So why did it become so well known? Part of the reason, I think, is that it is in many ways classically American--pretty much every part of the philosophy was borrowed from somewhere else, and we cobbled the pieces together into something wholly new. (It's pretty much a given that in most circumstances in our history, we did not invent new cultural forms--we borrowed and adapted.) So transcendentalism is a mix of Plato, Hinduism, Confucianism, German Existentialism, Kierkegaardian philosophy, assorted form of Eastern mysticism, and good old-fashioned Christianity.
Another reason for its enduring fame is that it came along at a time--first half of the 19th century--when our writers and artists were desperately trying to separate themselves from the Old World--particularly England--and establish their own cultural identity. They were trying to figure out what exactly is American literature. Transcendentalism at its best tries to accommodate two particularly significant aspects of American cultural identity: individualism and democracy.
So what is it? Well, the first step, before we turn our attention to Bryant, is to tease out its groundwork values, and to do that I'm going to ask you to deconstruct an image. Below I've placed an image that metaphorically captures the essential values of transcendentalism. Your task is to look at the image and figure out its implications. If this image represents the essence of transcendentalism (and it does), what do you think this tells us about the nature of human relationships, the nature of human relationships to the universe, the nature of relationships of all living things, the nature of God.
There are many distractions in this photograph. I think they represent life, and all of its vast possibilities, both good and bad. This is very much at the heart of transcendentalism. Then in the center of it all is the ferris wheel. It is elevated from everything else. God carfeully constructed it for us, and therefore it is where we should be;closest to him. However,we have to be able to ignore the surrounding influences. One of the things that is interesting is the careful way the wheel is constructed.It needed to be perfectly made because if one spoke is out of place, it could collapse. We take for granted that the world as we see it will just work--or the wheel will safely spin. However,the truth is, we are all at the mercy of the wheelmaker.
ReplyDeleteI think the wheel represents what the Transcendentalists believed was the potential of the individual, while the spread-out landscape represents the more mundane routines and demands of everyday life. The wheel -- the individual (or Transcendentalism as a whole)-- absorbs and "transcends" the more menial things scattered around it, therefore reaching for a higher force. Depending on the particular individual's belief, that force may or may not be God; the "force" (actually, sort of like the Star Wars premise) represents a heightened sense of nature and goodness and its connection to a never-ending (ever-spinning) cycle.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tia, there are so many things going on in the picture which represents everything that is happening today. We are all going in many different directions that we need to take time to stop and realize the true meaning of life. The Transcendentalists' core beliefs was an ideal spiritual state that 'transcends' the physical and practical and is only realized through the individual's intuition, rather than through the doctrines of established religions (more liberal). The wheel represents a high structure that is above everything else and that is where our priority and focus should be, not all the distractions around us.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of things that I see going on in this photo. First, there seems to be a lot of motion taking place. I feel that way because when I see a ferris wheel, I naturally think revolutions and rotations. I also see this picture as the world is revolving and everything is changing. I can also seem some form of Transcendentalism in the way that the ferris wheel works. I've always seen the rotation as free and not having any restrictions. It just goes around and around, until it's stopped. I also know the way that a ferris wheel works with the balancing of the weight. Maybe we can make a reference to the weight of the world, with the ferris wheel being the world and the riders, or individuals, creating the weight that is felt.
ReplyDeleteLet me first highlight a few of your points, because they do begin to get at the heart of transcendentalism.
ReplyDelete1. The busy-ness and activity that seems to be happening around the ferris wheel. The distractions of the "mundane" (to use Teri's word) were a big concern for the transcendentalists, particularly Thoreau (keep in mind one of his iconic statements: "Simplify, simplify." This is an area where transcendentalism borrows heavily from Buddhism and its criticism of human desire for stuff, for goods, for ostentatious displays of status. By focusing on the value of stuff outside of ourselves, we fail to attend to our inner value--an aspect of what transcendentalists would call "Genius." In this context, "genius" does not refer to intelligence; it refers to our connectedness to a force greater than ourselves. Barb's reference to intuition works very well here.
