Transcendentalism is a philosophical, spiritual, and literary movement that emerged during the late 1820s and 1830s in the New England region of the United States. A fundamental tenet posits the intrinsic goodness of humanity and the natural world; although societal structures and institutions are perceived to have corrupted individual purity, individuals achieve their optimal state through genuine "self-reliance" and autonomy. Adherents of Transcendentalism perceived divine experience as immanent within daily existence, conceptualizing physical and spiritual phenomena as integral components of dynamic processes rather than as isolated entities.
Transcendentalism stands as one of the earliest philosophical movements to emerge in the United States, consequently representing a pivotal early development in the trajectory of American philosophical thought. Prioritizing subjective intuition over objective empiricism, its proponents contend that individuals possess the capacity to generate entirely novel insights, largely independent of prior Transcendentalist thought. The emergence of this movement constituted a critique of the prevailing intellectual and spiritual climate of its era. The theological tenets of the Unitarian church, as propagated at Harvard Divinity School, maintained a close association with this development.
Transcendentalism is widely considered to have originated from "English and German Romanticism, the Biblical criticism of Johann Gottfried Herder and Friedrich Schleiermacher, the skepticism of David Hume," and the transcendental philosophy of Immanuel Kant and German idealism. Scholars Perry Miller and Arthur Versluis identify Emanuel Swedenborg and Jakob Böhme as profound influences on Transcendentalist thought.
Origin
Transcendentalism is intimately connected with Unitarianism, a religious movement prevalent in Boston during the early nineteenth century. Its development commenced subsequent to Unitarianism's establishment at Harvard University, which followed the elections of Henry Ware as the Hollis Professor of Divinity in 1805 and John Thornton Kirkland as President in 1810. Transcendentalism did not constitute a repudiation of Unitarianism; instead, it emerged as a natural outgrowth of the Unitarian focus on individual conscience and the significance of intellectual reasoning. Transcendentalists, however, found the sobriety, mildness, and measured rationalism of Unitarianism insufficient, seeking instead a more profound spiritual engagement. Consequently, Transcendentalism arose not as an opposing force to Unitarianism, but as a concurrent movement building upon the foundational concepts advanced by Unitarians.
Transcendental Club
Transcendentalism solidified into a cohesive movement and a formal association through the establishment of the Transcendental Club in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on September 12, 1836. This founding was spearheaded by notable New England intellectuals, including George Putnam, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Frederic Henry Hedge. Other members of the club included Sophia Ripley, Margaret Fuller, Elizabeth Peabody, Ellen Sturgis Hooper, Caroline Sturgis Tappan, Amos Bronson Alcott, Orestes Brownson, Theodore Parker, Henry David Thoreau, William Henry Channing, James Freeman Clarke, Christopher Pearse Cranch, Convers Francis, Sylvester Judd, Jones Very, and Charles Stearns Wheeler. Beginning in 1840, the collective regularly contributed to their journal, The Dial, as well as other publications.
Sophia Peabody Hawthorne’s Cuba Journal is recognized as one of the earliest instances of Transcendentalist writing circulated within the Transcendental Club. The Cuba Journal precedes Emerson’s Nature by two years and Thoreau’s Walden by over a decade. Consisting of 56 letters penned during her sojourn in Cuba in the early 1830s, the journal offers a highly descriptive portrayal of the island’s landscape, flora, and ambiance, emphasizing sensory experience and individual enlightenment. While refraining from political or economic commentary, its profound appreciation for nature’s aesthetic and spiritual qualities significantly impacted nascent Transcendentalist thought. Elizabeth Peabody, Sophia Peabody's sister, extensively disseminated these letters, organizing reading gatherings—some extending for up to seven hours—where attendees such as Bronson and Abba Alcott, the Emersons, and the Channings participated in late-night public readings. Reflecting themes subsequently articulated by Emerson, Sophia Peabody Hawthorne penned: “[I]t is pure, single Nature, alone in her power & loveliness, that touches subdues and exalts the soul—We do not remember the godlike here—but we think of GOD here.”
