刘晨晓的论文

本科毕业论文 题 目：简析爱默生和他的超验主义 学 院： 外 国 语 学 院 专业班级： 英 语0 6 0 1班 学 号： 2006344010122 学生姓名： 刘 晨 晓 指导教师姓名： 姜志芳 指导教师职称： 讲 师 二O一O 年 六 月 十 五 日

A Brief Study on Emerson and His Transcendentalism

A Graduation Thesis Submitted by

Liu Chenxiao

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For

The Degree of Bachelor of Arts

In the Subject of English Language and Literature

To

College of Foreign Languages

Of

Agricultural University of Hebei Supervisor: Jiang Zhifang

May 20, 2010

Candidate Supervisor

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... i 摘 要 ............................................................................................................................. ii Abstract ........................................................................................................................ ii 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 2. The Formation of Emerson's Transcendentalism ................................................ 2

2.1Historical Background ....................................................................................... 2

2.1.1 Social Condition ..................................................................................... 2 2.1.2 Emerson’s Own Condition ..................................................................... 2 2.2 Origin and Development .................................................................................. 3

2.2.1 The Origin of the Theory ........................................................................ 3 2.2.2 Development .......................................................................................... 6

3. The Core Notions of Emerson’s Thought ............................................................. 8

3.1 The Important Core Notion—Over-Soul.......................................................... 8 3.2 The Important Core Notion—Self-Reliance .................................................... 9 4. A Brief Analysis on Nature ................................................................................... 11

4.1 The Significance of the Book .......................................................................... 11 4.2 A Brief Explanation of Nature ......................................................................... 11 5. Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 15 Bibliography .............................................................................................................. 16

Acknowledgements

This 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 Chenxiao May 20, 2010

i

【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, Kant’s 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 Emerson’s core notions of transcendentalism.

【Key Words】 Emerson; Transcendentalism; over-soul; self-reliance

ii

1. Introduction

Well 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 Emerson’s thought, states the core notions in his thought and has a brief study on his Nature.

The system of Emerson’s 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 Emerson’s 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, Emerson’s idea of transcendentalism① 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 Emerson’s 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 Emerson’s thought; it will consider the historical background, the origin and development of Emerson’s theory, and tries to find the internal and external factors. Chapter 3 states the core notions of Emerson’s transcendentalism. It also discusses the most important features in Emerson’s 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.

①

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.

1

2. The Formation of Emerson's Transcendentalism

The formation and the development of Emerson’s 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 Emerson’s thought. The formation of Emerson’s thought had a close relationship with the social conditions and Emerson’s family background, with his education and his personal makings. 2.1.1 Social Condition

After half a century’s 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 nation’s 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 Calvinism② took the dominant position in religion; as for culture, the then literary works still could not cast off the bondage of Britain—the 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, Emerson’s transcendentalism came into being and consequently resulting in transcendental movement. The reform of Emerson’s 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 Emerson’s Own Condition

②

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.

2

Since childhood Emerson was under the edification of Unitarianism,③ 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 one’s faith and allowed the autonomy in religion. The two aspects played an important role in the formation of Emerson’s transcendentalism. Emerson’s mother, Ruth Haskins Emerson, kept the family after her husband’s 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 mother’s influence, his father’s sister, Mary Moody Emerson contributed greatly to Emerson’s 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 Emerson’s 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

Emerson’s 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 Theory

As 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.

③

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.

3

The formation of Emerson’s 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) Kant’s Influence

Emerson owned his transcendentalism to Kant’s influence. Kant’s idealism is a main track for the formation of Emerson’s 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 Kant’s 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 Kant’s opinion, people’s 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 men’s originality. Emerson was greatly appealed by Kant’s 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 Puritan’s Influence

American 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 Emerson’s 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

4

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 America’s first self-made man, Benjamin Franklin. Virtue alone, to him, led to success: One had to be self-reliant and improve one’s personality. There exists an evident resemblance, between Emerson’s “the influence of the private individual” and Franklin’s 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. (ⅲ) The Thoughts of Confucius

Confucianism 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 people’s real life to explore man’s 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 people’s 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

5

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 people’s 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 Development

Emerson 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 he continued throughout his 1ife. He later drew on the journal for materials for his essays and poetry. After Harvard, he taught as a schoolmaster, which he soon gave up for the study of theology. He began preaching in 1826 and three years later he became a pastor in a church in Boston. Emerson was ardent at first in his service in religion, but gradually grew skeptical of the beliefs of the church; feeling Unitarianism intolerable, he finally left the ministry in l832 and went to Europe to seek the way out for his thought.

