9美国超验主义材料.ppt

American Transcendentalism Transcendentalism is a form of idealism that encompasses belief in intuitive knowledge, the indwelling of divinity in man and nature. The coming in of Spring is like the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age. ---Henry D. Thoreau American Transcendentalism 1. The first American intellectual movement to inspire a number of literary classics ( in Europe, it was a philosophy) 2. It stresses the unity of being---viewing God, man and nature as sharers in a universal soul-----Oversoul 3. It is a kind of idealism and romanticism American Transcendentalism Leading transcendentalists ( reformers + idealists ) 1. Ralph Waldo Emerson-- the leader 2. Henry David Thoreau-- the doer 3. Elizabeth Peabody-- children-kindergarten 4. Margaret Fuller-- women’s rights 5. Bronson Alcott— adult education and labor movement Who are they? 1. The young men and women under 35 from the Boston area 2. Genteel and well-educated, Harvard graduates 3. Unitarian Church 唯一神教派 4. Teachers, lecturers, journalists and writers What do they believe? I become a transparent eyeball;I am nothing;I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me. I am part or parcel of God. ---Emerson What do they do? 1. Talk and discuss---intellectual companionship and interests ( Brook Farm) 2. Work---living closer to nature and dignity of manual labor ( Thoreau) 3. Believe---human rights are divine in their right 4. Write---The Dial ( 1840-1844) 《日晷》 5. Reform---human rights, women’s rights social changes Where does Transcendentalism come from? Philosophy + religion + culture 1. German idealism: Kant 康德