chapter4emerson艾默生解说.pptVIP

Regeneration is a major thematic concern of warden Regeneration is a major thematic concern of warden and thus decide the structural framework of the book. The whole book is within the frame of a single year, and progresses through spring, summer and autumn to winter. Evaluation Comparing with Emerson who was a great thinker, Thoreau was a great experimentalist who put Emersons Transcendental doctrines into practice in the actual life. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803----1882) His Life a. born in a clergyman’s family in New England b. graduated from Harvard c. became a Unitarian minister to the Second Church of Boston, but not for long. d. Finding the rationality of Unitarianism intolerable, he decided to leave his job as minister. e. went to Europe, and met Coleridge and Wordsworth and made friends with them, and brought back the influence of European Romanticism. f. founded a Transcendentalists Club and published a journal g. became the most eloquent spokesman of Transcendentalism  His point of view a. One major element of his philosophy is his firm belief in the transcendence of the “oversoul”. b. He regards nature as the purest, and the most sanctifying(圣洁的 神圣化的) moral influence on man, and advocated a direct intuition of a spiritual and immanent(内在的 固有的) God in nature. c. If man depends upon himself, cultivates himself and brings out the divine in himself, he can hope to become better and even perfect. This is what Emerson means by “the infinitude of man”.Everyone should understand that he makes himself by making his world, and that he makes the world by making himself. His Works a. Essays《散文集》 b. Nature《论自然》(a book which declared the birth of Transcendentalism) c. The American Scholar《论美国学者》(American’s Declaration of Intellectual Independence) d. Divinity, The Oversoul《论超灵》 e. Self-reliance《论自立》 f. The Transcendentalist《超验主义者》  His aesthetics a. poets should function as preachers who gave directions to the mass. b. True poetry and true art should ennoble a