In Europe he met and made friends with Coleridge, Wordsworth and Carlyle, and brought back with him the influence of European Romanticism. With people who dissatisfied with the materialistic-oriented society and eager to save the soul with a doctrine of the mind such as Thoreau, Bronson Alcott, and Margaret Fuller, Emerson formed an informal discussing group, the Transcendental Club, with some thirty men and women of Boston and Concord in 1836. They were strongly influenced by the new German idealism and delighted in abstract discussion. They met irregularly over the next four years at Ralph Waldo Emerson’s home in Concord for the purpose of discussing the new ideas of life and society. This club was the first and most famous of a series of forums that served during the next few decades as social gathering points. It became the movement’s magnetic center. From 1836 to 1835, they advocated their views and principles in various magazines. Besides, they even published their journal, The Dial (1840-1844) to explain their ideas. Unlike many European groups the transcendentalists never issued a manifesto. They insisted on individual differences on the unique viewpoint of individual and

6

pushed radical individualism to the extreme. Transcendentalists often saw themselves as lonely explorers outside society and convention. For them nothing was a given. Literary and social conventions, far from being helpful, were dangerous. There was tremendous pressure to discover an authentic literary form, content and voice-all at the same time. Their meetings and their journal promoted this movement and added prominence to it.

Besides, transcendentalists engaged in reform efforts as well as literature. In order to separate themselves from the evil society, they made two communitarian experiments by establishing ideal communities. George Ripley (1802-1880) set up the Brook Farm on Boston's outskirts, which ran from 1841 to 1847 with emphasis on cooperation without competition. The second experiment is Fruit lands, near Harvard, set up by Bronson Alcott (1799-1888) in 1843. On this farm, Alcott stressed the absolute avoidance of exploitation of man and beast. It lasted less than a year because it was more extreme in practice than the Brook Farm. Alcott also helped to organize and preside over the Concord School of Philosophy (1879-1888), a summer seminar. This was the last significant activity of transcendentalism. At last, this tendency was replaced by Realism.

7

3. The Core Notions of Emerson’s Thought

The core notions of Emerson’s thought are “Over-Soul” and “Self-Reliance”, they are the most important points of view in expressing his ideas. 3.1 The Important Core Notion—Over-Soul

What is Over-Soul? Emerson defined it in his essay The Over-Soul as “the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty to which every part and particle is equally related; the Eternal One”(Ralph Waldo Emerson 1950: 262).

For Emerson, God, Over-Soul, Spirit, One Mind, the Eternal One are of the same thing, as expressed in his definitions of Over-Soul or Spirit in Nature: “Spirit is the Creator. Spirit hath life in itself. And man in all ages and countries embody it in his language as the Father” (Ralph Waldo Emerson 1950: 15).

It seems to us Over-Soul, on the one hand, is abstract and unimaginable; it filled in the universe and can be everything. It is not the Jehovah in the Bible, it is not the God. It is the very spirit that lies in the universe. However, on the other hand, Over-Soul also has form and content. It is so near to us that we can touch it with our hands. Everything in the world, including human and nature, is the representative of it. It is the Creator of all and the source of extraordinary proceeds in turn of the soul and the world of nature, circulating in all the space, embodying and demonstrating itself in the observable nature.

We should know that the relationship of the nature, human and God is just the basic theory of Emerson’s transcendentalism, the pith is the concept of Over- soul which he mentioned a lot. Emerson still starts from the nature and natural beauty. He believed that although different people have different opinion about the natural beauty. Natural beauty, everybody can experience it and it is the real fact. This means that beauty exist in everyone’s heart, In other words, everyone’s heart has something that can perceive natural beauty This kind of things which are abstract, invisible, exists in the hearts of human, Emerson called it “Over-Soul”. So as a significant concept of Emerson’s thought which can even be called his religion, “Over-Soul” is surely shows piety in God; this piety denotes a humble stance toward God. Over-Soul is the thread that chains all Emerson’s writings, and it also acts as the pillar of Emerson’s philosophy.

