英语本科毕业论文-A Brief Study on Emerson and His Transcendentalism.doc

A Brief Study on Emerson and His Transcendentalism A Graduation Thesis Submitted byLiu ChenxiaoIn Partial Fulfillment of the RequirementsForThe Degree of Bachelor of ArtsIn the Subject of English Language and LiteratureToCollege of Foreign LanguagesOfAgricultural University of HebeiSupervisor: Jiang ZhifangMay 20, 2010Candidate Supervisor Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsi摘 要iiAbstractii1. Introduction12. The Formation of Emersons Transcendentalism22.1Historical Background22.1.1 Social Condition22.1.2 Emersons Own Condition22.2 Origin and Development32.2.1 The Origin of the Theory32.2.2 Development63. The Core Notions of Emersons Thought83.1 The Important Core NotionOver-Soul83.2 The Important Core NotionSelf-Reliance94. A Brief Analysis on Nature114.1 The Significance of the Book114.2 A Brief Explanation of Nature115. Conclusion15Bibliography16AcknowledgementsThis thesis is about Emerson and his Transcendentalism. It is with great pleasure that I gratefully acknowledge the many benefits I have enjoyed in this kind of study. I would like to take the opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to all those who have helped me in one way or another in the completion of this thesis.First and foremost, I would like to give my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Ms Jiang Zhifang, for her instruction, encouragement and kindness. I thank her for her careful correction of my thesis and her advice which has helped me complete my study of Emerson.Moreover, I am grateful to all the professors who presented their wonderful lectures from which I have benefited a lot. Special thanks should extend to my colleagues, without their help, the completion of the paper would be impossible.Finally, I wish to express my appreciation to all my classmates and friends, and my family members, for their support and encouragement. I am indebted to them for their help. Liu ChenxiaoMay 20, 2010【摘 要】拉尔夫沃尔多爱默生是美国伟大的思想家，散文家和诗人。他是美国十九世纪中叶超验主义运动的杰出领导者。爱默生集古代经典作品的观点于一身并形成了自己的一套哲学理论。他的超验主义被称之为最重要的世俗宗教，爱默生也被称作“美国精神的先知”和 “美国的孔子”。事实上，爱默生的哲学、宗教和文化源自不同的文化影响。欧洲浪漫主义、康德的哲学思想和理想主义以及儒家思想都对爱默生的超验主义的形成产生了重大影响。爱默生的超灵思想和自立思想是其超验主义的核心，“超灵”以自然、人和灵的关系为基础，注重人与自然的和谐，旨在帮助人类领悟真理。“自立”注重精神，张扬个性，呼吁自助，把人推向了神的高度。他的论自然被认为是超验主义的圣经，这本书给美国人思想开辟了一个新的境地，使美国思想从欧洲桎梏下解放出来。本论文旨在对爱默生的超验主义核心思想和其著作论自然作基础研究，以便更好的理解其超验思想。【关键词】爱默生；超验主义；超灵；自立【Abstract】Ralph Waldo Emerson was a great thinker, essayist and poet in the mid-19th century and an outstanding leader of the transcendental movement. Emerson was great to confluence ideas of classics works and formed his own philosophy. His transcendentalism was called as the most important mundane religion and he was regarded as “the prophet of American consciousness” and “Confucius in the United States”. Actually his philosophy, his religious and cultural thoughts were developed from different sources, for his transcendentalism is deeply influenced by European Romanticism, Kants thoughts of philosophy and idealism and the Confucianism ,these thoughts help Emerson a lot in forming his theory. “Over-Soul” and “Self-Reliance” are the core notions of his thinking. “Over-Soul” based on the relationship of nature, human and spirit, and it laid stress on the harmony of human and nature, so as to help human comprehending the truth. “Self-Reliance” paid attention to the spirit, personal character, calling on Self-Reliance, and it pushed the human to the height of God. His first book Nature was regarded as the Bible of New England Transcendentalism, and it opened up a new realm to the American, and it also liberated the American literature from the shackles of European. This thesis aims to make a general elementary study on Emersons core notions of transcendentalism.【Key Words】 Emerson; Transcendentalism; over-soul; self-relianceii1. IntroductionWell known as an essayist, a philosopher, a sage, a seer, a poet or a political reformer in the American literary history, Ralph Waldo Emerson was a representative of the American Romanticism in the mid-19th century and an outstanding leader of the transcendental movement. His theories and doctrines have far-reaching influence on the birth of American literature; he also played an important role in establishing the independent American culture and even in the formation of the national characters of America. This paper discusses the formation and the development of Emersons thought, states the core notions in his thought and has a brief study on his Nature.The system of Emersons thoughts is numerous and multifarious, and it is a little hard to comprehend every aspect of his theory. Many researchers have conducted illuminating and insightful researches into Emerson from a variety of angle of vision. Among the pioneering studies, most of them paid much attention to Emersons contributions to American Transcendental philosophy and his influence on American literature and from the aspect of his unique view on nature and environment. In this thesis, Emersons idea of transcendentalism Transcendentalism: A philosophic and literary movement that flourished in New England, from about 1836-1860, as a reaction against 18th century rationalism, and the orthodoxy of New England Calvinism. This belief emphasis on spirit or over-soul stresses the importance of individual and offers nature as the symbol of the Spirit or God. in the Nature is considered as a big part in his thought system at the beginning of the 19th century. The significance of this thesis lies in the microcosmic point of view to study Emersons thoughts, in order to let us have a better understanding of Emerson, and his transcendentalism. There are five parts in this paper. Chapter 1 is the general introduction of Emerson and the aims as well as the significance of this thesis. Chapter 2 shows the formation and development of Emersons thought; it will consider the historical background, the origin and development of Emersons theory, and tries to find the internal and external factors. Chapter 3 states the core notions of Emersons transcendentalism. It also discusses the most important features in Emersons philosophy, religious, and cultural thought such as “Over-Soul” and “Self-Reliance”. Chapter 4 discusses the spirit of Transcendentalism in the Nature. Emerson believes everything had their soul and also nature is the symbol of spirit. Emerson gradually formed a double view on transcendentalism of nature in both material and spiritual dimensions. Chapter5 is the conclusion of this paper. 