, I completely agree that we must learn to accept ourselves. As Emerson says, “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.” I think that it is important to know yourself and know that you have the ability to be unique and original—to break free from conformity. Thoreau says something similar in his text about men being used as machines instead of consciences. He describes the more noble men who contribute their consciences, “A very few, as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men, serve the state with their consciences also.”

Another point I agree with is Thoreau’s idea of civil disobedience. He says in his text many times over that we should most certainly act against our government if it is not doing its job. We must take up arms and get things done. It is our government for a reason, and we must not let a corrupt few control it.

Overall, I would say that I share some ideology with transcendentalism, but since it is very romantic and less rooted in logic, I am not full-fledged.