Second wave of transcendentalists
By the late 1840s, Ralph Waldo Emerson perceived the Transcendentalist movement as waning, a conviction further solidified by Margaret Fuller's demise in 1850. Emerson remarked, "All that can be said is that she represents an interesting hour and group in American cultivation." Nevertheless, a subsequent wave of Transcendentalists emerged in the latter half of the 19th century, featuring figures such as Moncure Conway, Octavius Brooks Frothingham, Samuel Longfellow, and Franklin Benjamin Sanborn. The spiritual transcendence, frequently articulated through the poet's prose, is posited to instill a sense of purpose in the reader. This constitutes the fundamental premise of most Transcendentalist essays and papers, which consistently emphasize themes celebrating individual expression. The collective primarily comprised aspiring aesthetes, with Samuel Gray Ward being the most affluent member; after contributing briefly to The Dial, Ward subsequently concentrated on his banking profession.
Beliefs
Transcendentalists profoundly advocate for individual agency and prioritize personal liberty. While their tenets share significant commonalities with Romanticism, they diverge through an inclination to integrate, or at minimum not contradict, scientific empiricism.
Transcendental knowledge
Transcendentalists sought to establish their religious and philosophical foundations on principles derived from the German Romanticism of Johann Gottfried Herder and Friedrich Schleiermacher. This intellectual movement synthesized "English and German Romanticism, the Biblical criticism of Herder and Schleiermacher, the skepticism of Hume," and the transcendental philosophy of Immanuel Kant (along with German idealism broadly), reinterpreting Kant's a priori categories as a priori knowledge. Initially, many Transcendentalists lacked direct familiarity with original German philosophical texts, instead depending heavily on the works of Thomas Carlyle, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Victor Cousin, Germaine de Staël, and other English and French interpreters for their understanding. Consequently, the Transcendentalist movement is often characterized as an American development stemming from English Romanticism.
Individualism
Transcendentalists contend that society and its established institutions—particularly organized religion and political parties—corrupt the inherent purity of the individual. They maintain that individuals achieve their optimal state when genuinely self-reliant and independent. It is exclusively from such authentic individuals that a true community can emerge.
Despite the emphasis on individual distinctiveness, Transcendentalists also posited that every person serves as a conduit for the "Over-Soul." The singular nature of the Over-Soul thus unifies all individuals into a collective entity. Ralph Waldo Emerson references this notion in the introductory remarks of his American Scholar address, stating, "that there is One Man, – present to all particular men only partially, or through one faculty; and that you must take the whole society to find the whole man." This ideal aligns with Transcendentalist individualism, as it empowers each individual to perceive a fragment of the divine Over-Soul within themselves.
Contemporary discourse has drawn a distinction between individuality and individualism. Both concepts champion the unique potential of the individual. However, individualism is characterized by a strong anti-governmental stance, while individuality views all societal components as either essential or, at minimum, permissible for the cultivation of a genuinely individualistic person. The precise alignment of Transcendentalist thought with either individualism or individuality remains an unresolved scholarly question.
Indian religions
Although deeply embedded in Western philosophical traditions such as Platonism, Neoplatonism, and German idealism, Transcendentalism also received direct influence from Indian religions. Henry David Thoreau explicitly acknowledged the Transcendentalists' indebtedness to Indian religions in his work Walden, stating:
Each morning, I immerse my intellect in the profound and cosmogonic philosophy of the Bhagavat Geeta, a text whose composition predates countless divine epochs, and in comparison to which our contemporary world and its literary output appear insignificant and superficial. I even question whether this philosophy might stem from a prior state of existence, so transcendent is its sublimity beyond our current understanding. Upon setting aside the volume and proceeding to my well for water, I encounter the servant of the Brahmin—a priest dedicated to Brahma, Vishnu, and Indra—who either perpetually studies the Vedas in his Ganges temple or resides beneath a tree with his humble crust and water-jug. As his servant arrives to draw water for his master, our buckets metaphorically converge within the same well, symbolizing the intermingling of the pristine Walden water with the sacred waters of the Ganges.
