The transcendental club was a group of intellectuals who met regularly in the mid-19th century to discuss issues related to transcendentalism, a philosophical movement that emphasized the individual's intuitive spiritual connection to the universe. The club was based in Concord, Massachusetts, and included such notable figures as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller.
Transcendentalism was a response to the rationalism and materialism of the Enlightenment, and it sought to elevate the human spirit above the physical world. Its proponents believed in the inherent goodness of humanity and the power of individual intuition and self-reliance. They also advocated for social reform and the abolition of slavery.
The transcendental club met regularly to discuss these ideas and to explore their own spiritual development. They believed that through deep contemplation and self-reflection, individuals could gain a greater understanding of the universe and their place within it. They also believed that this understanding could lead to personal and social transformation.
The club's meetings were informal and often took the form of philosophical discussions and lectures. They were open to anyone who was interested in exploring the ideas of transcendentalism, and the club attracted a diverse group of people from various backgrounds and professions.
One of the most influential members of the transcendental club was Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was a leading advocate of transcendentalism and a prolific writer and speaker. His essays and lectures, such as "Self-Reliance" and "The American Scholar," articulated the principles of transcendentalism and had a significant impact on the intellectual and cultural landscape of the time.
Henry David Thoreau, another notable member of the club, was a writer, naturalist, and philosopher who is best known for his book "Walden," in which he describes his experience living in a cabin in the woods and his reflections on simple living, self-sufficiency, and the importance of nature. Thoreau's writing was deeply influenced by transcendentalism, and he was a vocal advocate for social reform and civil disobedience.
Margaret Fuller was another important member of the club. She was a writer, journalist, and feminist who was committed to social reform and the rights of women. Her book "Woman in the Nineteenth Century" was a pioneering work of feminist thought that explored the social and political issues facing women in the 19th century.
The transcendental club had a significant influence on the intellectual and cultural life of the time, and its ideas continue to resonate today. The emphasis on individual intuition and self-reliance, the value of nature and the importance of social reform, and the belief in the inherent goodness of humanity are all central themes of transcendentalism that remain relevant in the modern world.
Transcendentalism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Cities of Words: Pedagogical Letters on a Register of the Moral Life, Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Transcendentalism is an American literary, philosophical, religious, and political movement of the early nineteenth century, centered around Ralph Waldo Emerson. Instead, they longed for a more intense spiritual experience. The Beginnings of Unitarianism in America, Boston: Beacon. The transcendentalist belief that every person carries God within him or her meant that politics, economics, organized religion and the schools, with their tendency to sort people into hierarchical ranks, needed to be overhauled or at least reformed.
History of New England Transcendentalism
This was an inherently American idea, born in Massachusetts by the group known as Quotes Explain what the following quotes mean and how they are exemplars of transcendentalism: Man is his own star; and the soul that can Render an honest and a perfect man, Commands all light, all influence, all fate; Nothing to him falls early or too late. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2003: 32—33. American Transcendentalism: A History. Some adherents link it with utopian social change; Brownson, for example, connected it with early socialism, but others consider it an exclusively individualist and idealist project. From this experience, he wrote the book Walden, now a classic text assigned in high school and college literature courses.
The Transcendental Club
Although Walden initiates the American tradition of environmental philosophy, it is equally concerned with reading and writing. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press: 1981. The Transcendental Club likely did not have official meetings after September 1840, though they continued to correspond and attend each other's lectures. American Transcendentalism: A History. Within the genre of Writers connected to the Transcendental Movement trusted themselves to be their own authority, understood matters well beyond what we can touch, see, hear, taste, and feel. New England Literary Culture: From Revolution Through Renaissance, Cambridge University Press. Hedge organized what eventually became known as the Transcendental Club, by suggesting to Emerson in 1836 that they form a discussion group for disaffected young Unitarian clergy.
The Dial
Thoreau struck out on his own in an attempt to live self-sufficiently in the woods near Walden Pond, where he built a hut and tried to live independently of society. It was its novelty, its freshness of tone, its romantic temper, its boundless hope and courage, that caused it to be criticised and jeered at generally by the more conservative literary journals. Transcendentalism and the Cultivation of the Soul, Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press. Excellent monthlies and quarterlies had been published previously, but they were imitative of European ideas and methods, and they had no fresh literary merit. Other important transcendentalists were Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Lydia Maria Child, Amos Bronson Alcott, Frederic Henry Hedge, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, and Theodore Parker.
