Emerson – Self-Reliance
Introduction
Nearly sixty years after
Emerson’s essay was published, the Governor of New York, Theodore Roosevelt,
gave one of his most famous speeches; in praise of and advocating “the
strenuous life.” This rugged means of living and striving was considered
fundamental to the national character; and it clearly echoed the influence of
Emerson and the Transcendentalists of antebellum New England.
The
Transcendentalists are best remembered by two persons, Emerson and Thoreau. Ralph
Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882) was Thoreau’s mentor; and while Thoreau’s Walden
Pond experiment is arguably more famous now than Emerson’s essays, that
experiment was merely the attempted implementation of Emerson’s ideas. What,
then, is Transcendentalism?
While
our image of New England in the early 1800s is notably quaint, to the
Transcendentalists the influence of society, politics, and other civilizational
forces were viewed as corrupting the pure individual. In tandem with the ideal
of a purity comes the notion that Nature, untamed and undeveloped, is superior to
the bustling development and urbanization of the world. These ideas caught on
with influential persons, such as naturalist John Muir and poet Walt Whitman. They
believed that Man, alone in the woods, is at his best.
Emerson’s
ideas are not to be considered misanthropic, or antisocial, but rather advice
for improving oneself morally, spiritually, and physically. What can we know of
ourselves if we spend no time with ourselves alone? Where can we be truly alone
except in nature? Within a few decades, still in Emerson’s lifetime, the United
States would take the unprecedented step of setting aside the world’s first
National Park, Yellowstone, as a place for retreat, contemplation,
self-evaluation and spiritual nourishment. As Muir said “nature may heal and give
strength to body and soul.” This is little removed from Emerson’s landmark
essay, “Nature,” which states “The remotest spaces of nature are visited, and
the farthest sundered things are brought together, by a subtle spiritual
connection.” For Emerson, both Man and Nature are inherently spiritual, and
therefore inherently good.
Transcendentalism was local to the United
States. Emerson’s book of essays was the first philosophical work of note to
come from a country only half a century old. The notion of Emerson’s ‘Self-Reliance’
has, like his commitment to untrammeled Nature, spread beyond American borders.
Throughout the Dark and Middle Ages, the society of other humans was seen as a source
of comfort and even luxury. Cities were a means of assistance, rather than
hindrance, to one’s livelihood. As the early Modern period progressed, this
notion began to shift throughout the Western world. The early Industrial
Revolution was greeted with astonishment, but also wariness, and perhaps a
sense of curious novelty. As the factories progressed and the harm of child
labor and poor working conditions became manifest, the view of cities and
society itself became embittered. White-steepled and brick towns of
Massachusetts are practically the definition of benign landscapes. Near
Emerson’s home in the 1820s, the mill town of Lowell was founded, and within a
decade young girls were working an average of 73 hours a week. Dependency on
the towns and cities for protection, a compact reaching back to the
Renaissance, was now being rewritten, and those who subjected themselves to the
factories led hard, unrewarding lives. Retrospectively, it’s not surprising
that a movement arose advocating for self-reliance and the importance of nature.
Emerson’s
life was one of recognition and appreciated distinction. While we may consider
his peaceful philosophy to be tame, it was considered radical at the time. The
notion of God in all things, to be experienced intuitively through commune with
nature was certainly unconventional. In a predominately Protestant country,
Transcendentalism evolved naturally from the conditions of time and place, but
was disdained by some Americans. As a prominent thinker and advocate of
individualism, it may be safe to assume that these concerns were of little note
to Emerson. During the middle of the last century, due in large part to the
modern environmental movement, Emerson influenced both American as well as
global thought. The first great American essayist, and the first great essayist
since Montaigne, Emerson gave new importance to the rugged individualist.
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