Abstract
This paper examines the life of Ralph Waldo Emerson, born in Boston, Mass., on May 25, 1803, a philosopher, essayist, and poet. It looks at how Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of the Transcendentalists, a group of thinkers that also included Henry David Thoreau, who were interested in a spirituality that had little to do with formalized religion. It also explores how he was an abolitionist and how he held true to his beliefs, taking action individually to advance his ideas regarding the remaking of his world into one more in accord with what he saw as the natural state of man. That natural state, for Emerson, included culture, freedom of religion, and considerate treatment of others. It looks at how it was only natural that he would extend its reach beyond the Native American to the American slave and how he reconciled those activities with his belief in individuality by viewing the abolitionist movement as a group of individuals acting on their own at the same time to accomplish a greatly desired change in their world.

From the Paper
"Perhaps the least known of Emerson's actions taken to change his world concerned abolitionism. As early as 1844, Emerson was commenting in public on the "Emancipation of the Negroes in the British West Indies", which historians say was a departure from his previous thoughts on abolition. But that summer, he refined his thoughts on the divisive issue, and in keeping with his belief that action must follow thought, he became an active abolitionist, setting forth his beliefs in the Emancipation address in Concord, Mass., on August 1, 1844. Biographer Len Gougeon, in his book Virtue's Hero: Emerson, Antislavery and Reform, concluded that with that speech, Emerson "made the transition from antislavery to abolition". (Quoted by Earhart, 1999)"

Tags:emancipation, slavery, spirituality, henry, david, thoreau

Abstract
A paper which introduces and discusses Transcendentalism - a philosophical movement which centered on the divinity of the individual - in Henry David Thoreau's works, paying particular attention to "The Maine Woods," "Walden," and "A Plea for Captain John Brown." In particular, it discusses how Thoreau's works fit and do not fit the definition of Transcendentalism, and how he viewed the Brook Farm Experiment - a trial in putting together a Utopian society by a group of New Englanders.

From the Paper
"In his later years, Thoreau became heavily involved with the Underground Railroad, and saving slaves who were running away from the South. His essay "A Plea for Captain John Brown" discusses his life, as well as his Transcendentalism, and his death because of his strong beliefs and work against slavery. This essay does not follow Thoreau's normal positive outlook on the world, as he has become unhappy with people of the time. He is no longer simply a sunny Transcendentalist, who longs for a simpler life, he is unhappy with his fellow man. "On the whole, my respect for my fellow-men, except as one may outweigh a million, is not being increased these days.""

Tags:Ralph, Waldo, Emerson, Indians, Underground, Railroad, Walden, Pond

Abstract
The paper explains Albert Einstein's views that serious scientific workers represent the only profoundly religious people, as presented in his essay "My Views."

From the Paper
"My Views;" An essay by Albert Einstein seeks to convince readers that serious scientific workers are the only profoundly religious people. In this essay Einstein discusses his views on the purpose of nature and meaning of life, coming to the conclusion that only those individuals who ascend to a third stage of religious experience, cosmic religious feeling, keep true religious feeling alive through the arts and sciences."

Tags:music, universality, religion, myth, universe, existence, meaning

From the Paper
"The purpose of this research is to examine symbolism in "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe in connection with transcendentalism as articulated by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The plan of the research will be to set forth a definition of transcendentalism and then to discuss how imagery in Poe's story can be discussed in relationship to Emersonian transcendentalism.

Transcendentalism is the name given to a personalist metaphysics associated with the so-called Concord School of Philosophy, which articulated a recognition in man of the capacity of knowing truth intuitively, or of attaining knowledge transcending the reach of the senses. In the transcendentalist view, there are certain laws of religion and metaphysics in the spiritual world that can be known even though not directly experienced. Because the mind makes intuitions, leaping from the .."

Abstract
This paper compares and contrast how nature is portrayed in a variety of literary works. The works included in this paper are Elizabeth Bishop's "The Fish," Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Nature," Oliver Wendell Holmes' "The Chambered Nautilus," and Patrick Meyer's "K2," Jack London's "To Build A Fire," Henry David Thoreau's "Walden, Or Life in the Woods" and William Wordsworth''s "The World is Too Much With Us." Some of the topics discussed include cruelty in nature, man's relationship with nature, the different elements of nature, the Romantic and Transcendentalist view of nature and the true communing of individual soul with nature. The paper concludes with the author tying all of these topics together by illustrating the similarities between human nature and nature itself.

From the Paper
"Emerson is most concerned about how Emerson sees nature, and would like to see nature better as an American. Emerson does not consider that while observing nature everyone is not only changed internally by nature, whether by cold or by beauty, but also that the observer changes nature itself, even in as simple as something as walking through the perfect and untrodden snow. Just as animal life impacts and is impacted by nature; human beings exist a part of nature and are subject to natural forces. These forces include but are not limited to cold, illness, injury, death, birth, and seasonal extremes. The metaphor of the only observing eyeball denies such an impact."

Tags:wordsworth, emerson, holmes, thoreau, bishop, london

Abstract
This paper explains that New England Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson believed in the power of nature so strongly that it influenced his thoughts on religion, self-reliance and the role of the scholar. The author points out that Emerson's belief in human nature determined his view that people must be individual and rely completely on their own understanding and truth; however, paradoxically, he also believed that nature makes everyone part of a universal being or truth. The paper concludes that Emerson was certain that human nature is perfect within all people and must be allowed to have a free voice unfettered by the opinions of societies, the restrictions of organized religion and the weight of scholarship.

