Emerson/Nature & Self-Reliance

Abstract: A 4 page essay that looks at Emerson's take on nature in his famous essay "Self-Reliance." American transcendental philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson outlines a perspective that values individualism over unthinking conformity. Just as Martin Luther proposed that individuals can establish a personal relationship with God, without intermediaries such as priests, Emerson eschews the entirety of all established institutions and proposes that individuals, via a direct relationship with nature and their own inner resources, can arrive at perceptions of reality and truths that are just as legitimate, if not more so, than any offered by conventional society. In fact, Emerson pictures unthinking acceptance of societal concepts as inhibiting to personal growth. No additional sources cited.

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Catagory: American Literature

Subcatagory: Literature

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