Emerson

Teacher and Priest
Experience
1832年以后，爱默生到欧洲各国游历，结识了浪 漫主义先驱华兹华斯和柯尔律治，接受了他们的 先验论思想，对他思想体系的形成具有很大影响。 这段经历记载在《英国人的性格》（English Traits）中。爱默生的旅游地点不限于英国，他 也去了法国（1848年）、意大利和中东。 爱默生回到波土顿后，在康考德一带从事布道。 这时他的演说更接近于亚里士多德学派风格，重 要演讲稿有《历史的哲学》、《人类文化》、 《目前时代》等。 爱默生经常和他的朋友梭罗、 霍桑、阿尔柯、玛格利特等人举行小型聚会，探 讨神学、哲学和社会学问题。这种聚会当时被称 为“超验主义俱乐部”，爱默生也自然而然地成 为超验主义领袖。
Origin
New England Transcendentalism was the product of a combination of foreign influences and the American Puritan tradition. Romantic idealism, as Transcendentalism has come to be called, can be said to have begun with the introduction of idealistic philosophy from Germany and France. If we go back to our previous chapter on Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin,we will observe how much Ameican Transcendentalism was the heritage of American Puritanism.

Comments on Emerson

Emerson’s reputation has fallen somewhat in the twentieth century .It may have to do with his seemingly unqualified acceptance of life and his cheerful optimism that stemmed from that acceptance .In modern times Emerson is sometimes dismissed as having no sense of evil ,and his optimistic philosophy as so much Transcendentalist folly .

The conduct of life《生活的准则》（1860）
Transcendentalism
1.Definition Transcendentalism is literature, philosophical and literary movement that flourished in New England from about 1836 to 1860.The beliefs that god is immanent in each person and in nature and that individual intuition is the highest source of knowledge led to an optimistic emphasis on individualism, self-reliance, and rejection of traditional authority. It is most eloquently expressed by Amerson in such essays as Nature,and Self-Reliance and by Henry David Thoreau in his book Walden.
Nature's voice pushed American
The American scholar
“ The American scholar‖ has been regarded (first by Oliver Wendell Holmes) as ―America’s Declaration of Intellectual Independence‖. He thought that the Americans should write about here and now instead of imitating and importing from other lands .

Natureຫໍສະໝຸດ Nature（1836）his first book，regarded as the bible of new England transcendentalism.
Nature

Romanticism into a new phase ,the phase of New England Transcendentalism, the summit of American Romanticism . In this book ,he regards the universe is composed of Nature and the Soul; the nature is the purest ,and the most sanctifying moral influence on man ;Nature is the symbol of spirit.
Emerson’s Early Life
爱默生，1803年5月25日出生于马萨诸塞州波士顿附近的 康考德村 ，一个世代为教士的英格兰家庭，他的父亲， 威廉· 爱默生是一位知名的论派牧师。爱默生在即将过八 岁生日的两周前父亲过世，由母亲和姑母抚养他成人，经 历了评论家所说的“上流社会的贫困生活”。 隔年他被送到了波士顿拉丁学校就读，在校期间，他阅读 了大量英国浪漫主义作家的作品，丰富了思想，开阔了视 野。1821年爱默生从哈佛大学毕业后，他协助自己的兄弟 在母亲的家中设立一所给年轻女性就读的学校，之后数年， 爱默生都过着担任校长的日子。之后进了哈佛大学神学院， 并于1829年以一位论派牧师的形象崭露头角。

Transcendentalism
Features:
The Transcendentalists placed emphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the universe . The Transcendentalists stressed the importance of the individual . The Transcendentalists offered a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God .
Ralph Waldo Emerson
拉尔夫· 华尔多· 爱默生
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
Introduction of Amerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American lecturer, philosopher, essayist, and poet, best remembered for leading the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He has had great influence for centuries extending beyond the literary community to the American people at large . 拉尔夫· 沃尔多· 爱默生（1803年5月25日 1882年4月27日）是美国讲师，哲学家，散文家， 诗人,19世纪超验主义的发言人。他不仅直接影 响了之后的美国文学，而且他的思想已经成为美 国文化和传统意识中的重要成分。爱默生是确立 美国文化精神的代表人物。 美国前总统林肯称他 为“美国的孔子”、“美国文明之父”。

Main Works


Nature 《论自然》是第一部著作（1836）
The American scholar《论美国学者》（1837） Essays《随笔》 ——first series（1841）， second series（1844） Representative men《代表人物》（1849）

Core Beliefs of Transcendentalism
Transcendentalists believed individuals could transcend to a higher being of existence in nature. God is located in the soul of each individual. Humanity’s potential is limitless. Experience is valued over scholarship.