Emerson And His Philosophy

This study offers the first comprehensive account of Emerson's philosophy since his philosophical rehabilitation began in the late 1970s. It builds on the historical reconstruction proposed in the author's previous book, Emerson's Metaphysics, and like that study draws on the entire Emerson corpus—the poetry and sermons included. The aim here is expository. The overall though not exclusive emphasis is on identity, as the first term of Emerson's metaphysics of identity and flowing or metamorphosis. This metaphysics, or general conception of the nature of reality, is what grounds his epistemology and ethics, as well as his esthetic, religious, and political thought. Acknowledging its primacy enables a general account like this to avoid the anti-realist overemphasis on epistemology and language that has often characterized rehabilitation readings of his philosophy. After an initial chapter on Emerson's metaphysics, the subsequent chapters devoted to the other branches of his thought also begin with their "necessary foundation" in identity, which is the law of things and the law of mind alike. Perception of identity in metamorphosis is what characterizes the philosopher, the poet, the scientist, the reformer, and the man of faith and virtue. Identity of mind and world is felt in what Emerson calls the moral sentiment. Identity is Emerson's answer to the Sphinx-riddle of life experienced as a puzzling succession of facts and events.

This book situates Ralph Waldo Emerson in the tradition of philosophy as “spiritual exercise”, arguing that the defining feature of his literary philosophy is the conviction that there is an inherent link between moral persuasion and literary excellence. Hosseini persuasively argues that the Emersonian project can be viewed as an extension of Socrates’ call for a return to the beginning of philosophy, to search for a way of revolutionizing our ways of seeing from within. Examining Emerson’s provocative style of writing, Hosseini contends that his prose is shaped by a desire to bring about psychagogia, or influencing the soul through the power of words. This book furthermore examines the evolving nature of Emerson’s thoughts on “scholarly action” and its implications, his religious temperament as an aesthetic experience of the world through wonder, and the reasons for a resounding acknowledgment of despair in his essay “Experience.” In the concluding chapter, Hosseini explores the depth of Emerson’s engagement with the classical Persian poets and argues that what we may call his “literary humanism” is informed by Persian Adab, exemplified in the writings of Rumi, Hafiz, and Saadi. Weaving together themes from Persian philosophy and Emersonian transcendentalism, Hosseini establishes Emerson’s way of seeing as refreshingly relevant, showing that the questions he tackled in his writings are as pressing today as they were in his time.

This meticulously edited Ralph Waldo Emerson collection is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents: Introduction: Ralph Waldo Emerson Books: The Conduct of Life: Fate Power Wealth Culture Behavior Worship Considerations by the Way Beauty Illusions Essays-First Series: History Self-Reliance Compensation Spiritual Laws Love Friendship Prudence Heroism The Over-Soul Circles Intellect Art Essays-Second Series: The Poet Experience Character Manners Gifts Nature Politics Nominalist and Realist New England Reformers Nature: Commodity Beauty Language Discipline Idealism Spirit Prospects Representative Men: Plato Emanuel Swedenborg Michel de Montaigne William Shakespeare Napoleon Johann Wolfgang von Goethe English Traits: First Visit to England Voyage to England Land Race Ability Manners Truth Character Cockayne Wealth Aristocracy Universities Religion Literature The Times Stonehenge Personal Result Speech at Manchester Society and Solitude: Civilization Art Eloquence Domestic Life Farming Works and Days Books Clubs Courage Success Old Age Letters and Social Aims: Poetry and Imagination Social Aims Eloquence Resources The Comic Quotation and Originality Progress of Culture Persian Poetry Inspiration Greatness Immortality Addresses and Lectures: The American Scholar An Address in Divinity College Literary Ethics The Method of Nature Man the Reformer Lecture on The Times The Conservative The Transcendentalist The Young American Letter to President Van Buren The Man of Letters The Celebration of Intellect... Other Essays: The Lord's Supper Thoughts on Modern Literature Walter Savage Landor The Senses and the Soul Transcendentalism Prayers Fourierism and the Socialists Chardon Street and Bible Conventions Agriculture of Massachusetts Harvard University English Reformers Europe and European Books The Tragic Past and Present Perpetual Forces Demonology The Preacher Milton Thoreau Michael Angelo Plutarch Ezra Ripley Mary Moody Emerson Samuel Hoar Carlyle George L. Stearns Saadi American Civilization The Fortune of the Republic The Sovereignty of Ethics The Natural History of Intellect...