In 1844, the inaugural English translation of the Lotus Sutra was featured in The Dial, a prominent journal associated with the New England Transcendentalist movement, having been rendered into English from its French version by Elizabeth Palmer Peabody.
Idealism
Transcendentalists exhibit divergent interpretations regarding the practical objectives of the will. Certain proponents associate it with aspirations for utopian social transformation; Brownson, for instance, linked it to nascent socialist ideologies, while others perceive it as an inherently individualistic and idealistic endeavor. Emerson, however, subscribed to the latter perspective. In his 1842 discourse, "The Transcendentalist," he posited that the practical realization of a purely transcendental life perspective was unattainable:
This outline reveals that no genuine transcendental party exists; that no individual embodies pure transcendentalism; that we recognize only prophets and heralds of such a philosophy; and that all individuals whose inherent disposition has inclined them towards spiritual doctrine have ultimately fallen short of their ultimate objective. We have witnessed numerous precursors and pioneers; however, history offers no precedent for a purely spiritual existence. Specifically, we have yet to encounter an individual who has fully relied on their intrinsic character, sustained by divine sustenance; who, by trusting their sentiments, perceived life as a series of miraculous occurrences; who, in pursuing universal objectives, found themselves inexplicably provided for—fed, clothed, sheltered, and equipped—yet achieved through their own agency. ... Therefore, might we characterize transcendentalism as a Saturnalian exuberance of faith; a premonition of a faith inherent to humanity in its entirety, becoming excessive only when imperfect adherence impedes the fulfillment of its aspirations.
Importance of Nature
Transcendentalists hold a profound reverence and appreciation for the natural world, not merely for its aesthetic qualities, but also as a fundamental instrument for observing and comprehending the intricate mechanisms of the natural order. Emerson articulates the Transcendentalist conviction regarding the holistic potency of the natural landscape in his work, Nature:
Within the woods, we reconnect with reason and faith. There, I perceive that no misfortune or indignity in life—provided my sight remains—is beyond nature's restorative capacity. Upon standing on the unadorned earth, with my head immersed in the invigorating air and elevated towards infinite space, all petty egotism dissipates. I transform into a transparent eyeball; I am nothing, yet I perceive everything; the currents of the Universal Being permeate me; I am an integral component, a particle, of God.
Inspired by Emerson's philosophy and the profound significance of nature, Charles Stearns Wheeler erected a rudimentary dwelling at Flint's Pond in 1836. This structure is regarded as the inaugural Transcendentalist experiment in outdoor living, which Wheeler utilized during his Harvard summer recesses between 1836 and 1842. Thoreau resided at Wheeler's shanty for a six-week period during the summer of 1837, an experience that inspired his aspiration to construct his own cabin, which he subsequently realized at Walden in 1845. The precise location of the Wheeler shanty site was identified by Jeff Craig in 2018, following a dedicated five-year investigative endeavor.
The preservation of an unblemished natural environment also held paramount importance for Transcendentalists. The foundational idealism of Transcendentalism fostered an intrinsic skepticism towards capitalism, westward expansion, and industrialization. As early as 1843, in Summer on the Lakes, Margaret Fuller observed that "the noble trees are gone already from this island to feed this caldron," and in 1854, within Walden, Thoreau characterized the burgeoning railway infrastructure across the American landscape as a "winged horse or fiery dragon" that "sprinkle[d] all the restless men and floating merchandise in the country for seed."
Influence on Other Movements
Transcendentalism is widely regarded as the inaugural significant intellectual movement in American history, profoundly influencing subsequent generations of American scholars and various literary currents.
The burgeoning "Mental Sciences" movement of the mid-19th century, subsequently identified as the New Thought movement, was significantly shaped by Transcendentalism. New Thought adherents recognize Emerson as their foundational intellectual figure. Prominent individuals such as Emma Curtis Hopkins, known as "the teacher of teachers"; Ernest Holmes, who established Religious Science; Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, founders of Unity; and Malinda Cramer and Nona L. Brooks, who initiated Divine Science, all experienced substantial influence from Transcendentalist principles.
