The Transcendental Movement held a strong opinion that one should have complete faith in oneself.
The Transcendental Movement held a strong opinion that one should have complete faith in oneself. Ralph Waldo Emerson, being an avid transcendentalist, believed in this philosophy. He supported this concept that we should rely on our own intuition and beliefs. "Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string." Emerson, along with the Transcendental Movement, believed in the vitality of self-reliance. One must have confidence and belief in oneself. "…the only right is what is after my constitution; the only wrong what is against it." Once one has reliance upon oneself, he can generate his own set of ideals and morals, not just the ideals bestowed upon him by society. In obeying these principles of life, he has created a constitution of his own. This constitution is the guiding light of his life. It leads the way to truth and ultimate liberation and provides the right path to follow. This idea brings about the transcendental concept of the belief in the worth of the individual. The individual, in transcendental philosophy, has the power to accomplish anything and everything. Social organization and friendship offer a small satisfaction of companionship and structure in life, but one will ultimately succeed based upon his own skills and conviction. In doing so, he will lose interest in the society and concentrate on more individual dependency as he strives to gain ultimate truth in life. "What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think." Once one considers less the social ramifications of his actions and considers more the personal consequences, he will become more fitting to discover what he is looking for. Emerson stresses the importance of man making his own way in the world, without the influence of others. The belief that a man must do what he feels to be happy. He wrote, “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.” This point is fundamental to the structure of the ideal man. He must cut a new path in his life, or else he is “false in all particulars.” The theme of Self-Reliance is an elaboration of this idealist theme. We are to follow our own light, "the only prophet of that which must be, is that great nature in which we rest.” It is
both "the act of seeing and the thing seen," and it creates our world in depth by means of our insight and interpretations. Emerson's great emphasis upon nonconformity and integrity shows that the Over-soul creates a world through individuals rather than through the commerce of groups. "Where we find beauty in a flower or a forest or a poem, meaning and direction, or deep understanding, the voice of "this deity" is speaking through us and creating the world around us by such means. This deity does not speak to groups but, in radical protestant style, to each person alone to ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
both "the act of seeing and the thing seen," and it creates our world in depth by means of our insight and interpretations. Emerson's great emphasis upon nonconformity and integrity shows that the Over-soul creates a world through individuals rather than through the commerce of groups. "Where we find beauty in a flower or a forest or a poem, meaning and direction, or deep understanding, the voice of "this deity" is speaking through us and creating the world around us by such means. This deity does not speak to groups but, in radical protestant style, to each person alone to the degree he or she attends to the message.” The value Emerson attributes to the messages depends upon the Over-soul being "self-sufficing and perfect in every hour." Emerson's focus is upon the individual. In Self-Reliance he says, “it is easy, in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” He complains that all men hear the inner voice in solitude but that they lose themselves when they enter into the world of men. “Society everywhere is a conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members.” Emerson feels man must work on his own and be diligent and truthful in that work to produce a better society. Man must be willing to take risks instead of conforming to the rules of society in order to prosper. Man should control society instead of allowing society to control him. The two major barriers to self-reliance are conformity and relying on the past. The Trustee is man, himself, when he trusts his own intuition. This modifies the egotism of self-reliance because it makes it common to all men and it creates the view that self-reliance is not based on intellect but on common sense. Self-reliance allows one to progress in any situation. It implies that there would be no king or higher government. All would be equal. Emerson feels man should realize that his life is built on fate and chance and he has no power to control the outcome. Emerson wrote about how the ideal man must not look to established institutions for answers. Society wants to impose government, rules, and law on its people so they can be puppet-like. Emerson proposes that men live based on their own individual instincts thereby creating their own internal law. Emerson believes that men fail to prosper because they allow society to think for them. "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblins of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do." Emerson believes in living in the present and not in the past. Society is likened to a "joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread...to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater." This is his explanation of how people are seduced into ignoring their own insights and convictions, in order to better profit by their contact with society. Emerson warns of the seductions of society and supplies a moral counter-weight: "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” It is better to make your own mistakes and suffer from