第6章　超验主义和符号表征

Questions for Discussion and Writing Assignments

1Give a brief account of how Transcendentalism came into being.

Key: In 1836, an informal group met in Concord, Massachusetts, to discuss theology, philosophy, and literature. At first they called themselves the Symposium of Hedge Club, after Henry Hedge who had initiated the meetings. But good-intentioned neighbors began calling the group members Transcendentalists since they always engaged in lofty discourses. The group accepted the name. Thus, Transcendentalism came into being.

2Discuss the general philosophy of Transcendentalism in terms of its connections with romanticism, its “epistemology,” its emphasis on symbolic representation on individualism, and its philosophical sources.

Key: As an intensified expression of romanticism, Transcendentalism shares the characteristics of romanticism such as: the importance of intuition, the exaltation of the individual over society, the new and thrilling delight in nature, fascination with the Gothic and the “Oriental,” and the desire to build a national literature and culture. In addition, Transcendentalism, as a type of romanticism peculiar to New England, took on a specific moral and philosophical tone. The moral implications came from the environment where Puritan idealism persisted, and the philosophical tone was largely defined by Emerson.

As an epistemology, Transcendentalism believes that individuals can intuitively receive higher truths otherwise unavailable through common methods of knowing, thus transcending the limits of rationalism.

Translated into literature, this belief became an emphasis on symbolic representation. As formulated by Emerson, this became a call for action encouraging the Young not to be enslaved by customs but to follow the God within, and to live every moment with a strenuousness such as found in the Puritan fathers. However, insofar as nature is believed to be the morally good proving God’s presence everywhere in his creation and that human nature is accordingly all good, Transcendentalism was the reversed form of Calvinism. The kind of mysticism characterizing Transcendentalism had always lurked within Puritanism, not in its main doctrines, but in the rebellious beliefs such as Hutcinson’s belief in “direct revelation.”

Transcendentalism does not have the kind of logical consistency one would normally associate with a philosophy, but this inconsistency may not be a weakness. In addition, the inconsistency is due to the fact that Transcendentalism absorbed many sources of influence. Three such sources can be identified. The first source is neo-Platonism, the belief that spirit prevails over matter and that there is an ascending scale of spiritual values rising to absolute Good. The second source is German romanticism, transmitted through the writings of Coleridge and Carlyle, which emphasizes intuition as a means of piercing to the real essence of things. The third source of influence is a certain version of Eastern mysticism, gleaned and interpreted from ancient Asian scriptures, including, to a limited extent, those by Confucius.

3With “Nature,” “The Over-Soul” and “Compensation” as examples, discuss Emerson’s philosophy in terms of pantheism, romanticism and his connection with Asian cultures.

Key: Emerson is a fervent defender of individualism, which is celebrated by Romanticism fervidly. And his sense of individualism is associated with a certain kind of pantheism. As he envisioned it in his lecture “The Over-Soul,” the souls of all individuals commune with the great universal soul. The all-present spiritual nature corresponds to the divine intuition of an individual. This correspondence or communion in turn defines Emerson’s idea of the organic art. Specifically, art is organic in a double sense: the appropriate form is the expression of the poet’s intuition; this intuition is in turn a welling out from the universal mind, the “Over-Soul” suggestive of pantheism. Since the universal mind is the ultimate creator, an individual who wants to partake in the creative process must submit himself to this primal source.

In Nature, Emerson states: “I become a transparent eye-ball. I am nothing. I see all. The currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am a particle of God.” That the individual soul can become the medium of the divine forces of Nature is at the heart of this book.

“Compensation” is the essay that should be read in conjunction with “The Over-Soul.” If the Over-Soul is all powerful and at the same time good, does evil exist? Emerson’s answer is that it does not exist. To put it differently, evil—the opposite of good—is powerless to affect anything. Evil deeds do occur, causing temporary unbalances. But for each “evil” deed there is a corresponding “good” one. Every apparent “gain” then carries with it the price tag of a corresponding “loss.” The resemblance of Emerson’s philosophy with ancient Asian philosophy is now evident: the Over-Soul with Brahma, Compensation with Karma.