From the above, we can see “Over-Soul” as one of the most important core notions of Emerson’s Transcendentalism, it not only has a definition which is of rich thoughts, but also has

8

great significance to his theory.

At the same time, Emerson and other Transcendentalists believed in the transcendence of “Over-Soul”. It is an impersonal force that is eternal, moral, harmonious, and beneficent in tendency. They believed that there should be an emotional communication between an individual soul and the universal “Over-Soul”, since the over-sou1 is an all-pervading power from which all things come from and of which each is a part. One of the tendencies of the “Over-Soul” is to express itself in form, hence the world of nature as an influence of the world of spirit. Emerson’s remarkable image of “a transparent eyeball” marks a paradoxical state of being, in which one is merged into nature, the Over-Soul, whi1e at the same time retaining a unique perception of the experience. This kind of feeling and belief is just what Emerson wanted the human to understand and experience.

3.2 The Important Core Notion—Self-Reliance

Society’s renewal progresses only through individual progress can be achieved. If the human depends upon himself, self-education, self-enhancement and bring out the divine in himself, he can hope to become better and even perfect. This is what Emerson means by “the infinitude of man”. There are endless possibilities for people to develop themselves and improve their own affairs. Every human’s soul lives in God’s soul. In Emerson’s eye, human are shaped by the image of God, but human are a little less than God. This is as much as to say that the spiritual and immanent God is operative in the soul of man, and that man is divine. The perfect man, self educated, self-improvement, rather than the pursuit of wealth is the Transcendentalists first concern. They have warned people to be on their own spiritual perfection. Individuals have intersection with the Holy Spirit and become sacred. In all his lectures, Emerson says, he has taught one doctrine, namely, “the infinitude of the private man”. He has tried to convince people that the possibilities for man to develop himself are infinite. Men should and could be self-reliant. Each man determines his own existence. Everyone should understand that he makes himself by making his world, and that he makes the world by making himself. “Knowing then that the world exists for you…” he says, “Build therefore your own world”. “Trust thyself!” and “Make thyself!” (quoted in常耀信 2003: 61) Trust your own discretion and the world is yours.

This is just Emerson's hope. Emerson’s eyes were on man as he could be or could become; he was in the main optimistic about human perfectibility. The regeneration of the individual

9

leads to the regeneration of society. Hence his famous remark, “I ask for the individuals, not the notion”(Ibid,62). Emerson’s Transcendentalism, with its emphasis on democratic individualism, may have provided an ideal explanation for the conduct and activities of an expanding capitalist society. It was a reaction against the Calvinist concept that man is total depravity, sin has extended to all parts of every person’s being: his thinking, his emotion and will, and can not hope to be saved except through the grace of God. It was also a reaction against the process of dehumanization that came in the wake of developing capitalism. The industrialization of New England was turning men into nonhuman. People were losing their individuality and were becoming uniform. The transcendentalists saw the process in progress and, by trying to reassert the importance of the individual, emphasized the significance of men regaining their lost personality. The Transcendentalists are clear that only by reiterating the importance of the individual personality; people can regain hope to re-alive.

10

4. A Brief Analysis on Nature

Nature, is the first book which contains the thought of Emerson. So the book is of great importance to him and his transcendentalism. 4.1 The Significance of the Book

In1836, a little book entitled Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson came out which made a tremendous impact on the intellectual life of America. The New World was thrilled to hear the new voice it uttered. “The Universe is composed of Nature and the Soul,” it says, “Spirit present everywhere.” A whole new way of thinking began to exert its influence on the consciousness of man. Nature’s voice pushed American Romanticism into a new phase of New England Transcendentalism, the summit of American Romanticism.

Nature, regard as the Bible of New England Transcendentalism, is a lyrical expression of the harmony Emerson felt between himself and nature. Emerson defines nature as an all-encompassing divine entity inherently known to us in our unfettered innocence, rather than as merely a component of a world ruled by a divine, separate being learned by us through passed-on teachings in our experience.

