Socrates And The Transcendentalist: A Philosophical Movement

Back in the early days of the Transcendentalist l movement, a philosophical movement that developed in the late 1820s and 1830s. Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of the greatest American poet, philosopher and essayist. He once wrote,“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else, is the greatest accomplishment.” In other words it means that people are only truly happy when they decide to follow their own path. He believed in searching for truth from within. Emerson had experienced firsthand both the benefits and drawbacks of going against what society says (Lim). What is appealing about this quote is it teaches people to be themselves. In today's society people really should incorporate this quote into their lives,
His influence spread throughout the world beyond his lifetime and culture, as time passed his reputation only increased. Due to his new method of thinking, Socrates was able to inspire people to think for themselves and it was ok to question things. This mindset later caused a huge effect in his life, from how he interacted with his wife, to how bystanders thought of him, and even cost him his own life. Socrates had lived through the Golden Age of Athens, this great era was the birth of many great philosophers. Often crowds would erupt into heated discussion about science, truth, and morality. Since philosophers were so common, this occupation didn’t exactly pay the bills. Causing him and wife to live in poverty. One day when Socrates came home he was attacked by his wife. She told him to get a real job that earned money, but he ignore and remain to educate the people of Athens (Bowen). This models the quote because even though Socrates loved his wife. He couldn’t give up something that was important to him. He sacrificed material object for his intellectual pursuits. Socrates seemed to believed that he had been chosen by the gods to use his wisdom to encourage others to think. He delighted himself in being able to win any argument. Other people found Socrates ignorant but he felt it was his duty to engage everyone into philosophical matters (Lim 57-58). When spreading his developed knowledge of philosophy, the citizens of Athens disliked Socrates's method of revealing their weakness to prove a point. Meanwhile, Socrates only felt it was his obligation as a citizen to distribute his experiences no matter what people thought of him. This shows that if is important it should matter what people think. The government that once Socrates want to help later turned him into a scapegoat and feared Socrates ideas would destroy