It has been pointed out that Emerson learned from Confucius. Indeed, Emerson, copied aphorisms from Confucius in his Journals, mentioned Confucius in his essays, and published his translation of selected sayings of Confucius in The Dial. But Emerson’s connection with Confucius was more out of a respect for an ancient sage than an affinity with a kindred spirit. In many ways, Emerson’s philosophy is the antidote to Confucianism.

4Write a research essay to compare Emerson’s comments on Jesus Christ in “The Divinity School Address” with Thomas Paine’s in The Age of Reason.

Key: “Divinity School Address” is a very famous speech of Emerson. It was delivered at the request of some graduates of the Harvard Divinity School and caused what a scholar later called a “Tempest in a Boston Tea cup.” Emerson asserted the divinity of all men, thus treating Christ too as a human. As it was also conspicuous in an address for the Divinity School, Emerson did not quote or discuss the Bible, used no prayer, and denied the truth of miracles as taught by the church. What Emerson emphasized as being divine is the majesty of the individual soul, a theme consistent in all his writings. “If a man is at heart just, then in so far is he God.” This address’s insistence on the importance of intuition also refutes the Church’s authority in asserting or communicating “truth.”

Thomas Paine’s The Age of Reason challenges institutionalized religion and the legitimacy of the Bible, the central text of Christianity. It caused a short-lived deistic revival. The Age of Reason presents common deistic arguments. For example, it highlights what Paine saw as corruption of the Christian Church and criticizes its efforts to acquire political power. Paine advocates reason in the place of revelation, leading him to reject miracles and to view the Bible as an ordinary piece of literature rather than as a divinely inspired text. It promotes natural religion and argues for the existence of a creator-God.

5What is Margaret Fuller’ s position regarding women and gender equality?

Key: Fuller’s surviving writings, especially her principal book Woman in the Nineteenth Century have established her as a persuasive advocate for women’s rights. In opposition to Emerson, Fuller argued that women, just like men, were also inherently divine. Therefore, women should have the same right and opportunity to inner and outer self-development as men. Fuller thought that women must rely on themselves if they wanted to improve their social Conditions. Fuller’s vision of gender equality is not unrelated to her view that all humans are androgynous: No man is wholly masculine; nor is any woman completely feminine. In her portrait of Miranda, Fuller created the image of her idealized womanhood. This idealized woman should be self-reliant, is willing to help other women, and she must be able to make choices for herself.

6How is Thoreau’s revolt manifested both in his social actions and in his writing? What is the nature of his revolt? What is his role in Transcendentalism?

Key: What Thoreau revolted against in Walden was the materialism of his day. Or, more specifically, he objected to the division of labor that the emerging industrialism threatened to bring about. On July 4, 1845, Thoreau began living in a hut, which was built on Emerson’s land, by the Walden Pond. There he lived simply and deliberately, devoting his time to observations and reflections. And there, he once refused to pay tax to protest against the Mexican War and was imprisoned for it.

Thoreau, along with Emerson, was the most important representative of the Transcendentalism. Both his works and his actions have influenced later generations deeply. Although Thoreau was Emerson’s disciple, he was not a lesser Emerson but a unique voice and personality. Thoreau practiced the self-reflective and self-reliant Transcendentalism that Emerson preached. Emerson found Thoreau’s outdoor vigor and sharp individuality captivating.

7Please comment on Thoreau’s style.

Key: There is a heightened passion, a natural and living energy, in Thoreau whether he is criticizing or praising or arguing. The enthusiasm is balanced by a sense of wit, humor and irony. The most important part of Thoreau’s style is the mark of Transcendentalism: the style as the thinking in imagery.

We see a free and natural mingling of natural images and moral/philosophical principles as the excursions into the wilderness become metaphysical, spiritual. In Walden, Thoreau wrote: “Time is the stream I go a-fishing in.” In “Life without Principle,” he wrote: “In short, a snow-drift is formed where there is a lull in the wind, so, one would say, where there is a lull of truth, an institution springs up. But the truth blows right on over it, nevertheless, and at length blows it down.”