Transcendentalism Research Paper

Simplicity, a word made famous by a philosophical movement that arose in the early nineteenth century called transcendentalism. While possibly being the widespread understanding of it, transcendentalism was more than a simplistic viewpoint. It involved three major core beliefs including the human, God, and nature. This movement would have proven to be a popular one and has affected modern day life and lifestyle. Today, the importance of the individual is very known. Another commonly used theme today is the want to be different or not just fall in line with everyone else. A rising love for nature and its preservation is found all over our world with the destruction that has been previously caused to it by humans. Although it may not be as communal
as it was during the times of Emerson and Thoreau, transcendentalist ideas and themes are still universal today. They can be found within the modern beliefs of individualism, nonconformity, and sacredness of nature. Today, nothing is more important than being an individualist. Individualism can be defined as the habit or principle of being independent and self-reliant, or a social theory favoring freedom of action for individuals over collective or state control. Individualism is one of the basic themes of Transcendentalism. It is the idea of thinking for oneself without the rules set by society. It inspires free thought and actions based on a person’s own ideals, not the ideals of others. At the time in which the transcendentals bloomed, many transcendental ideas were not well received by prevalent culture. Rather than taking this as a sign of downfall, the transcendentals remained true to their ideals and continued to support their unpopular ideas. By remaining autonomous an individual can both retain their identity and develop it. Today, a lot of the individualism is found within the modern appearance. It is very complete to the point where separation can be found in the type of clothing you wear, brands, etc. Also, people like to personalize themselves through hairstyles, tattoos, and body piercings. During the glory years of transcendentalism these types of things were praised by the transcendental people. It showed the freedom of the human being and its mind. One could say that it makes somewhat of a social ranking system in modern society. This now modern idea would have not been around without the transcendentalists. Another very popular transcendentalist theme was nonconformity. Which was failure or refusal to conform, as with established customs, attitudes, or ideas. Transcendentalists, specially Henry David Thoreau, appalled conforming to society simply for fitting in. They thought that society tainted a person’s inner goodwill. They believed that by remaining outside of society's influences a person could surpass the evils society tempted them with and attain true harmony. Thoreau supported violating the laws set forth by the government if one felt that they were detrimental. Thoreau practiced as he preached and refused to submit to the concept that slavery was morally acceptable. He attempted to enlighten others and bring them over to his side. He was shunned by many for his radical ideas. however, he ignored the protests and stood up for what he believed in. Remember that the definition of non-conformity is considered a failure to conform. However, it was seen to him as a successful method of exercising one’s fundamental right to defend his beliefs against others who frowned upon them. A large modern example of this is todays exercise of voicing opinion and fighting for what you believe in. Which may be the most popular modern ideal of transcendentalism. Growing in popularity by the day, the sacredness of nature is still around long after some of the early transcendentalists.
Transcendentalists strongly believed in the sacredness of nature. Thoreau believed that he had wasted a day if he had not gone for at least a three-hour nature walk. Thoreau praises nature, as other Transcendentalists do, for it offers a promised, unchanging location in a world predicated in change. During the popular times of transcendentalism, a lot of nature was still virgin space. It was not as torn up or populated rather wild and still many unexplored areas. But still today with the increase in population and urbanization, our country has several national parks to preserve nature. Through these there are many people today who seek the peace and beauty that nature has to offer through more modern ways of travel and vacation. What to remember, transcendentalism is still alive and healthy in our present world today. Although it may be exercised slightly different it stays on course with the basic ideals that were created during its beginnings. We follow these modern examples of transcendentalism every day. Self-reliance and individual decision making is extremely important. Not falling in line with every else or not wanting to just fit in will help you find yourself. Always embrace the true beauty of the natural part of our planet. Transcendentalism will never go away and its ideas will be fresh and followed for many years to
come.