The disdain (if that's the right word) for stuff also points to the way in which transcendentalism borrows from Plato. The world of stuff is just the world of forms, the world of appearances. The essence of those forms lay elsewhere.
2.The perfect structure of the ferris wheel. The wheel is a circle, and a circle has commonly symbolized wholeness, perfection, completeness. These concepts are crucial to transcendentalism, because unlike Puritanism, transcendentalism is a fundamentally optimistic philosophy. While the Puritans believed in the fundamental depravity of man, transcendentalists believed in the fundamental goodness of man and the fundamental goodness of the universe.
3. The balance of the wheel. Everything is interconnected, and everything needs to be in balance in order for the wheel to function.
So let's take this a bit further. Think of the ferris wheel as a metaphor for the universe itself. What could the cars on the outside of the wheel represent? What could the hub represent? What do we make of the fact that all of these cars are connected by spokes, and all of the spokes run through the hub?
My thought was that the cars represent individual living things (considering Thoreau, I'm going to say it goes beyond just humans) that are all connected to the hub. The hub represents the force of nature or higher reason. Transcendentalists saw God or a higher force (again, depending on the individual because their beliefs varied) through reflecting on nature. While the neverending wheel can still spin if one car is removed or one spoke is broken, ie., if one does not follow the philosophy, it lessens the sense of perfection.
ReplyDeleteWe as humans are not the center of the universe but are linked to each other as we revolve around a higher being which could be a god or maybe nature, to which we are also connected. Everyone and everything is or should be in sync with each other creating the balance?
ReplyDeleteTwo things. First, I was trying to think of a better way to explain the transcendentalists' view of form and substance that I mentioned in my comment above (that part of the philosophy borrowed from Plato). Here's a way of thinking about that. Look at a person next to you (doesn't matter who) and ask yourself two questions about that individual: "Who is that?" and "What is that?" What's the difference in those questions? The answer to "who" leads you to the substance; the answer to "what" leads you to the form. While we might locate the substance in that form, think about it--is that substance really located in that form? And if it is (and a transcendentalist would obviously say no), could someone please point to the organ or area of the body in which that substance is located? No? I didn't think so.
ReplyDeleteMy second thing points to the comments of Teri and Cheryl above regarding the ferris wheel. Yes, the cars are not simply humans--they represent living things. And we are all connected to the hub, a transcendentalist version of God. Transcendentalists did not believe in the traditional personal God of Christianity; they favored the Hindu conception of Brahma, an impersonal unifying force.
So now consider the implications of all this. What are the implications of a universe in which all living things are connected, and in which all living things are connected THROUGH God--not BY God, but THROUGH God?
Well if the idea is that we are all created THROUGH God...then I think it would bring about the point on human equality? Because equality in itself is universal and lives in our conscious and our moralities. God was found in nature and as well as our human natures and the transcendentalists believed that there was a connection between all things So I am assuming that if they were true to their ideals they felt connected through nature, thus making them connected with God?
ReplyDeleteI WILL be lame and comment on the fact that the Ferris wheel is a circle… and, as sung in a favorite childhood classic Disney movie: “it’s the circle of life, and it moves us ALL.” Every single living thing has a place on this circle and, as Wooster stated, I think this may have to do with equality of beings. The spokes, the cars, and everything connect to create the perfect form. The Ferris wheel is raising above all the chaos of the town, heading towards the heavens and God. It just keeps going around and around. We all experience the same things – the highs and the lows, the ups and the downs… at times we enjoy it, at times we get sick, but in the end we’re all doing the same thing.
ReplyDeleteLike Lauren said the Ferris wheel is obviously a circle. A circle reperesents no beginning and no end. Just like in a relationship there is no end. It should last forever. Through thick and thin, in sickness and in health. No relatioships is perfect because there are always good times and bad times so the motion of the Ferris wheel would represent the highs and lows of a relationship. Our relationship with God should be the same way. It should last forever. Our God is a God of infinite forgiveness all we have to do is want to be in a lasting relationship with Him and he will provide it.
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