Transcendentalism

[ACK]

I finished reading a book. Well written, and quite good. Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer describes the journey of a young guy named Chris McCandless, who goes completely on his own and throws away his potential normal life, to search for a greater source. A source of what, he knows not. But he really is a follower of the words of Thoreau. I was intrigued to see what people thought of this sort of yearning, or thoughts about the book, or even thoughts about transcendentalism itself.

[cleops]

Yeah–Thoreau, Emerson, and all that (never really read them–not too exciting, as their basic attitude permeates the culture, or did)–very American kind of impulse, the stateside version of Romanticism, infused with some sort of optimistic idealism, that the universe, or nature, is benevolent and that humankind is good, and that we can attain perfection of some sort.
I guess we’ve grown out of it somewhat, although it still pops up with force in our evangelical streak, whether it’s to save the individual’s soul or to save the soul of the world.

[MandaJo]

Here is hte introduciton to a paper I wrote on the Trancendentalists some time back:

Transcendentalism is one of the most important movements in American intellectual history, and as is often the case with important intellectual movements, it is difficult to define: Parini describes it as ?A multiform movement, religiocentric at its core and inspired by the participants? excitement at the prospect of individual and social transformation owing to the divinity they saw inherent in or directly accessible to human nature.   In many ways, Transcendentalism is the red-headed step-child of American intellectual history.  It arises incongruously from dour New England society in the 1830s: the woods of Massachusetts, so lately the domain of puritans, suddenly fill with consumptive young men and women denying the divinity of Jesus, affirming the divinity of man, becoming transparent eyeballs, and writing page after page of torrid, introspective journals.  However, although the appearance of the transcendentalists seems spontaneous, intellectual development is never separate from the social and historical context that generates it.  The development of transcendentalism can be understood by exploring the social, political, and economic influences active in Boston in the early nineteenth century.

The short version is: Trancendentalists be whacked!

[Sweet_Willy]

“I have spent most of my life (like most people) avoiding transcendence at all cost, mainly because the shit hurts. Merely defining trancendence can sometimes be painful. I once heard that “transcendence is the act of going through something.” Ouch. I see plate glass windows and divorces. Somone else told me that it was “rising above whatever one encountered in one’s path” but at this point in my life that smacks of avoidance as well as elitism of some sort. I am compelled to look back on years of going through, above, as well as around my life looking for loop holes to redefine everything including any and all of the ideas that I have held close to my heart along the way - Art - Freedom - Justice - Revoloution - Love (a big one) - Growth - Passion - Parenting (a really big one) - and I find that for me, for now, transcendence is about being still long enough to know when it’s time to move on. Fuck me.”

Steve Earle ( From “Transcendental Blues”)

[Angelslantern]

ARK How would you and your buddies like us to reply so that you dont apply your abusive tech to thoughs who do not reply the way that challenge your views.

[Angelslantern]

as in the LDS cult thing…