Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Views, Essay Example

Emerson’s Views on Education

Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of the first philosophers of the new era of American society. Firkins goes as far as to call him the first of American thinkers.[1] A century and a half separate the contemporary readers from his life, yet his powerful messages continue striking and startling those who refer to his works now and share his views. In  the first half and the middle of the nineteenth century Emerson was a radical reformer, as his perception of the essence of human and human nature differed quite drastically from the one that was conventional at the time.[2] This difference was outlined by Emerson himself in his lecture Man, the Reformer:

“What is a man born for but to be a Reformer, a Re-maker of what man has made; a renouncer of lies; a restorer of truth and good, imitating the great Nature which embosoms us all, and which sleeps no moment on an old past, but every hour repairs herself, yielding us every morning a new day, and with every pulsation a new life? Let him renounce everything which is not true to him, and put all his practices back on their first thoughts, and do nothing for which he has not the whole world for his reason”.[3]

These ideas reveal Emerson’s striving to reach depths of understanding what role man should play in the development of society and how this knowledge may help man change his way of life and pattern of thinking. The philosopher’s views on education are to a great extent defined by these considerations.

In the academic speeches, Emerson frequently referred to the topic of self-reliance and self-fashioning. Pedagogy was a domain that he found interesting, as his whole adult life was characterized by a great variety of school and university volunteer projects. Emerson’s younger daughter mentioned that he was fascinated by every detail of school politics and organization.[4] Emerson contributed to the pioneering development of adult education by way of participating in the lyceum movement. He readily gave advice on literature and writing books to a wide range of people, be it young writers willing to achieve fulfillment and recognition, or his former students. The Transcendentalism movement was essentially a reform in education, too.[5]

As with other phenomena that Emerson wanted to study, he tried to investigate the depth of underlying principles of the American education. The questions that he posed before himself and society concerned the essence and the object of thinking, the correlation between the cultural legacy of the past and the present experience, the role and functions of education in a developing democratic society. In the speech The American Scholar Emerson revealed his understanding of a true scholar, who differs from many people engaged in similar activities but only emulating him:

“… The scholar is the delegated intellect. In the right state, he is Man Thinking. In the degenerate state, when the victim of society, he tends to become a mere thinker, or, still worse, the parrot of other men’s thinking. […] Is not, indeed, every man a student, and do not all things exist for the student’s behoof? And finally, is not the true scholar the only true master?”[6]

Emerson discussed the influences that are exerted on a scholar by nature, past experiences recorded in the form of books and action. The philosopher’s idea was to find a dialectal golden medium for the correlation of all the three; yet, he emphasized nature as the most important factor.[7]

Emerson regarded both the teacher and the student to be “scholars”. To Emerson, education was not passive absorption of information, but active intelligence. The ultimate goal of education should be largely defined by the object of life itself. At the same time, the cognition of life is closely connected with self-cognition:

“It should be a moral one; to teach self-trust; to inspire the youthful man with an interest in himself; with a curiosity touching his own nature; to acquaint him with the resources of his mind and to teach him that there is all his strength and to inflame him with a piety towards the Grand Mind in which he lives”.[8]

Efficiency of education, in its turn, depends quite strongly on the attitude that an educator adopts towards the child. The ideas expressed by the philosopher are basic principles of democratic education. Emerson believed that the child deserves and needs respect, and the one who teaches should understand that he/she needs personal space that must not be trespassed. The major challenge is to maintain discipline but not interfere with the child’s natural actions and emotions that may be instrumental. In a word, a child’s nature should suggest the best ways to pass knowledge, as cognition is also part of a child’s natural development.[9] In other words, Emerson’s ideas can be referred to the child-centered domain within the progressive educational tradition. He advocated play as a teaching method and stressed the importance of keeping close connections with the nature through imitative learning. Sense experience, according to Emerson, is the mechanism that triggers the realization of a child’s potential.[10]

Emerson’s son Edward claimed that this approach was not only a theoretical construct, as the philosopher applied it in practice. Respect and serenity were characteristic features of his communication with his own and others’ children. However, he was able to inspire awe and it was unthinkable to resist him.[11]

