Ralph Waldo Emerson - 1803-1882

Introduction

In this section we can find the declaration of Emerson's intents. He laments the tendency to accept the knowledge and traditions of the past instead of experiencing God and nature directly, in the present. He asserts that all our questions about the order of the universe and about the relationship between God, man and nature may be answered by our own experience of life and by the world around us. Each individual is a manifestation of creation and as such holds the key to unlocking the mysteries of the universe. Nature too, is both an expression of the divine and a means of understanding it. Emerson identifies Nature and Soul as the components of the universe. Finally, he explains that he will use the word 'nature' in both its common and its philosophical meanings in the essay.

Chapter I. Nature

At the beginning of this chapter, Emerson says that if a man would be alone, he needs to look at the stars, because looking at them he becomes aware of the distance between him.

and the material world. The stars were made to allow men to perceive the “perpetual presence of the sublime” indeed the fact that they are visible every night demonstrates that God is ever-present. Later Emerson discusses the poetical approach to nature. Unlike children, only few adult persons can see nature, because they have a very superficial seeing. “Most Those who balance their inner and outer senses are the lover of nature. person do not see the sun. The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child.” All aspects of nature correspond to same state of mind. Nature offers perpetual youth and joy and the visionary man may lose himself in it and may become a transparent eye-ball. In nature, which is part of God, man finds qualities parallel to his own and this create a special relationship between man and nature. Emerson also talks about his neighbors who are owner of a field but they do not own the nature, they can only have

Pleasure in its observation. Yet the power of produce this delight doesn't reside in nature but in man, or in a harmony of both. So it is "nature always necessary to use these pleasures with temperance because wears the colors of spirit", so the same scene may be joyful yesterday but melancholic today. (Nature - Childhood - Eye: Romantic elements.)

CHAPTER II. COMMODITY:

Here Emerson presents the four classes of usage of the nature, the first one of which is Commodity, that concerns all those advantages which man senses owe to nature. Although he ranks these benefits as low uses, he says they are perfect in their kind and states that they are the only uses of nature which all men apprehend. He says that all on earth is made "More servant wait on man that for man's support and delight and claims that he'll take notice of." Yet Nature is not only the material, but also the process and the result because it works incessantly for the profit of man.

CHAPTER III. BEAUTY:

A nobler human requirement, that Nature serves, isthe love of Beauty. In this chapter Emerson write that the perception ofNature’s Beauty lies partly in the structure of the eye and partly in the laws oflight. The eye is presented as the best of the artists and the light as the first ofpainters; together they produce the perspective which allows comprehensivevision of the whole. Then Emerson presents three aspects of Beauty:the simple perception of natural forms is a delight.

1. First, Theinfluence of Nature is so needful to man that in its lowest functions it seems to lie on the confines of commodity and beauty. Nature imparts a sense of well-being and communion with the universe and in its eternal calm, man finds himself. But even in its harsher time, Nature satisfies the soul by its loveliness and without any corporeal benefit. Each moment of the year has its own beauty to the attentive eye, so the same landscape viewed in different weather and season, is seen as if for the first time. But this beauty of Nature can't be captured if we seek it too actively and consciously; Beauty is the mark that God sets upon virtue. Second, Nature works together with the spiritual element in man to enhance the nobility of virtuous and heroic human actions. There is a particular affinity between the process of Nature and the capabilities of man. Nature provides a large background against which man's higher actions are dramatically outlined. (?) the love of Beauty is Taste.

   Creation of Beauty is Art.

   Third, Natural Beauty stimulates the human intellect, which searches out the divine order of the universe. A work of Art is the result or expression of nature, in miniature. Every kind of artists are inspired by Nature and offer a unified vision in their work. Unlike the uses of Nature described in Commodity, the role of Nature in satisfying man's desire for beauty is an end in itself.

   CHAPTER IV. LANGUAGE: A third use which Nature subserves to man is that of Language. In this chapter, indeed, Emerson presents Nature as the vehicle of thought.

   1. WORDS ARE SIGNS OF NATURAL FACTS;

   He starts saying that words represent particular facts in Nature, which exists in part to give us language to express ourselves. He suggests that all words, even those conveying intellectual and moral meaning, can be etymologically traced back to roots originally attached to material objects of their qualities. Heart=emotions; head=thought (ex. - emotion and thought borrowed)

   1. LANGUAGE IS A NATURAL FACT.

   Emerson argues that language is not just a human invention, but it is deeply connected to the natural world. He suggests that our language has evolved from our observations and interactions with nature. However, he notes that this connection has been lost over time, except for children and primitive societies.