2. The Formation of Emersons TranscendentalismThe formation and the development of Emersons thought are related to the history of his time and also related to the factors of the world.2.1 Historical Background Historically speaking, any emergence of a representative figure or of a new idea is not accidental. There are exterior conditions, as well as internal factors, and it is true of Emersons thought. The formation of Emersons thought had a close relationship with the social conditions and Emersons family background, with his education and his personal makings.2.1.1 Social Condition After half a centurys development and construction, America had made much progress in its politics, economy and culture in the 30s of the 19th century especially in the booming industry with trains and chimneys everywhere in New England that indicated the prosperity of the nations economy. As a newly born nation, America not only needed political, economical and diplomatic independence but also needed corresponding prosperity in national culture. Compared to the booming industry and economy, culture development apparently was lagged behind, let alone literary works reflecting subject matters of American itself. During this period, the stiff and rigid doctrines of Calvinism Calvinism: It is a series of theological beliefs first promoted by John Calvin, one of the leaders of the Protestant reformation. They were the doctrines of salvation which contained in the Bible, such as Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace and Perseverance of the saints. took the dominant position in religion; as for culture, the then literary works still could not cast off the bondage of Britainthe mother country of America. As a result, Literature at that time lacked sense of nationalism and original spirit.Under these circumstances, there appeared a desire nursed in some American heart: the desire to enhance sense of nationalism and sense of national literature. Against this background, Emersons transcendentalism came into being and consequently resulting in transcendental movement. The reform of Emersons thought in religion and philosophy greatly pushed the national development in American literature, which broke deeply through the depressing atmosphere in literature.2.1.2 Emersons Own ConditionSince childhood Emerson was under the edification of Unitarianism, Unitarianism: Religious doctrine of the single personality of God, as contrasted with the Trinitarian concept. The name does not fully indicate the significance of the Unitarian movement, which lies in its liberal rationalism and its opposition to the doctrines of inherited guilt, loss of free will, eternal punishment, and vicarious atonement. which had a great impact on Emerson at least in two aspects: first Unitarianism advocated logos, taking such virtues as reason and simplicity in material life as the social norms. Second, it stressed freedom in ones faith and allowed the autonomy in religion. The two aspects played an important role in the formation of Emersons transcendentalism. Emersons mother, Ruth Haskins Emerson, kept the family after her husbands death when Ralph was only eight. Her belief of stressing the possibility of everyday spirituality and the authenticating feelings of individual religious experience passed on to Emerson.Besides his mothers influence, his fathers sister, Mary Moody Emerson contributed greatly to Emersons intellectual standards, his inner growth and his development. She expressed herself on every conceivable topic and obliged the boys to do the same. She also had a deep feeling for the natural world and for its connection with crucial moments of human experience. Her character and thought and even her way of doing things influence greatly on Emersons character and thought.Apart from the religious background, Emerson is bookish. He was interested very much in history and biographies; he read classics of different periods in human history and from different nations. The wide readings enlarged his vision and enrich his mind. It turned out that all his preliminary preparations in reading and writing are destined to form the makings of his success later. Gradually, young Emerson matured both in his thought and in his writing and became a man of rich thought and scholar of unique sight.2.2 Origin and Development Emersons transcendentalism is not imagined by himself, it was the product of a combination of foreign influences and the American Puritan tradition.2.2.1 The Origin of the TheoryAs a moral philosophy, Transcendentalism was neither logical nor systematized. It exalted feeling over reason, individual expression over the restraints of law and custom. It appealed to those who disdained the harsh God of their Puritan ancestors and those who scorned the pale deity of New England Unitarianism.The formation of Emersons transcendentalism had its thought mainly from three sources. Firstly, the idealistic philosophy from Germany, the works of Kant exerted enormous impact on American intellectuals. Secondly, Unitarianism is the improved theory of the American Puritan tradition, it believed God as one being, rejecting the doctrine of trinity, stressing the tolerance of difference in religious opinion, and giving each congregation the free control of its own affair and its independent authority. It laid the foundation for the central doctrines of transcendentalism. Thirdly, the philosophy of the Chinese Confucius is also an important part.