them than to make the mistakes dictated by another and surrender oneself to dissolution in outside forces. Creative interpretation is not to be discouraged, and each person's genius should be developed as far as possible. “To be great is to be misunderstood." This statement was used by Emerson to explain the lagging growth of the conception of ideas and thought of his generation. Original and novel ideas were, and still are scorned by those who believe that the best method for learning is repetition and memorization. When one comes up with a groundbreaking idea, it is generally disregarded because so-called "experts" do not agree with it. This is because society has been taught one thing, and they are scared to believe anything opposite of that. Therefore, anyone who dares to be different is shunned because he is misunderstood. These people, more often than not, turn out to be correct, and later generations benefit from their genius. The "outcast" has become great, and his name will live forever, or until somebody new comes along to defy his teachings. It has been proven time and time again that those who elect to be different are banished from their communities. After their death, unfortunately, they are appreciated for their greatness, and they are newly regarded as heroes. Emerson himself, along with the Transcendental Movement, were not fully appreciated until years after their deaths. The truthfulness behind this statement reflects a major flaw of society. "The effect of society was not to strengthen the individual, but to breed conformity and fear." This reflects Emerson’s conflict with society. In his eyes, society was created in order to enforce rules that were generally accepted as correct. In the event that someone disagreed with these rules, he would be punished and reprimanded for his "sin." Society cannot exist if this is not true. However, Emerson saw this as a direct violation of the rights of the individual. The individual cannot succeed in society because the individual is different, and society scorns what is different. Society is a breeding ground for conformity and uniformity. Therefore, instead of society assisting in raising thinkers, leaders, and philosophers, it creates followers. These followers become slaves to the society. They are under the control of laws, their boss, or whatever their case may be. They have a fear of disobeying, which is accepted as correct because society has defined correctness. To go against society is a sin. We are not taught to be different. We are taught to conform and not think for ourselves. Emerson preached this and pointed it out to us. It is up to us to change the system for our own benefit."I mean ‘the foolish face of praise,’ the forced smile which we put on in company where we do not feel at ease, in answer to conversation which does not interest us." This statement shows the common politeness and predictability of society. If one is engaged in boring and mundane conversation, he does not say so. Instead, the general rule is to politely continue the conversation until it is possible to exit. Emerson questioned this conformity. Why should we be forced to stay in a boring conversation? Society has told us that it is rude to tell someone that they are boring. Emerson believed that it was not rude because it was, in fact, telling the truth. Falseness is equally as evil as rudeness, if not worse. To do what is against human nature is to violate the laws of Nature. One should not conform to the norm of society, and one should not be scared to challenge the pre-established system of belief. Human nature tells us that if something is uncomfortable, we should leave. Conformity with society has disabled this aspect of human nature. We should not conform to the preconceived laws of society. When we dislike something, we should not hesitate to be different and oppose. Believe in the power of the individual, and learn to depend on yourself, in order to achieve greatness.According to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay, “Self-Reliance”, the ideal man is a man that follows no path besides his own. He trusts himself and his opinions regardless of what society believes. The ideal man is the true individual. Not a hermit who rejects the world, but a man that lives amongst people and always stays true to his principles. Emerson wrote about the qualities of youth in the ideal man. He wrote in regards to youth, “ he tries and sentences them on their merits, in the swift summary way of boys, as good, bad, interesting, silly, eloquent, troublesome. He cumbers himself never about consequences, about interests; he gives an independent, genuine verdict. You must court him; he does not court you.” The ideal man must not get tangled in the web of other people’s opinions but must keep a youthful air about him. "Self-Reliance" expressed the need for creative thinking. Society during Emerson's era resisted reform and scorned the reformer. Emerson saw individualism in direct conflict with society. "The effect of society," he thought," was not to strengthen the individual, but to breed conformity and fear." Although he often criticized society, he stressed more importantly the openness of the individual through the soul. The quote “To be great is to be misunderstood,” reflected upon the lack of acceptance of new thought and theory during his time. Taking a practical and democratic, yet poetic interest in all of nature and in individuals of every walk of life, Emerson stresses the potential for genius and creativity in all people. It is a source of creative insight within which Emerson identifies as divine. For Emerson, "intuition" is a poetic faculty of seeing things creatively. Nothing is possible within our distinctively human world without such creative insight and interpretation. Therefore, Emerson calls for us to always be prepared to listen to this voice within instead of conforming to societal pressures.
