Do Not Allow a Transcendentalism Essay to Frighten You!
Before you find out how to write a good transcendentalism essay, let`s discuss what is transcendentalism. Basically, it is an ethical, religious, and philosophical system that developed in the United States in the mid-19th century. American transcendentalists shared Kant's view of pure knowledge, which seemed to be eternally inherent in consciousness and was the basis for all human experiences. They believed that human consciousness from birth was not a tabula rasa and placed a human personality endowed with a divine soul in the center of the universe. Noteworthy, the representatives of this system believed that spirituality could not be simply achieved through intuition or self-reflection.
Common Transcendentalist Values
Despite the fact that transcendentalists followed many rules and practices, one may recognize three main features that made this philosophy truly unique: idealism, individualism, and the divinity of nature. Unfortunately, there are not so many good transcendentalism essay examples on the web. Therefore, it is pretty challenging to find out what concepts should a transcendentalism essay discuss.
Look Through the Worthy Transcendentalism Essay Topics
Undoubtedly, in order to write a great transcendentalism essay, you need to select a good topic. This topic should be pretty interesting to you and relevant to the subject you study. To choose a good topic, you need to carry out preliminary research and find out what transcendentalism issues need to be addressed. In addition to selecting a great topic, you need to take care of the paper structure. Thus, even if your transcendentalism essay is a pretty unique task, it should also follow the common structure and include an introduction, main body, and conclusion in your essay. The topics within the scope of transcendentalism are quite difficult to write, however, they greatly develop the student`s writing, research, and analytical skills.
In case you need to write a great transcendentalism essay but you have no idea what topic to choose, we advise you to look through the following list:
- Discuss the essential characteristics of transcendentalism philosophy. What are the main concepts the philosophy relies on?
- Discuss the origin of transcendentalism and emphasize its importance;
- Critically evaluate the work of the transcendentalism founders. Evaluate the main goals of the famous transcendentalists;
- Discuss the influence of transcendentalism on the literary works of the 19th century;
- Evaluate the influence of transcendentalism on art;
- Discuss the relation between transcendentalism and society;
- Analyze idealism as one of the main concepts of transcendentalism;
- Name five key values of the transcendentalism movement and explain them.
We assure you that the list of good topics on transcendentalism is not limited to the ones mentioned above. You just need to pick up the one that seems interesting to you. If you experience some problems with choosing a good topic, make sure to talk to your instructor and they will surely guide you.
Transcendentalism Essay Example for Free: Major Beliefs of Transcendentalist Leaders
Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement, which was started by intellectuals in the 1830s. The main transcendentalist leaders included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, and Henry David Thoreau among other poets, authors, and philosophers. The movement was formed to protest against the prevailing state of culture and society. Particularly, transcendentalism aimed at opposing the Unitarian doctrine, which was taught at Harvard Divinity School, and The intellectualism at Harvard. Transcendentalist leaders had many beliefs that changed with time. However, they had four main beliefs: naturally, man is sinless at birth, God can only be found through nature and in nature, and the truth of the universe and children were God’s most magnificent creatures.
Transcendentalists believed that man is sinless at birth. This is a fundamental belief. They believe that sins are not passed down to or from other generations. Therefore, the sin of eating the forbidden fruit was not passed to the man at birth; man is born with God’s blessing. Children are blameless beings without sins since they have not committed any sin at birth. This establishes the basis for the transcendentalist belief that human beings are naturally sinless.
Transcendentalist leaders believed that God is found through nature and in nature. God is present in all living creatures and can only be found if human beings are connected with nature. Transcendentalists believe that human beings can attain God’s level through a peaceful nature and calm setting. This belief requires that human beings transcend normal thinking and develop a higher level of thinking.
Transcendentalists agree that children are God’s perfect creatures. This belief is based on the belief that human beings are born sinless. Thus, children are perfect and are without blemish since they have had no opportunity to commit sin. Additionally, transcendentalists are pro-life; given the opportunity, they would prefer right to wrong.
In conclusion, there are various other minor transcendentalist beliefs. Transcendentalists believe in the oversoul. They believe in life after death concept. In life after death, there is a mixing of souls at the bottom of a fountain to form a single soul, which is reborn at the top. Transcendentalists believe that all souls will rise after death; however, the souls will be rejoined with all the other souls.