This edition includes: Introduction: Ralph Waldo Emerson Books: The Conduct of Life: Fate Power Wealth Culture Behavior Worship Considerations by the Way Beauty Illusions Essays-First Series: History Self-Reliance Compensation Spiritual Laws Love Friendship Prudence Heroism The Over-Soul Circles Intellect Art Essays-Second Series: The Poet Experience Character Manners Gifts Nature Politics Nominalist and Realist New England Reformers Nature: Commodity Beauty Language Discipline Idealism Spirit Prospects Representative Men: Plato Emanuel Swedenborg Michel de Montaigne William Shakespeare Napoleon Johann Wolfgang von Goethe English Traits: First Visit to England Voyage to England Land Race Ability Manners Truth Character Cockayne Wealth Aristocracy Universities Religion Literature The Times Stonehenge Personal Result Speech at Manchester Society and Solitude: Civilization Art Eloquence Domestic Life Farming Works and Days Books Clubs Courage Success Old Age Letters and Social Aims: Poetry and Imagination Social Aims Eloquence Resources The Comic Quotation and Originality Progress of Culture Persian Poetry Inspiration Greatness Immortality Addresses and Lectures: The American Scholar An Address in Divinity College Literary Ethics The Method of Nature Man the Reformer Lecture on The Times The Conservative The Transcendentalist The Young American Letter to President Van Buren The Man of Letters The Celebration of Intellect... Other Essays: The Lord's Supper Thoughts on Modern Literature Walter Savage Landor The Senses and the Soul Transcendentalism Prayers Fourierism and the Socialists Chardon Street and Bible Conventions Agriculture of Massachusetts Harvard University English Reformers Europe and European Books The Tragic Past and Present Perpetual Forces Demonology The Preacher Milton Thoreau Michael Angelo Plutarch Ezra Ripley Mary Moody Emerson Samuel Hoar Carlyle George L. Stearns Saadi American Civilization The Fortune of the Republic The Sovereignty of Ethics The Natural History of Intellect...

How do I live a good life, one that is deeply personal and sensitive to others? John T. Lysaker suggests that those who take this question seriously need to reexamine the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson. In philosophical reflections on topics such as genius, divinity, friendship, and reform, Lysaker explores "self-culture" or the attempt to remain true to one's deepest commitments. He argues that being true to ourselves requires recognition of our thoroughly dependent and relational nature. Lysaker guides readers from simple self-absorption toward a more fulfilling and responsive engagement with the world.

At the core of Emerson’s philosophy is his view as a naturalist that we are “made of the same atoms as the world is.” In counterpoint to this identity, he noted the fluid evolution and diversity of combinations and configurations of those atoms. Thus, he argued, our “relation and connection” to the world are not occasional or recreational, but “everywhere and always,” and also reciprocal, ongoing, and creative. He declared he would be a naturalist, which for him meant being a knowledgeable “lover of nature.” Emerson’s famous insistence on an “original relation to the universe” centered on morally creative engagement with the environment. It took the form of a nature literacy that has become central to contemporary environmental ethics. The essential argument of this book is that Emerson’s integrated philosophy of nature, ethics, and creativity is a powerful prototype for a diverse range of contemporary environmental ethics. After describing Emerson’s own environmental literacy and ethical, aesthetic, and creative practices of relating to the natural world, Dunston delineates a web of environmental ethics that connects Emerson to contemporary eco-feminism, living systems theory, Native American science, Asian philosophy, and environmental activism.

DigiCat presents to you this unique and meticulously edited Emerson collection: Introduction: Ralph Waldo Emerson Books: The Conduct of Life: Fate Power Wealth Culture Behavior Worship Considerations by the Way Beauty Illusions Essays-First Series: History Self-Reliance Compensation Spiritual Laws Love Friendship Prudence Heroism The Over-Soul Circles Intellect Art Essays-Second Series: The Poet Experience Character Manners Gifts Nature Politics Nominalist and Realist New England Reformers Nature: Commodity Beauty Language Discipline Idealism Spirit Prospects Representative Men: Plato Emanuel Swedenborg Michel de Montaigne William Shakespeare Napoleon Johann Wolfgang von Goethe English Traits Society and Solitude: Civilization Art Eloquence Domestic Life Farming Works and Days Books Clubs Courage Success Old Age Letters and Social Aims: Poetry and Imagination Social Aims Eloquence Resources The Comic Quotation and Originality Progress of Culture Persian Poetry Inspiration Greatness Immortality Poetry: Poems (1847) May-Day and Other Pieces: May-Day The Adirondacs Occasional and Miscellaneous Pieces Nature and Life Elements Quatrains Translations Other Poems Addresses and Lectures: The American Scholar An Address in Divinity College Literary Ethics The Method of Nature Man the Reformer Lecture on The Times The Conservative The Transcendentalist The Young American Letter to President Van Buren The Man of Letters The Celebration of Intellect... Other Essays: The Lord's Supper Thoughts on Modern Literature Walter Savage Landor The Senses and the Soul Transcendentalism Prayers Fourierism and the Socialists Chardon Street and Bible Conventions Agriculture of Massachusetts Harvard University English Reformers Europe and European Books The Tragic Past and Present War Perpetual Forces Demonology The Preacher Milton Thoreau Michael Angelo Plutarch Ezra Ripley, D.D. Mary Moody Emerson Samuel Hoar Carlyle George L. Stearns Saadi American Civilization The Fortune of the Republic The Sovereignty of Ethics The Natural History of Intellect