Emerson.pptxVIP

Ralph Waldo Emerson;Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. ;The Founder of Transcendentalism;What is Transcendentalism?;Transcendentalists believed in the importance and efficacy of human striving. His views, the basis of Transcendentalism, suggested that God does not have to reveal the truth but that the truth could be intuitively experienced directly from nature.（主张人能超越感觉和理性而直接认识真理）;Transcendentalists believe that society and its institutions—particularly organized religion and political parties—ultimately corrupt the purity of the individual. They have faith that people are at their best when truly self-reliant and independent. It is only from such real individuals that true community could be formed.;Core Beliefs of Transcendentalism;超验主义的主要思想观点有三： 1、超验主义者强调精神，或超灵，认为这是宇宙至为重要的存在因素。超灵是一种无所不容、无所不在、扬善抑恶的力量，是万物之本、万物之所属，它存在于人和自然界内。 2、超验主义者强调个人的重要性。他们认为个人是社会的最重要的组成部分，社会的革新只能通过个人的修养和完善才能实现。因此人的首要责任就是自我完善，而不是刻意追求金玉富贵。理想的人是依靠自己的人。;3、超验主义者以全新的目光看待自然，认为自然界是超灵或上帝的象征。在他们看来，自然界不只是物质而已。它有生命，上帝的精神充溢其中，它是超灵的外衣。因此，它对人的思想具有一种健康的滋补作用。超验主义主张回归自然，接受它的影响，以在精神上成为完人。这种观点的自然内涵是，自然界万物具象征意义，外部世界是精神世界的体现。;Influence;Father was a famous minister who encouraged young Ralph to pursue philosophy at a young age.;Father passes away at age 8 and Emerson is left to support his four other brothers.;In 1831 makes his first trip to England where he meets poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth（the founders of Romantic Movement) who introduce him to Romantic notions of nature and philosophy.;Returns to Concord, MA in 1835 and writes his first important work Nature which describes how humans find God within nature: “In the woods is perpetual youth… In the woods we return to reason and faith.;The British critic Matthew Arnold said the most important writings in English in the 19th century had been Wordsworths poems and Emersons essays. ;Famous Lecturer;was a speech given by Ralph Waldo Emerson on Aug