(i) Kants InfluenceEmerson owned his transcendentalism to Kants influence. Kants idealism is a main track for the formation of Emersons transcendentalism. The word transcendental was not native to America; it was a Kantian term denoting, as Emerson puts it, “Whatever belongs to the class of intuitive thought.” Kant was the first to make a technical distinction between the terms transcendent and transcendental. Kant reserved the term transcendent for those entities such as God and the soul, which were thought to exist outside of human experience and was therefore unknowable; he used the term transcendental to signify a priori forms of thought, that is, innate principles with which the mind gave form to its perceptions and made experience intelligible. Grounded on Kants thought Emerson put forward his opinion in Nature that spirit is the paramount and supreme in the universe.Beside idealistic spirit, Kant and his followers brought scientific method to the subject of mind. In Kants opinion, peoples mind was filled with creativity and originality, men only partially take in knowledge in the meanwhile they created their own and Kant positively stressed strongly mens originality. Emerson was greatly appealed by Kants opinion and he further developed this idea in Self-Reliance. Emerson pointed out that man should be both self-reliant and selfless and that there are good virtues in every man, they need us to open up and cultivate. (ii) American Puritans InfluenceAmerican transcendentalism inherited certain culture from American Puritanism. The Edwardian notion of inward communication of the soul with God and divine symbolism of nature all find adequate expression in Emersons Transcendentalism. Emerson stated his ideas in terms of transcendental idealism of Over-Soul, and in the language of Nature, Self-Reliance, and The Divinity School Address. What Emerson and his fellow Transcendentalist endeavored to do was in fact primarily to reassert the religious idealism of their Puritan past and rephrase their thoughts in forms. Then, we also notice that the Transcendentalists emphasis on individual was directly traceable to the Puritan principle of self-culture and self-improvement as best exemplified by the success story of Americas first self-made man, Benjamin Franklin. Virtue alone, to him, led to success: One had to be self-reliant and improve ones personality. There exists an evident resemblance, between Emersons “the influence of the private individual” and Franklins belief that “the least of men can rise” and “a man of tolerable abilities can work great changes and accomplish great affairs among mankind”. Thus this is a good reason to say that New England Transcendentalism was, in actuality, Romanticism on the Puritan soil.() The Thoughts of ConfuciusConfucianism is one of the branches having shaped Emerson and his Transcendentalism. Emerson once read many books on Confusion such as Confusion, The Analects; the Four Books, which he made dozens of extracts from them in his journal and even some for The Dial in 1843.The thoughts of Confucius give Emerson much inspiration, such as the humanism tendency, the goodness of views and the nature. First, In Confucius eyes, the universe is spontaneous and a self-production process, it repeats in cycles, grows continually. The relationship of universe and human makes the Chinese thinkers always concerned about peoples real life to explore mans inner world and take human as a center. The Confucian thoughts of this humanism tendency makes Emerson resonated, and reflected in transcendentalism. For transcendentalism emphasizes the importance of spirit and individual is the most important element of society, holds the harmony of human and nature. Second, Confucius has twice affirmed the identity of human nature, “By nature, near together, by practice far apart.” and “only the wise and the fool of human nature remained unchangeable” (王袭奋 2009：121). As to Emerson, “all peoples mental constitution, in terms of their importance, is similar” (Ibid, 122). They both insisted that the human is originally kind, and both do not negate the authority and sacred, but Emerson change the Confucius Saint into his, and that is what he brought from China to the mind of American. Third, Confucianism believed that the origin of the world is abstract, vague, and mysterious, Emerson also think that the nature is the net of God which is stretched long and unbroken, and it has no beginning and also no ending. However it has the power of cycling, and it can continuously comes back to itself. They both affirmed the continuity and the entirety of nature, everything in the world unites in it, and this entirety is an organism that begins from nothing and then develops to affect each other. So the world is an entire one the nature and man are indivisible.Emerson and the Confucianists all hold that there exists a spiritual world in the bank of the material world to corresponding with it. On the one hand, the nature is the reflection of spirit, every natural process tended to be symbolic; on the other hand, the nature is like a mirror, it can reflect peoples inner world, so the nature acts as the communicator of human and the spirit. When people merged into the nature, the body and soul, the spirit and material achieve highly integrated. Great minds have something in common. The influences of Chinese Confucianism help Emerson a lot in establishing his theory.2.2.2 DevelopmentEmerson was son of a Unitarian minister. Though born of an impoverished family, Emerson never failed to receive some formal education. Whi1e as a student at Harvard he began keeping journals, a practice h