As for the formal educational system, Emerson mentioned in his essay New England Reformers that the system under construction emphasized social control more than individual development:

“I notice too, that the ground on which eminent public servants urge the claims of popular education is fear: ‘This country is filling up with thousands and millions of voters, and you must educate them to keep them from our throats’”.[12]

Emerson tended to have no trust for any institutional actions. This lack of belief was so overwhelming that the philosopher, though foreseeing and stating the necessity of reforming education, failed to suggest any specific steps to be taken in order to achieve the freedom and natural development of the mind through education. His focus on the self-reliant individual prevented him from extending his views from the theoretical principles of education onto their practical implementation.[13] Emerson wrote in his later essay Education:

“I confess myself utterly at a loss in suggesting particular reforms proposed in our models of teaching. No discretion that can be lodged with a school-committee, – with the Overseers or Visitors of an Academy, a College, can at all avail to reach a wrong as deepseated and intrinsic as this. A vicious society cannot have virtuous schools. […] But all these difficulties and perplexities, but they solve themselves when we leave institutions and address individuals”.[14]

Though Emerson remained a theorist of democratic education, his ideas were developed afterwards and served as a basis for progressive teaching methods applied by the following generations.

Emerson’s Views on American Character Identity

Emerson was committed to the ideals promoted by the American democracy and manifested in the core documents of the state. He was extremely patriotic in his attitude, and that was reflected in his ideas. His passion for his country can be described as follows:

“Emerson was American in aspect, temperament, way of thinking, and feeling; American, with an atmosphere of Oriental idealism; American, so far as he belonged to any limited part of the universe”.[15]

The fact that Emerson worked extensively in the genre of essay is one of the first characteristics that demonstrate how his ideas are linked to the search for an authentic American identity. Emerson consistently used this form of presenting his thoughts because the classical Western European genres documented years of oppression, and the new democracy had to free itself from this influence, too. This is reflected in The American Scholar, where the author expressed hope that a new course in scholarship would be set, and it would embrace the principles of the continuing process of democratization in America.[16]

Emerson’s investigation of human nature and moral values gave rise to the concepts of self-reliance and individualism. The ideas that he expressed continue fuelling perennial debate concerning the American “body politic, and even the state of the national psyche – so often fought over the implications of ‘individualism’”.[17] Also, “Emerson has often seemed a cracked mirror reflecting a conflicted culture’s split personality”.[18]

Emerson’s views on the individual identity are expressed in the essay Self-Reliance. A radical thought, which is directly stated by the author, is that every individual is unique and gifted, and every person has the opportunity to realize his/her potential. One has to rely on oneself and find the courage to pursue one’s own goals and adopt one’s own attitudes, even if they are not shared by the public. Emerson calls this unique ability genius:

“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny…”[19]

The ability to accept this challenge became the center of the new American identity for Emerson. It is the only way to fight doctrine and achieve freedom and serenity. However, the philosopher admitted that there can be obstacles on a person’s way. They are societal disapproval and foolish consistency. Nonconformity leads to society’s displeasure, which can be quite distressing.[20] However, a truly free and self-reliant person can ignore it. The other obstacle is more serious, as it is the restriction resting on the mind itself, and not just a social pattern of life. Emerson called it “the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines” and stressed that “with consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do”.[21]

Largely, self-reliance is not a doctrinal principle but an intellectual method, a tool used for searching the truth. Self-reliance regarded as a method of thinking is wider than sticking to one particular value or idea. It is the perspective on the existing phenomena which is directed not outwards, but inwards, inside a personality:

“One relies on oneself rather than seeking support in external commitments. One stays within oneself in order to enter imaginatively into all the commitment that social life displays, and must display. One increases the amount of value in the world by keeping oneself from embracing favorite ideas and works exclusively”.[22]