Nature set beyond the culmination of ideas, published anonymously in 1836, the essay contains an introduction and eight brief chapters, which discussed the love of nature, the uses of nature, the idealist philosophy in relation to nature, evidences of spirit in the material universe, and the potential expansion of human souls and works that will result from a general return to direct, immediate contact with the natural environment. In the essay Emerson clearly expresses the main principles of his Transcendentalist pursuit and his love for nature. By expressing his belief in the mystical “unity of Nature”, Emerson develops his concept of the “Over-Soul” or “Universal Mind”. This essay has become so important that most people consider it an unofficial manifesto for the “Transcendental Club”. 4.2 A Brief Explanation of Nature

What is nature? In the Introduction part Emerson gave the definition of nature as one part of the constitution of the universe. “Philosophically considered, the universe is composed of Nature and the Soul”(Ralph Waldo Emerson 1950: 3). In his eyes, nature is everything that is the

11

so-called “NOT ME”, in the aspect of commence, it refers to essences unchanged by man; space, the air, the river, the leaf. While in the aspect of art, it is applied to the mixture of his will, with the same things, as in a house, a canal, a statue, a picture. So, the relation of nature and soul seems as the relation of physical and spirit, what’s more, the nature of “NOT ME” to “ME”, has a very important function, which can clear our mind, calm our emotion and imply the beauty.

Then Emerson proposed that: “Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should not we have poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs?”(Ibid, 1) This is in fact a declaration of an independent spirit. Then he wrote “Everyman’s condition is a solution in hieroglyphic to those inquiries he would put”(Ibid, 2). This word made the right notes to his views man is his own God, look at the nature in an independence brand-new judgment. As the leading New England Transcendentalist, Emerson affected a most articulate synthesis of the Transcendentalist views. His emphasis on the spirit runs through virtually all his writings.

The first chapter Nature elaborated that the nature implication is rich. In Emerson’s eye nature is the embodiment of human spirit; the happy nature presents happily, the sorrowful nature also appears sorrowful. So he says “To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much as from his chamber as from society”(Ibid, 3). He advocated that practices moral culture grows the soul, when one person lives alone; human’s each kind of intrinsic talent only then obtains the full development. At the same time, Emerson wrote “the integrity of impression made by manifold nature objects”(Ibid, 4). This shows Emerson’s Romantic View of Nature—regards the infinite universe as an organic whole. The human should return to the parent substance condition to go to the pure observation of the world. He regards nature as the purest, and the most sanctifying moral influence on man, and advocates a direct intuition of a spiritual and immanent God in nature. The next paragraph is the most splendid:

Standing on the bare ground, my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space, all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; see all; the currents of Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.(Ralph Waldo Emerson 1950: 5)

This is a moment of “conversion” when one feels completely merged with the outside world, when one has completely sunk into nature and become one with it, and when the soul has gone beyond the physical limits of the body to share the omniscience of the Over-Soul. This is also

12

Emerson’s famous saying on his transcendentalism; he advocated harmony between man and nature .This is the main body of Emerson Romanticism, and the key of the text Nature. Because he means “particular natural facts are symbols of particular spiritual facts”. There is a force of power in the universe, which is pervading everywhere, and can raises good and punish evil. He called it God or Over-Soul.

In the third chapter Beauty, Emerson talks about the winter sight. He writes like this:

Not less excellent, except for our less susceptibility in the afternoon, was the charm, last evening, of a January sunset. The western clouds divided and subdivided themselves into pink flakes modulated with tints of unspeakable softness; and the air had so much life and sweetness, that it was a pain to come within doors.(Ralph Waldo Emerson 1950: 9)

Here, we can see the beauty of nature has great impact on man’s soul. Yet, this kind of nature is not Emerson’s nature. After speaking highly of the natural beauty, he changed his voice and pointed out:

But this beauty of Nature which is seen and felt as beauty is the least part. The shows of day, the dewy morning, the rainbow, mountains, orchards in blossom, starts, moonlight, shadows in still water, and the like, if too eagerly hunted, become shows merely, and mock us with their unreality.(Ralph Waldo Emerson 1950: 10)

As to him, “Beauty is the mark God sets upon virtue.”(Ralph Waldo Emerson 1950: 11) Strictly speaking, Emerson’s discussion turns out to be the transformation of conceptions, the discussion of the nature changed unconsciously into the discussion of the beauty; the discussion of natural beauty turns out to be of the virtue of spirit. It seems that Emerson found an abstract conception which can gather nature and human into one: The beauty that manifest virtue, as to the nature, it is natural beauty; when comes to man, it is the beauty of spirit and morality. As a matter of fact, Emerson’s original idea is not this. In the fourth chapter Language, Emerson clearly states:

