Ralph Waldo Emerson - American Scholar

Taek Been Nam

Module 2

Ralph Waldo Emerson

American Scholar

At Cambridge, August 31, 1837, Emerson delivered a lecture that is now known as “The American Scholar.” In this speech, Emerson boldly claims for the new intellectual identity and the original American literature that will no longer depend on the authority of the European past. His hope for the America as an independent nation that would stand firm and autonomous on its intellectual ground is displayed throughout the essay. In this sense, Emerson announces “The American Scholar” as an abstract, exemplary ideal, rather than a particular individual.

Emerson finds the basis of the creation of the original literature from the transcendental thoughts – that one must transcend to set the microcosm of the individual mind in correspondence with the macrocosm of the Over-Soul of the universe. Drawing from the allegory of “One Man”, who is an abstract, unified nature of the universe, he argues that the scholar (current state of society) is the “delegated intellectual” in the society where “One Man” (the unified whole) is subdivided to so great an extent that it no longer serves the good of its citizen. Emerson hopes to amend this problem through addressing how the true scholar is educated and what the duties of this scholar are.

In the first section, on how a scholar should be educated, Emerson argues that the scholar’s mind must be in correspondence with that of nature. The close relationship between the scholar and nature is explained in terms of circular power and the innate order in both parties. He describes that both nature and the scholar’s spirit, “whose beginning, whose ending he never can find – so entire, so boundless,” are eternal (PerkinsGeorge & PerkinsBarbara, 2009)

 l. This circular relationship assumes an important transcendental ideas, which both microcosm of the individual mind and the macrocosm of the Over-Soul of the universe are continuously found in each other. Furthermore, Emerson argues that a person discovers nature’s laws and can understand them because they are embodied in him as well. This all leads to a circular relationship, which reproduces and reaffirms the existence of one unified root.

Then he proceeds to discuss the second influence on the scholar’s mind – the influence of books. While it is true that books, which represents the learning of the past, transform “short-lived actions” into an enduring facts – “immortal truths”, Emerson argues that the books are inevitably a partial truth, and thus, insufficient to comprise unifying knowledge throughout the age. The fundamental drawback of books, according to Emerson, is that they are “written on it by thinkers…who start wrong, who set out from accepted dogmas, not from their own sight of principles” (PerkinsGeorge & PerkinsBarbara, 2009).

 They hinder the scholar from thinking original thoughts since excessive reliance on past thinkers can discourage us from exploring new ideas and seeking individual truths. This is also a reason he wants American Scholar to be free from European tradition; only then, America will truly stand with an independent identity. Instead of being bounded by the past thinkers and thoughts, Emerson suggests that the proper purpose of reading is to inspire the scholar in the time of darkness – “We repair to the lamps which were kindled by their ray to guide our steps to the East again, where dawn is” (PerkinsGeorge & PerkinsBarbara, 2009). Because ancient authors thought and felt as people do today, critical reading with the independent mind will lead the scholar to a transcendental oneness of human minds.

Finally, Emerson emphasizes the importance of action. He argues that principles without action could never fulfill the true nature of scholar, nor it can never “ripen into truth.” As much as we know and learn, these principles must also be lived out, according to Emerson. Only then, these actions later transform into another concrete thought – truth.

Self-Reliance

In Self-Reliance, Emerson discusses the importance of becoming an independent, self-relied person. He asserts that a person must learn to think for oneself rather than merely relying on others’ thoughts or the past knowledge. This idea has been briefly discussed in The American Scholar, using the influence of books on a scholar as a metaphor to explain the nature of true scholarship. As he revisits this concept in the essay, he explores more profound ideology that behind the notion of Self-Reliance.

He begins out by voicing the overarching theme of the essay: “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, - that is genius” (PerkinsGeorge & PerkinsBarbara, 2009). For him, relying on other’s judgment impedes one from discovering individual voices within them. Rather, one must focus on his inner voice, and realize the potentials that reside in him. He refers to this state of mind being childlike – an ego-centric state of mind that is free from social norms and restraints, for an infant “conforms to nobody: all conform to it.” Thereby, one can become an authentic individual who is free from restraints of the past and transcends to the level of truth.

However, achieving self-reliance takes great difficulty because one has to overcome the pressure to conform to the external norm. In this regard, Emerson refers to the society as being a hindrance for one to reach authentic individuality because it restrains its members to customs and culture. He even pushes his argument to the extreme by saying that it is better to be true to an evil nature than to behave “correctly” within the social standards.

Besides the external restraints, one also must face with his urges to remain consistent with past actions and beliefs. He says, “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds…” In other words, consistency inhibits the full expression of an individual’s nature (PerkinsGeorge & PerkinsBarbara, 2009)

. Being bound to whether or not you remain constant in your belief is a waste of time and obscures the expression of individual personality. Although society could judge them and misunderstand them, he argues that some of the history’s great thinkers were considered outcasts for their original ideas. Emerson constantly emphasizes that the matured man will constantly seek to transcend his past beliefs. The usefulness of past knowledge is only relevant when one could use it as a reference to moving on by admitting that past experiences are faulty.