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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
An 8 page research paper/essay that examines the "Divinity School Address" of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1802-1882), one of America's leading transcendentalist philosophers. On July 15, 1838 Emerson gave the commence address to graduating seniors from Divinity College in his hometown of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Examination of this address shows that it largely sums up much of Emerson's transcendental philosophy. This philosophy is examined, along with the address. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Page Count:
8 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khrwedsa.rtf
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his hometown of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Examination of this address shows that it largely sums up much of Emersons transcendental philosophy. However, before looking directly at the Divinity School Address for
evidence of Emersons transcendentalism, it is helpful to first look at what this term means within the cultural context of nineteenth century America. Historian Lawrence Buell states that transcendentalism
originated as an expression of discontent within American Unitarianism, which was, itself, a liberal movement within Congregationalism (Buell 4). Transcendentalists objected to the Unitarian premise that God and his law
could only be comprehended through rational contemplation on the natural world and the study of revelation of scripture, rather then intuitively. Inspirited by post-Kantian philosophy and the work of Samuel
Coleridge, protestors against this view began by the 1830s to argue that in addition to humanitys capacity for empirical reasoning, people possessed the ability to discern spiritual truth on an
intuitive level (Buell 4-5). It is this perception of "Reason" that Buell argues is at the heart of what has come to be called "transcendentalism" (Buell 5). The individuals
who wrote about this faculty referred to it by different names -- e.g., "spirit," "mind," or "soul" - but they were basically referring to the same quality (Buell 5).
This feature of transcendentalism is clearly evident in Emersons address. Emerson begins "The Divinity School Address" with a lyrical picture that conveys both the beauty and grandeur of nature,
but also how this can serve as source of inspiration for humanity. "How wide; how rich; what invitation from every property it gives to every faculty of man!" (Emerson 480)..
However, Emerson continues by arguing that an even greater beauty is available to humanity when the "heart and soul open to the sentiment of virtue (Emerson 480). Emerson defines
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