1、Ralph Waldo Emerson 爱默生 Henry David Thoreau 梭罗,American Transcendentalism 美国超验主义,A broad, philosophical movement in New England during the Romantic era（peak：1836-1855）the first American intellectual movement. Started by a group of people in the Transcendental Club in the 1830s who published their vi
2、ews in the journal The Dial,Historical background,Transcendentalist believed instinct or intuition is the deepest level of mans soul. They tried to find truth through feeling, rather than through logic. So they write not in a logical way. We can say they formed a movement of feelings & beliefs rathe
3、r than a system of philosophy.,Brief Introduction,The world shrank itself into a drop of dew.世界将其自身缩小成为一滴露水“Believe yourself“A person must be able to become what he wants to be “,Mottos,The major features of Transcendentalists,1. emphasis on Spirit or the Oversoul-Oversoul is a unitary（统一的） power of
4、 goodness， omnipresent（无所不在的） and omnipotent（无所不能的），from which all things came and of which everyone was a part。2. the importance of the individual3. nature is the symbol of Spirit or God,1.至善 absolute good 2.纯洁无暇 unspotted innocence of nature 3.人具有神性 humanity was godlike and that evil was nonexiste
5、nt appeared to be an optimistic folly,Creeds,Sources1.欧洲浪漫主义文学【the romantic literature of Europe】 2.新柏拉图主义【neo-Platonism】 3.德国理想主义哲学【German idealistic philosophy】 4.东方神秘主义【Oriental mysticism】,Weaknesses,The transcendentalist movement had a small membership and only lasted for a few years.The transce
6、ndentalism was never a systematic philosophy. It borrowed from many sources. The failure of transcendentalism as a moral force in American life was its denial of its real spiritual origin.,爱默生 Ralph Waldo Emerson,梭罗 Henry David Thoreau,Ralph Waldo Emerson,Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882),philosopher,
7、 lecturer, essayist, and poet, leading the Transcendentalist movement a champion（拥护者） of individualism a prescient（有先见之明的） critic of the countervailing（对抗性的） pressures of society.,Nature. It is the Bible of transcendentalists. It contains almost everything Emerson wants to say in the rest of his lif
8、e. His later works were mostly to illustrate the book.“American Scholar”: Americans declaration of intellectual independence.( to develop Americans own culture),Emersons work,Henry David Thoreau,1817-1862,He is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings,
9、and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.,Walden,It wasnt a successful book at the time it was published and has been virtually forgotten until 20th century.It is the careful recording of day-to-day life at Wa
10、lden pound and reflection on how one can live simply and truly It illustrates his desire to be independent and find truth for himself.,“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”,我到林中去，因为我希望谨慎地生活，只面对生活的基本事实，看看我是否学得到生活要教育我的东西，免得到了临死的时候，才发现我根本就没有生活过。,excerpt of Walden,Thank you!,
