Transcendentalism the Philosophy of Transcendentalism

Transcendentalism

The philosophy of transcendentalism across the 19th and 20th centuries

Philosophies and schools of thought have guided human society in its pursuit for greater knowledge and real truth about life and human existence. In the ancient times, the prevalent philosophy was influenced by Plato's philosophy, which posited that greater knowledge can be achieved, not through sense and experience, but through the individual himself/herself. Through his/her ability to think, the individual can actually reach a higher state of being.

However, the advent of modernism paved the way for rationalism and empiricism to take the place of Platonism as one of the dominant philosophies of humanity. With the emergence of rationalism and empiricism, regard for sensory experience increased; knowledge became dependent on the individual's experiences with his/her external environment. Moreover, the concrete explication of human experience and evidence that empiricism provided for humanity became more relevant for people, therefore, the sense of achieving knowledge through the individual -- through introspection -- became an unpopular philosophy in the modern period.

However, Platonism was later revived, in the same period wherein rationalism and empiricism further developed, in the 19th century. Revived in the form of transcendentalism, or transcendental idealism, this new philosophy sought to regain the acquisition of higher and greater knowledge through the mind and the individual's capacity alone. Transcendentalists believed that a greater human experience can be achieved through the individual's pursuit alone.

In this paper, transcendentalism is further discussed and analyzed through the interpretations of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Margaret Fuller. Drawing from their interpretations and illustrations of transcendentalism through Emerson's and Fuller's essays, "Self-Reliance" and "The Great Lawsuit," respectively, their views will also be comparatively analyzed in terms of another transcendentalist, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Holmes' views in the book, "The Common Law" will be compared against the two early transcendentalists (Emerson and Fuller).

The discussion and analysis of the three transcendentalists provided herein aims to look into similarities and differences in the interpretations and illustrations of the philosophy between two centuries: 19th and 20th centuries. Apart from this comparative analysis, the paper also posits that through the years and centuries, Plato's original concept of achieving a higher kind of knowledge and higher reality remained constant, with Emerson, Fuller, and Holmes advocating the same kind of philosophy in their works. However, a major difference in their explications of transcendentalism is through the contexts and issues by which transcendentalism was applied.

Emerson was known for his general depiction of transcendentalism -- that is, an experience that encompasses all human experiences and activities. Fuller, meanwhile, contextualized transcendentalism in terms of its ability to further bring into light how the philosophy also applies to women. This is the starting point of comparison between Emerson and Fuller's essays, wherein the gender issue was discussed. Lastly, Holmes' discussion of the common law highlighted the belief in transcendentalism in the midst of the strong influence of rationalism and empiricism has on human ideology and thinking.

Emerson's well-known essay, "Self-reliance," sets the bar in determining the kind of transcendentalist philosophy that was revived in 19th century. It was through this essay, and Emerson's other literary works, that Plato's initial assumptions and beliefs were confirmed and affirmed.

The main and recurrent theme in the essay was that of non-conformity. This theme was developed in the context of the prevalent idea that existence of an individual can be acknowledge only by "comparison" with other people's experiences. This means that one's competence is dependent on the individual's assessment of his/her competence compared to another person's competence; similarly, one's measure of happiness can only be affirmed through a comparison of another individual's degree of happiness. As a result, an individual will always aspire and seek betterment in terms of other people's definition and determination of betterment. This, Emerson contended, leads to the disease of conformity, wherein the individual's individuality stagnates and lacks the development it should attain, had the individual realized that s/he can determine competence, happiness, or betterment in life in his/her own terms:

man must consider what a blindman's-buff is this game of conformity. If I know your sect, I anticipate your argument. I hear a preacher announce for his text and topic the expediency of one of the institutions of his church. Do I not know beforehand that not possibly can he say a new and spontaneous word? Do I not know that, with all this ostentation of examining the grounds of the institution, he will do no such thing? Do I not know that he is pledged to himself not to look but at one side, -- the permitted side, not as a man, but as a parish minister? He is a retained attorney, and these airs of the bench are the emptiest affectation. Well, most men have bound their eyes with one or another handkerchief, and attached themselves to some one of these communities of opinion. This conformity makes them not false in a few particulars, authors of a few lies, but false in all particulars. Their every truth is not quite true.

This explication of transcendentalism, illustrated concretely through the concept of non-conformity, was further demonstrated in the essay not only as a higher form of reality, but also as a higher form of knowledge. As a higher form of knowledge, "Self-reliance" put emphasis on the gradual diminishing of humanity to pursue 'new' knowledge -- that is, knowledge attained not through transmission, sensory experience, and reason, but knowledge created from the individual's mind and ability to think alone. This unfortunate event in an individual's life will only be remedied when an individual realizes "...that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion..."

Emerson also argued how modern society had put down on human faculties and ability to learn through his/her feelings -- aptly determined as perception. The perception/fact dichotomy has plagued human thinking for many years, and this development in the modern period has been a cause for concern, since, according to Emerson, perception need not be considered as a simple concept that do not have a significant role in influencing human thoughts and feelings. Perceptions, as explicated in the essay, are not "whimsical, but fatal. If I see a trait, my children will see it after me, and in course of time, all mankind -- although it may chance that no one has seen it before me. For my perception of it is as much a fact as the sun." Thus, Emerson believed that humanity should not only give strong belief on facts, but most importantly, on human perceptions. It is only through human perceptions that higher forms of reality and knowledge can be achieved and become humanly possible.

While Emerson explicated on the issues of achieving higher forms of reality and knowledge, Fuller utilized the philosophy of transcendentalism in making her case for females. In "The Great Lawsuit," Fuller argued how transcendentalism is a prevalent human thought that makes it possible for humanity to truly understand the essence of females, not just as an equal to males, but also as individuals who have significant, if unpopular, existence in society.

Similar to Emerson's perception/fact dichotomy, Fuller also sought to destroy the male/female dichotomy, arguing that:

Male and female represent the two sides of the great radical dualism. but, in fact, they are perpetually passing into one another. Fluid hardens to solid, solid rushes to fluid. There is no wholly masculine man, no purely feminine woman.

This dichotomy between two genders in human society can possibly be abolished through transcendentalism, mainly because the philosophy allows the individual to achieve a higher level of understanding about life. It is only in the event that one has gradually learned to "unlearn" his/her prejudices about social concerns and issues, such as gender differences, that females can be emancipated, in the eyes of society as the 'weaker sex.'