Transcript Ralph Waldo Emerson - Paint Valley Local Schools Home

Ralph Waldo
Emerson
•Philosopher, poet, essayist,
and public speaker
•Urged people to think for
themselves rather than follow
traditional rules
•Left the ministry because his
beliefs conflicted with the
church
•Believed that each person
contained a spark of divinity
and should search for truths in
nature and within themselves.
•Father of Transcendentalism
The idea that in determining the
ultimate reality of God, the universe,
self, and other important matters, one
must transcend (or go beyond)
everyday human experience in the
physical world.
 Everything in the world, is a
reflection of the Divine Soul
 The physical facts of the natural
world are a doorway to the
spiritual/idea world
 People can use their intuition to
behold God’s spirit revealed in
nature or in their souls
 Self-reliance and individualism
must outweigh external authority
 Spontaneous feelings and intuition
are superior to intellectualism and
rationality
Basic Beliefs in
Laymen’s Terms:
1. Quest for truth
2. Individualism
3. Strong
connection to
Nature
4. Dislike of
materialism
5. Must rely on
intuition
6. Self-Reliance
• Intuition is our capacity to know things
spontaneously through our emotions
rather than through our reasoning
abilities.