Emerson’s views on the national identity were expressed in his lecture The Young American. The philosopher investigated the correlation between land, national identity and national progress. According to Emerson, “the land is the appointed remedy for whatever is false and fantastic in our culture. The continent we inhabit is to be physic and food for our mind, as well as our body”.[23] This agrees with the Transcendentalist philosophy in the aspect that land (part of nature) provides individuals with physical, intellectual, and spiritual nurturing. Though the land cannot develop people’s consciousness in its “wild” state, it is possible to foster a nation’s culture through work on the land.[24]

Emerson was also optimistic as to the inflow of people from other countries, as he shared the view that America is the promise land that becomes home to people whose lives serve the purpose of spreading the ideas of freedom and liberty:

“It seems so easy for America to inspire and express the most expansive and humane spirit; new-born, free, healthful, strong, the land of the laborer, of the democrat, of the philanthropist, of the believer, of the saint, she should speak for the human race. It is the country of the future”.[25]

To a great extent, this view of the national American identity is defined by the philosopher’s ideas concerning the individual American identity. The vision for America as a land of change and new opportunities is conditioned by a strong faith that “the young American” is the one who is able to free his/her mind and realize the unique potential he/she has.

References

Bickman, Martin. Minding American Education: Reclaiming Tradition of Active Learning. New York: Teachers College Press, 2003.

Buell, Lawrence. Emerson. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Early Lectures: 1838-1842. London: Oxford University Press, 1972.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. The Complete Prose Works. Boston: Adamant Media Corp., 2006.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. The Early Lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson. London: Oxford University Press, 1964.

Firkins, O.W. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Toronto: General Publishing Company, 2000.

Geldard, Richard G. The Spiritual Teachings of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Great Barrington: Lindisfarne Books, 2001.

Holmes, Oliver Wendell. Ralph Waldo Emerson. New York: Cosimo, 2004.

Karier, Clarence J. The Individual, Society and Education: A History of American Educational Ideas. Champaign: The University of Illinois Press, 1986.

Kateb, George. Emerson and Self-Reliance. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002.

Kirklighter, Cristina. Traversing the Democratic Borders of the Essay. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2002.

Myerson, Joel. A Historical Guide to Ralph Waldo Emerson. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Wayne, Tiffany K. Encyclopedia of Transcendentalism. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2006.

[1] O.W. Firkins, Ralph Waldo Emerson (Toronto:  General Publishing Company, 2000), 1.

[2] Richard G. Geldard, The Spiritual Teachings of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Great Barrington: Lindisfarne Books, 2001), 1.

[3] Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Complete Prose Works (Boston: Adamant Media Corp., 2006), 369.

[4] Lawrence Buell, Emerson (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003), 293.

[5] Ibid., 293.

[6] Emerson, The Complete Prose Works, 330.

[7] Martin Bickman, Minding American Education: Reclaiming Tradition of Active Learning (New York: Teachers College Press, 2003), 11.

[8] Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Early Lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson (London: Oxford University Press, 1964) 199.

[9] Buell, Emerson, 296.

[10] Clarence J. Karier, The Individual, Society and Education: A History of American Educational Ideas (Champaign: The University of Illinois Press, 1986), 57

[11] Ibid., 296.

[12] Emerson, The Complete Prose Works, 156.

[13] Bickman, Minding American Education, 17.

[14] Ralph Waldo Emerson, Early Lectures: 1838-1842 (London: Oxford University Press, 1972), 300.

[15] Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ralph Waldo Emerson (New York: Cosimo, 2004), 179.

[16] Cristina Kirklighter, Traversing the Democratic Borders of the Essay (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2002), 11.

[17] Joel Myerson, A Historical Guide to Ralph Waldo Emerson (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 62

[18] Ibid., 62.

[19] Emerson, The Complete Prose Works, 15.

[20] Ibid., 17

[21] Ibid., 18.

[22] George Kateb, Emerson and Self-Reliance (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002), 5.

[23] Tiffany K. Wayne, Encyclopedia of Transcendentalism (New York: Infobase Publishing, 2006), 325-326.

[24] Ibid., 326.

[25] Ibid., 326.