Hinduism also exerted an influence on Transcendentalism. Ram Mohan Roy (1772–1833), the founder of the Brahmo Samaj, repudiated both Hindu mythology and the Christian Trinity. He perceived Unitarianism as the closest approximation to authentic Christianity and harbored considerable affinity for Unitarians, who maintained strong connections with the Transcendentalists. Roy established a missionary committee in Calcutta and, in 1828, solicited support for missionary endeavors from American Unitarians. Although Roy dissolved the Unitarian Committee by 1829, the Brahmo Samaj sustained close ties with the Unitarian Church following his demise. This church advocated for a rational faith, social reform, and the integration of these elements into a revitalized religious framework. Christian commentators termed its theology "neo-Vedanta," which has profoundly impacted the contemporary popular perception of Hinduism and modern Western spirituality, effectively reintroducing Unitarian influences under the guise of an ostensibly ancient Neo-Vedanta.
Major Figures
Key figures within the Transcendentalist movement included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, and Amos Bronson Alcott. Other notable Transcendentalists comprised Louisa May Alcott, Charles Timothy Brooks, Orestes Brownson, William Ellery Channing, William Henry Channing, James Freeman Clarke, Christopher Pearse Cranch, John Sullivan Dwight, Convers Francis, William Henry Furness, Frederic Henry Hedge, Sylvester Judd, Theodore Parker, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, George Ripley, Thomas Treadwell Stone, Jones Very, and Walt Whitman.
Criticism
During the nascent stages of the movement, critics employed "transcendentalists" as a derogatory label, implying that their philosophical stance transcended the bounds of sanity and rationality. Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Blithedale Romance (1852), satirized the movement, drawing inspiration from his personal experiences at Brook Farm, a short-lived utopian community established on Transcendentalist tenets.
Edgar Allan Poe lampooned Transcendentalism in his satires "How to Write a Blackwood Article" (1838) and "Never Bet the Devil Your Head" (1841), referring to its adherents elsewhere as "Frogpondians," a moniker derived from the pond on Boston Common. The latter narrative explicitly references the movement and its principal journal, The Dial, despite Poe's assertions of lacking specific targets. Poe assailed Transcendentalist writings, characterizing them as "metaphor-run mad" and prone to "obscurity for obscurity's sake" or "mysticism for mysticism's sake." In his 1846 essay, "The Philosophy of Composition," Poe further criticized "the excess of the suggested meaning... which turns into prose (and that of the very flattest kind) the so-called poetry of the so-called transcendentalists."
Dark romanticism
- Dark romanticism
- Freemasonry
- Fruitlands
- Immanentism
- The Machine in the Garden
- Natural Supernaturalism
- Self-transcendence
- Transcendence (religion)
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
Dillard, Daniel. "The American Transcendentalists: A Religious Historiography." 49th Parallel (Birmingham, England), vol. 28 (Spring 2012).
- Dillard, Daniel, "The American Transcendentalists: A Religious Historiography", 49th Parallel (Birmingham, England), 28 (Spring 2012), online Archived 2014-07-09 at the Wayback Machine
- Gura, Philip F. American Transcendentalism: A History (2007).
- Harrison, C. G. The Transcendental Universe, six lectures delivered before the Berean Society (London, 1894). 1993 edition ISBN 0940262584 (US), ISBN 0904693449 (UK).
- Rose, Anne C. Social Movement, 1830–1850 (Yale University Press, 1981).
Topic sites
- The web of American Transcendentalism, VCU"What Is Transcendentalism?", Women's History, About, archived from the original on September 7, 2009, retrieved June 1, 2006The American Renaissance and Transcendentalism, archived from the original on June 7, 1997Fieser, James; Dowden, Bradley (editors). "American Transcendentalism". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. International Standard Serial Number 2161-0002. Online Computer Library Center 37741658."Transcendentalism", Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford, 2019Source: TORIma Academy Archive