But this origin of all words that convey a spiritual import—so conspicuous a fact in the history of language—is our least debt to nature. It is not words only that are emblematic; it is things which are emblematic. Every natural fact is a symbol of some spiritual fact. Every appearance in nature corresponds to some state of the mind, and

13

that state of the mind can only be described by presenting that natural appearance as its picture.(Ralph Waldo Emerson 1950: 15)

Actually, Emerson’s nature turns out to be the manifestation of human’s soul, rather the physical nature that had nothing to do with human. So, the nature in fact is the very nature in people’s heart, the natural beauty is also the beauty of people’s heart, and this beauty is transcendental, it surpasses the limitation of people’s cognition. At last, Emerson says, the achievement of the echo of the nature and soul depend on spirit which practically is the highest present to the soul of man, namely God.

14

5. Conclusion

As the spokesman of American transcendentalism and the transcendental movement Emerson developed his unique theory. Emerson’s thought is a melting-pot which absorbs sources from any reachable places and melts or mingles all together as a cluster of thoughts. The origins of his thoughts are international; including Kant’s philosophy and Romantic Idealism, Puritanism in his own country and also Confucianism in the Oriental mysticism. It does not exaggerate to take his thoughts as the microcosmic of the intellectual currencies of the early 19th century. He absorbs the essential part of these philosophies and ideas but it is different to any one of them. His major focus is to inquire a better way of living, experiencing, functioning, and thinking for the actualization and transcendence of itself.

His lifelong endeavor and the whole thought can be summarized as a contemporary American critic put it: “Over-Soul” and “Self-Reliance”. “Over-Soul” is what human altogether has, each person’s thought exists in this spirit, Human’s intuition can exchange with him, Emerson praise unlimited potential of human development, praised the supremacy of human .Human is everything. And in the “Self-Reliance”, Emerson holds that each man determines his own existence. Human is divine in nature, so long as they devote themselves to training, remains pure and incorruptible with concentration, they may become perfect; Human’s consummation is the foundation of the world’s progress.

Last but not least, his first book Nature shows his thoughts of transcendentalism, and played an important part in the intellectual history of the nation. This thesis is just a brief study of Emerson and his transcendentalism. Because of my lack of knowledge, there must be many things that I do not mentioned and need to make further study.

15

Bibliography

Buell, Lawrence, ed. Ralph Waldo Emerson: A Collection of Critical Essays [C]. Englewood

cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1993.

Dyke, Henry Van, ed. Select Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson [M]. New York: American

BookCompany, 1907.

Emerson. The Selected Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson [M]. Ed. Brooks Atkinson, New

York: Rardom House, 1950.

Yannella, Donald. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Boston: Dwayne Publisher, 1982. 爱默生. 论自然,演说词和讲演录 [M]. 哥伦比亚: 密苏里大学版社, 1992. 爱默生. 论自然 [M]. 吴瑞楠译. 北京: 中国对外翻译出版社, 2001.

常耀信. A Survey of American Literature [M]. 天津: 南开大学出版社, 1990. 刘海平, 王守仁.新编美国文学史 [M]. 上海: 上海外语教育出版社, 2001. 李征戎.爱默生的超验主义艺术观 [J]. 外国文学研究 2002(2): 159-160.

李枝盛.Emerson’s Transcendentalism and Hinduism [D]. Unpublished master’s dissertation,

上海师范大学, 2005.

钱仕盈.遵从与叛逆:论爱默生的超验之旅 [J]. 乐山师范学院学报2008(23): 129-134.

王袭奋.爱默生超验主义与中国经典儒家思想的不解之缘 [J].重庆科技学院学报 2009(11):

121-122.

魏燕.爱默生自然观的重新认识 [J]. 淮阴师范学院学报 2001(23): 439-443.

杨建丽.人与自然的共鸣—论爱默生的超验主义美学以及文学影响 [D]. Unpublished master’s dissertation, 吉林大学, 2004.

于漏琴.美国超验主义探析 [J]. 湖北广播电视大学学报 2009(8): 86-87.

16