The transcendental club was a group of intellectuals who met regularly in the mid-19th century to discuss issues related to transcendentalism, a philosophical movement that emphasized the individual's intuitive spiritual connection to the universe. The club was based in Concord, Massachusetts, and included such notable figures as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller.
Transcendentalism was a response to the rationalism and materialism of the Enlightenment, and it sought to elevate the human spirit above the physical world. Its proponents believed in the inherent goodness of humanity and the power of individual intuition and self-reliance. They also advocated for social reform and the abolition of slavery.
The transcendental club met regularly to discuss these ideas and to explore their own spiritual development. They believed that through deep contemplation and self-reflection, individuals could gain a greater understanding of the universe and their place within it. They also believed that this understanding could lead to personal and social transformation.
The club's meetings were informal and often took the form of philosophical discussions and lectures. They were open to anyone who was interested in exploring the ideas of transcendentalism, and the club attracted a diverse group of people from various backgrounds and professions.
One of the most influential members of the transcendental club was Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was a leading advocate of transcendentalism and a prolific writer and speaker. His essays and lectures, such as "Self-Reliance" and "The American Scholar," articulated the principles of transcendentalism and had a significant impact on the intellectual and cultural landscape of the time.
Henry David Thoreau, another notable member of the club, was a writer, naturalist, and philosopher who is best known for his book "Walden," in which he describes his experience living in a cabin in the woods and his reflections on simple living, self-sufficiency, and the importance of nature. Thoreau's writing was deeply influenced by transcendentalism, and he was a vocal advocate for social reform and civil disobedience.
Margaret Fuller was another important member of the club. She was a writer, journalist, and feminist who was committed to social reform and the rights of women. Her book "Woman in the Nineteenth Century" was a pioneering work of feminist thought that explored the social and political issues facing women in the 19th century.
The transcendental club had a significant influence on the intellectual and cultural life of the time, and its ideas continue to resonate today. The emphasis on individual intuition and self-reliance, the value of nature and the importance of social reform, and the belief in the inherent goodness of humanity are all central themes of transcendentalism that remain relevant in the modern world.
Transcendentalism
Emerson, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Thoreau was arrested in 1846 for nonpayment of his poll tax, and he took the opportunity presented by his night in jail to meditate on the authority of the state. President Quincy had his eye on the past; theirs was on the present and future. Cities of Words: Pedagogical Letters on a Register of the Moral Life, Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. The movement took its name from the German philosopher Kant. Hedge organized what eventually became known as the Transcendental Club, by suggesting to Emerson in 1836 that they form a discussion group for disaffected young Unitarian clergy.
In a large degree such periodicals as "The North American Review" and "The Christian Examiner," both of them then published in Boston, were academic in taste, pedantic in method, and wanting in literary insight. Some adherents link it with utopian social change; Brownson, for example, connected it with early socialism, but others consider it an exclusively individualist and idealist project. Thousands died along the way. James Marsh 1794—1842 , a graduate of Andover and the president of the University of Vermont, was equally important for the emerging philosophy of transcendentalism. In other words, everyone is essentially good but may need to pursue this goodness through thinking and self-determinization. The Dial 1840—4 was a special case, for it was planned and instituted by the members of the Transcendental Club, with Margaret Fuller 1810—50 as the first editor.
Other important transcendentalists were Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Lydia Maria Child, Amos Bronson Alcott, Frederic Henry Hedge, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, and Theodore Parker. New York: Hill and Wang, 2007: 130. If you have your own opinions, share them with us! Listen to find out our opinions! If you want to leave your thoughts or opinions elsewhere feel free to follow us on social media or email us! Originally, transcendentalism referred to a system developed by the philosopher Immanuel Kant focusing on analyzing the reasoning process in order to understand the true nature of reality. The citizen has no duty to resign his conscience to the state, and may even have a duty to oppose immoral legislation such as that which supports slavery and the Mexican War. Tune in to find out our opinions! Though Sources The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Fall 2018 Edition , Edward N.
New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. In 1844, the community, perpetually struggling financially, drafted an entirely new constitution and committed to following more closely the Fourierist model. Margaret Fuller: an American Romantic Life, New York: Oxford University Press Vol. The transcendentalists were not content with the sobriety, mildness, and calm rationalism of Unitarianism. The Second Great Awakening and the Transcendentalists. Thoreau advocated nonviolent action but later a letter in support of violent actions of John Brown, who murdered unarmed pro-slavery settlers in Kansas. Frederick Henry Hedge, a Unitarian minister who studied in Germany and knew the German language well brought German philosophy to Americans through Hedge's Club to begin discussions of current topics through a German philosophers lens.
American Renaissance: Art and Expression in the Age of Emerson and Whitman, New York: Oxford University Press. The intellectual power of Transcendentalists was directed toward individual rights and, implicitly, market capitalism, not humanitarian reform. Many prominent American authors, particularly in Massachusetts, embraced the movement and formed what they called "The Transcendental Club" in the 1930s, and some organized utopian communes in the 1840s. Margaret Fuller was the daughter of a Massachusetts congressman who provided tutors for her in Latin, Greek, chemistry, philosophy and, later, German. T Myerson, Joel, Transcendentalism, A Reader, New York: Oxford University Pres, 2000. New York: Hill and Wang, 2007: 129.
About Rebecca Beatrice Brooks Rebecca Beatrice Brooks is the author and publisher of the History of Massachusetts Blog. Follen, and William Henry Channing. Transcendentalism is an American literary, philosophical, religious, and political movement of the early nineteenth century, centered around Ralph Waldo Emerson. Their beliefs are closely linked with those of the Romantics, but differ by an attempt to embrace or, at least, to not oppose the empiricism of science. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2004. A Power to Translate the World: New Essays on Emerson and International Culture, Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England. The Other Emerson, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Brook Farm, Fruitlands, and other paying enterprises drained the journal of many of its contributors, and subscriptions dropped. From the right perspective, Thoreau finds, he can possess and use a farm with more satisfaction than the farmer, who is preoccupied with feeding his family and expanding his operations. Emerson urged in his essay "The American Scholar" for Americans to stop looking to Europe for inspiration and imitation and to be themselves. The conservation of an undisturbed natural world is also extremely important to the Transcendentalists. In 1961 the Dial, difficult to find in the original, was republished in its four volumes by Russell and Russell, along with George Willis Cook's two-volume An Historical and Biographical Introduction to Accompany the Dial. New York: Delacorte Press, 1978: 61—62.
For one reason, his is an individualist form of hope; you can take on his ethical project by yourself, on your own, no matter who you are or where you live. Are humans inherently good or evil? In this episode of The Transcendental Club Podcast, Nick, Ben and Nolan discuss the Universe Simulation Theory and questions surrounding it. Though the group was mostly made up of struggling aesthetes, the wealthiest among them was Samuel Gray Ward, who, after a few contributions to The Dial, focused on his banking career. An immoral law, he holds, is void. American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions, New York: Oxford University Press.
What Is Transcendentalism? Beliefs of this American Movement
It is only from such real individuals that true community can form. The Slavery Abolition Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1833 and celebrated annually in Concord. Race and Manifest Destiny: the origins of American racial anglo-saxonism, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. They were also moved by the stale intellectual climate of Harvard and Cambridge. New York: Hill and Wang, 2007: 128.