From the Paper
"Emerson loved the beauty of nature and found the presence of the sublime when he contemplated the pure air and scenery. He frequently describes nature in terms that prove his delight. Comparisons to the sophisticated life of the city always show the superiority of the natural world in his writings. The most powerful aspect of nature is that it is not concerned with the past or the future, it is simply content to be what is in its nature. Emerson insisted that man should feel the same way."

Tags:transcendentalist, individual, nature, religion, restrictions

Abstract
This paper examines whether the American expansion conflicted with ideological movements in the United States. It particularly focuses on the views of transcendentalists like Henry David Thoreau and the reasons why they were opposed to the concept of expansion in the US. The paper discusses the book, "Walden," written by Thoreau and how Thoreau tried to teach Americans to live life by simplification and by self-examination.

From the Paper
"For these reasons, Henry David Thoreau was not a fan of expansion. For Americans, expansion only led to more work. More and more work led men away from themselves and the things that really mattered in life. Transcendentalists believed in simplify life, in going against the grain of society. Society's goals and aspirations were those that corrupted men, not allowed them to live their lives better. Expansion led America to further and further complication and aspiration, and led Americans to the hectic life which many continue to live. These ideas are directly imposed to Transcendentalism. Today we continue to move in the opposite direction, and one has to predict that this "forward" movement as it is thought of, will never cease. There are people who do not know themselves at all, but they know what it takes to succeed in a materialistic society."

Tags:complication, aspiration, transcendentalists

Abstract
This paper looks at the life of Henry David Thoreau, recognized as one of the great writers of America and a product of the New England transcendental movement. It examines how Thoreau's life was greatly influenced by his friends and family when he was young and how his family and their abolitionist views provided a foundation for Thoreau's seemingly eclectic ideals which later showed themselves in many of his actions. It analyzes how "Walden" and many other works were written when Thoreau lived at Walden Pond for two years to isolate himself from society and to expand his transcendentalist philosophies. It shows how Thoreau's views on society and his transcendentalist philosophies have hugely impacted many people in today's society and how his writings and ideals have left a lasting legacy in the minds of Americans throughout the years.

From the Paper
"Christened David Henry by his father, John Thoreau, and his mother, Cynthia Dunbar, Thoreau was a product of heterogeneous ancestry "Scotch, English, and French" (Harding 1). He later changed his name, for reasons he would never reveal, to Henry David. The Thoreau family was known as a family of independent thinkers, and the ideas and moral traits that he was exposed to as a boy helped to build his character. Thoreau's mother was a strong-minded woman who was actively concerned with abolitionist issues and social work, as well as an immanent interest in natural history. The family had even harbored fugitive slaves, which instilled in Thoreau an abolitionist conviction. Thoreau worked with his father for a short time producing graphite for pencil lead, but "his father's long series of business failures during Thoreau's youth must have had a profound influence on Thoreau's outlook toward society" (Harding 102). Thoreau was introduced to the daughter of a Unitarian minister, Ellen Sewall, on July 30, 1839."

Tags:naturalist, science, transcendentalism, walden, philosophy

Abstract
This paper discusses two great American thinkers: The nineteenth-century transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson and the eighteenth-century Puritan, Jonathan Edwards. The paper compares these two great thinkers, noting that Emerson's Romanticism era was based on the value of the individual and the beauty of the natural world, while Edwards' era focused on the Puritan idea of innate depravity and praise to God in heaven, and relates that this comparison thus illustrates how the mentalities of these scholars are profoundly dissimilar in several aspects. The paper then contrasts the philosophies of Edwards and Emerson by examining their views on man, spirituality and religion, and nature.

From the Paper
"The somewhat self-centered attitude portrayed in Emerson's work has led some to believe that he considers mankind as God's equal - as if the world, in Emerson's view, revolves around man's thoughts and feelings; however, Edwards' position is that human life is controlled and monitored by God Himself. In contrast to Emerson's idea of man being somewhat supreme beings whose ways are right if he believes them to be so, Edwards advocates the Puritan philosophy of innate depravity. In his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," Edwards insists that mankind as a whole is sinful in nature and must obtain salvation from above in order to be at peace. "Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it," Edwards states, "he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do" (501). "

Tags:transcendentalism, puritan, spirituality, religion

Abstract
This paper explains how Whitman's poetry echoed his biographical elements, ranging from the view of a cultural representative of the working class poor to the transcendentalist philosophy of identity as perceived and experienced through nature. The writer states that his style also included a deviant sexual perspective brought to him through his own homosexuality.

From the Paper
"Within the broad designation of Romanticism there was also the distinction of realist and decadence. The difference in style is such that realist literature is based on the trials and tribulations of the physical world, using the imagery and metaphor of nature; whereas decadence relies and utilizes the romantic style of bold invention and appealing to the supernatural. Walt Whitman combined the principles of romanticism with transcendental philosophy, further opening the door to creative endeavor and thought. The reliance on nature for an understanding of personal relationship with the a priori that is inherent in the preface to the 1855 edition of Walt Whitman's Leaves Of Grass is a basic formula for the trancendentalist. He begins with a call to nature, followed by an appeal to ethical behavior, the instruction to consider all things of worth and focuses on the individual as arbiter of his own reality. The main elements of his belief, as stated in the preface, are the same as the basic elements of transcendental philosophy: nature and the individual. The same could be said of Walt Whitman's poem, Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking. It is the story of a memory that Whitman has of his youth where he found a nest with two mockingbirds in it. Over the course of time, the female failed to return to the nest and the cries of the male seemed to reflect the sorrow of Whitman's own lost youth. It is appropriate that the Mockingbird is seen in Whitman's poem of childhood."

Tags:identity