   2. PARTICULAR NATURAL FACTS ARE SYMBOLS OF PARTICULAR SPIRITUAL FACTS.

   Emerson asserts that not only words, but also natural facts themselves are symbolic. He believes that every natural appearance corresponds to a specific state of mind, which can only be described through that particular natural appearance. For example, he suggests that a lamb represents innocence, while a cunning man represents a fox.

   3. NATURE IS THE SYMBOL OF SPIRIT.

   Emerson argues that human intellectual processes are expressed through language, which originally had a strong connection to nature. He claims that man cannot be understood without nature, and vice versa. He states that nature is emblematic, and even parts of speech are metaphors because the entirety of nature is a metaphor for the human mind. In its origin, language was pure poetry.

   CHAPTER V. DISCIPLINE:

   In this chapter, Emerson discusses the concept of discipline. He suggests that nature serves as a teacher and guide for humans. By observing and learning from nature, individuals can develop discipline in their lives.

   Discipline which serves to educate man through both the logical Understanding and the intuitive Reason. Through the more rational Understanding we learn lessons about the similarities and the differences between objects, about reality and unreality, about order and so on. The ultimate result of the lesson is Common Sense. Each object has its particular use and through the Understanding we know that it cannot be converted to other uses to which it is not fitted. The wise man recognizes the innate properties of objects and men. Emerson goes on to discuss how intuitive Reason provides insight into the ethical and spiritual meanings behind nature. He states that moral and therefore every aspects of nature conveys the laws of right and wrong.

   CHAPTER VI. IDEALISM:

   Here Emerson questions whether nature actually exists, whether God may have created it only as a perception in the human mind; he concludes that the answer is unknowable. By the way he perceives Nature as an Ideal. Even if

   nature is unreal, natural and universal laws apply anyway, because human senses regard nature as real. Emerson than discusses the way in which the poet communicates his own power over nature. He suggests nature's subservience to define its true position in relation to man, as a tool for spiritual education and perfection, and to distinguish the real (that is the Ideal) from the unreal. He concludes by advocating the Ideal theory of Nature over more popular Materialism because it offers the kind of view of the world that the human mind wants to adopt.

   CHAPTER VII. SPIRIT:

   In this section Emerson deals with nature's qualities and purpose. He writes of the difficulties of expressing the divine spirit. The noblest use of nature is to help us by representing God, by serving as a medium through which the universal spirit speaks to the individual. He addresses three questions:

   1. WHAT IS MATTER?
   2. WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?
   3. WHAT IS ITS PURPOSE?

   The only answer to the first question is Idealism,

   which holds that phenomenon, not a substance. He then turns to the question of where matter comes from and to what end. He refers to the Universal Essence, a life force Nature affords access to the very mind of God. Nature also possess a serenity and order that man appreciates. He closes the chapter by referring to the difficulty of reconciling the practical use of nature, as outlined in "Commodity", with its spiritual meaning.

   CHAPTER VIII. PROSPECTS:

   Emerson promotes intuitive Reason as the means of gaining insight into the order and laws of the universe. Empirical science hinders true perception by focusing too much on particular and too (Untaught sallies of the spirit) little to broader picture advance the learned naturalist farther than does precise analysis of detail. A guess or a dream may be more productive than a fact or a scientific experiment. The scientist fails to see the unifying principles behind the abundance of natural expressions. Emerson points out that men know only

   apply rational Understanding to nature, which is consequently perceived materially. He cites examples of intuition working in man (Jesus Christ, Swedenborg and Shakers). Emerson refers to the matutina cognitio knowledge of God as morning knowledge, while men's is vesperina cognitio - evening knowledge. Man will enter the kingdom of his own dominion over nature with wonder, and facts will be transformed into true poetry if we reunite spirit with nature. (that will be fluid and dynamic)?

   THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR (essay, 1837)

   It is a speech given by Emerson on August 1837, to the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Cambridge.

   The text begins with an introduction (1-7), in which Emerson explains that his intent is to explore the scholar as one function of the whole human being; the Man Thinking mere thinker, scholar is in the right state, while he is a or the