Emerson Flashcards
To what British literary movement were the Transcendentalists indebted?
The Romantics
The Transcendentalists shared their views about the intuitiveness and creativity of the mind, and their reverence for nature.
When was “Nature” published?
First in 1836, and released in a new edition in 1849.
What feminist writer worked closely with Emerson?
Margaret Fuller
What was the name of the Transcendentalist journal run by Emerson, Fuller, and Thoreau?
The Dial
What cultural critique does “Nature” open with?
Emerson questions the cultural tendency to revere traditions and old philosophies rather than seeking to experience God and nature directly, for ourselves.
Nature: What are the two components of the universe?
- The Soul
2. Nature (anything that is “Not Me”)
Nature: What is Emerson’s definition of “Art”?
“Art is nature in combination with the will of man.”
Nature: To what does Emerson compare himself when he is successfully in touch with the divinity of Nature?
A Transparent Eyeball - “I am nothing. I see all. The currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.”
Nature: What does Emerson address in the chapter “Commodity”?
He discusses how Nature provides for all the basic needs of man. The mind of man is able to combine and recombine the gifts of Nature for everything he needs.
Nature: What are Emerson’s three aspects of Beauty?
1) physical beauty
2) moral beauty (or virtue)
3) intellectual beauty (or truth)
Nature: What is the love of beauty? The creation of beauty?
1.) Taste 2.) Art
Nature: On what argument are Emerson’s views about language based?
Platonic Idealism
Nature: What are Emerson’s three reasons Language is a product of Nature?
- Words are signs of natural facts
- Particular natural facts are symbols of particular spiritual facts
- Nature is the symbol of the spirit
Nature: What is an example of a natural fact that is a symbol for a spiritual fact?
A lamb = innocence
An angry man = a lion
Flowers = grades of affection
Nature: What is Emerson’s argument in “Discipline”?
That our lived experience in Nature is an education in understanding intellectual (“Understanding”/logical) and moral truth (“Reason”/intuitive).
Nature: Which figure from the Quals list does Emerson quote in “Discipline”?
Bacon - “good thoughts are no better than good dreams, unless they be executed” (Of Great Place).
Nature: What is Emerson’s belief about Universal Truth?
“Every universal truth which we express in words, implies or supposes every other truth.” This is the Unity in Nature, or Unity in Variety.
Nature: What does Emerson mean by Discipline?
The means of arriving at comprehension
Nature: What question is explored in “Idealism”?
Is there a higher law behind nature, and does visible nature really exist?
Nature: What does Emerson conclude in “Idealism”?
He says that the question of “absolute existence” remains open, but lists aspects that convince us of the reality of the external world.
- motion
- poetry
- philosophy
- Intellectual science
- religion and ethics
Nature: In “Spirit,” what does Emerson claim Idealism does?
It helps us think about the distinctions between ourselves and Nature.
Nature: What can we do once we recognize the distinction between ourselves and Nature?
We can explore their relation to each other - how the spirit acts through us.
Nature: What are the three questions Emerson explores in “Spirit”?
What is matter?
Where does it come from?
What is its purpose?
In seeking to answer these questions, we come across many truths.
Nature: What does Emerson argue in “Prospects”?
That is is better to be a naturalist than a student of empirical science - a naturalist remains open to intuition and the secrets of nature. In trying to define everything about Nature, we may miss out on some of its important truths.
