Thoreau And Emerson: The Pillars Of Transcendentalism
The Pillars of Transcendentalism The philosophy of transcendentalism encompasses several core values, such as simplicity, people being inherently good, and everyone being able to understand a higher truth through intuition. Transcendental thinkers such as Thoreau and Emerson produced several works each, much of which encompasses these values. Together, the values of transcendentalism and the writing by the supporters of these values act as pillars to hold up transcendentalism, like supports for a large building. Of the many values of transcendentalism, the artist chose five to be the main pillars to hold up the roof of the building, which represents transcendentalism itself. Alongside these, two works by transcendental writers were
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This is represented by a pile of balanced rocks being slowly eroded by water. Nature is both very complex and very simple, depending on how close one looks. Rocks being eroded by water is not something most look too close at, and thus it is rather simple. The pillar for simplicity also ties into the value of nature in transcendental philosophy being that it depicts nature.
Next, there is the value of people being inherently good. The artist found this difficult to illustrate, for how does one show the goodness in a person through an image? The solution ended up being smudged hearts, for from a non-scientific standpoint, goodness lies in one’s heart. The reason for the smudge is that transcendentalism is very opposite to Puritan ideals, which among other things encompasses the idea of purity, and by smudging the heart, the purity is, in a way, removed.
For the second to last value, the artist chose the idea that all can understand a higher truth through intuition. This pillar is among the easiest to understand, in the opinion of the artist. There is a mass of question marks and exclamation points that represent intuition, or instinct, and the choices one makes based on instinct, which leads to a bright, sun like orb, representing higher
This is represented by a pile of balanced rocks being slowly eroded by water. Nature is both very complex and very simple, depending on how close one looks. Rocks being eroded by water is not something most look too close at, and thus it is rather simple. The pillar for simplicity also ties into the value of nature in transcendental philosophy being that it depicts nature.
Next, there is the value of people being inherently good. The artist found this difficult to illustrate, for how does one show the goodness in a person through an image? The solution ended up being smudged hearts, for from a non-scientific standpoint, goodness lies in one’s heart. The reason for the smudge is that transcendentalism is very opposite to Puritan ideals, which among other things encompasses the idea of purity, and by smudging the heart, the purity is, in a way, removed.
For the second to last value, the artist chose the idea that all can understand a higher truth through intuition. This pillar is among the easiest to understand, in the opinion of the artist. There is a mass of question marks and exclamation points that represent intuition, or instinct, and the choices one makes based on instinct, which leads to a bright, sun like orb, representing higher