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American Transcendentalism: A History

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It's the question that you dread to be asked, if you're a follower of Emerson or Thoreau: "What the heck IS transcendentalism, anyway? Where did it come from?" You stutter and you stammer and you explain what the concept means to you, which is probably not what someone else would say. And you hope that if the inquirer was merely being polite, you won't have to launch into any further details about the influence of German, French, and English writers and philosophers on New England Unitarians in the 1830s. If you're lucky, you'll be able to steer the conversation toward a safer topic. Like the contemporary political scene. Or the war in Iraq.

Phil Gura has made our lives much easier by publishing this history of the American transcendentalist movement. Now all the loose ends are tied up in this one, valuable volume. He traces those European ideas back to their sources, then shows how they surfaced in America. Those were the days when folks read pieces of literature and philosophy in their original languages, and aspiring scholars took the time to translate those works into English. Those were the days when religious debate was a common occurrence, and men of the cloth published opinionated pamphlets that others vocally supported or viciously denigrated in the popular press or in their own esoteric periodicals. American religions were still in a period of evolution and transition, and the Transcendentalists emerged as a result. You'll have to read this book to find out how that happened.

And while you're poring over it, you should also have one of the published compendiums by your side: either Lawrence Buell's "The American Transcendentalists: Essential Writings" or Joel Myerson's "Transcendentalism: A Reader." That way, you'll be able to read the actual selections referred to throughout the text. It will all make sense, and you will come away with a more complete understanding of the individuals many people feared could do undue damage to American religious thought in the mid-1800s.

Perhaps one of the most useful parts of the book comes early, when Gura identifies the Transcendentalists by name on pages 7 and 8. It's nice to have a succinct list, and it sets the stage for those players to resurface throughout the text. Transcendentalism was bigger than Emerson and Thoreau, and it included both men and women. According to Gura, transcendentalism was embodied by: Amos Bronson Alcott, Cyrus Bartol, Charles Timothy Brooks, Orestes Brownson, William Ellery Channing, William Henry Channing, James Freeman Clarke, Christopher Cranch, Caroline Healey Dall, John Sullivan Dwight, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Convers Francis, Margaret Fuller, William Henry Furness, William Batchelder Greene, Frederic Henry Hedge, Sylvester Judd, Charles King Newcomb, Samuel Osgood, Theodore Parker, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, George Ripley, Sophia Ripley, Samuel Robbins, Caleb Stetson, Thomas T. Stone, Caroline Sturgis, Ellen Sturgis, Henry David Thoreau, Jones Very, Anna Ward, and Charles Stearns Wheeler. Transcendentalism's "second generation" was represented by Moncure Conway, Octavius Brooks Frothingham, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Samuel Johnson, Samuel Longfellow, Franklin Sanborn, David Wasson, and John Weiss. Once you know the WHO, you can attend to the WHERE and WHY.

This book will no doubt become one of the standards on the subject and a welcome update to Frothingham's 1876 "Transcendentalism in New England: A History." Scholars of American literature, philosophy, or religion should put this title on their to-read lists.

In "American Transcendentalism: A History" Philip Gura, has written a learned and detailed account that is both inspiring and critical of an important movement in American thought. Gura is the William Newman Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Many readers have only a vague notion of what the Transcendentalist movement was about together with a notion that Emerson and Thoreau were at its center. Gura shows that the movement was, indeed, quite loose, with many people finding many different meanings and goals in Transcendentalism. He also shows that Emerson was, at least initially, not at the center of the movement and that he differed from many of his fellow Transcendentalists in key ways. The movement flourished from the 1830s to the 1850s, was basically subsumed by the Civil War, and then reappeared in several modified forms in post-War American. Ultimately, it was largely replaced (or modified) as the paradigmatic American philosophy by William James and his fellow pragmatists.

Transcendentalism was a form of philosophical idealism which stressed the immediacy of individual consciousness as a means of understanding what was valuable in experience. In addition to its subjectivism, transcendentalism had a strong universalist component as it found that every person would share essentially the same intuitions of value and meaning if they looked inside themselves. Transcendentalists opposed the empiricism of John Locke, which they found despiritualized people and reality, and they opposed as well conservative Calvinist theology. Broadly speaking, the movement sought a spirituality not tied to the teachings of a specific organized religion or to a claimed revelation. Teachings that lead towards this goal are still highly attractive to many Americans, and the Transcendentalists thus amply deserve a hearing to see what may be learned from them.

Gura's book is full of intellectual and spiritual excitement as young unitarian scholars and ministers learned of and translated works of German and other European scholars on the Higher Criticism of the Bible and on philosophical idealism subsequent to Kant. It is inspiring to read of such intellectual ferment and growth. Early Transcendentalists, such as George Ripley, sponsored large-scale projects to translate the work of German thinkers, critics, and poets into English for American readers. Schliermacher and Swedenborg, although perhaps not the leading influences on the Transcendentalists, were among those who most fascinated me in Gura's account.

Much of Gura's history shows how the Transcendentalists ultimately diverged over issues of social activism. Many Transcendentalist thinkers were devoted, given their commitment to the equality of people, to social change and to reform. This led to Ripley's experiment at Brook Farm and to the work of preachers such as Theodore Parker to work for better social conditions for the poor and to oppose the Mexican War and slavery.
Emerson and his followers tended to be skeptical of social activism and to turn inward. It was more than a difficult task, for Emerson, for every person to work on cultivating him or herself before trying to impact the behavior of others. This tension in approach between self and other-directedness is, of course, still much alive.

Besides the history of the movement, I found most intruiging the lengthy summaries Gura offers of the primary works resulting from the movement. He discusses works such as Emerson's essays and Thoreau's Walden (which Gura says "embodies a love affair with America as the writer struggles to square his devotion to conscience with the republican ideals on which the nation was founded." p. 269) and the writings of the early feminist Margaret Fuller. But Gura also introduces the reader to the work of Theodore Parker, Orestes Brownson, and Bronson Alcott. A host of lesser-known but fascinating writers are also included, such as the novelist Sylvester Judd the minister William Greene, who became fascinated with Jewish mysticism and wrote a work called "The Blazing Star, with an Appendix Treating of the Jewish Kabbala" (1872) the teacher Eliza Thayer Clapp, Samuel Johnson (1822-1882), an early student of comparative religion, and Octavius Frothingham, a religious thinker in his own right and the first historian of Transcendentalism. I wanted to hear more of, and to read, these and other Transcendentalists that find a place in Gura's history.

Many historians of American philosophy, such as Bruce Kuklick in his "History of Philosophy in America" make a great deal of the split between a philosophy of individualism -- contemplation of the relationship between science and religion and of the good life for the individual -- and a call for social action, as exemplified, for some, in the philosophy of John Dewey, in understanding the United States and its intellectual history. This tension first played itself out in the Transcendentalist movement and it continued, as Gura points out, through the pragmatists. Emerson's thought was appropriated, probably unfairly, as supporting the materialism and lust for success of post-Civil War America.

In their quest both for spiritual awareness and for social justice, the Transcendentalists still have much to teach. Gura's thoughtful book will provide a gateway into Transcendentalism for many readers.

Robin Friedman

This is an excellent work on the Transcendentalist
movement in America. Famous names; such as,
Emerson and Thoreau are contained in the work.
The tireless efforts of Brownson are extolled with
regard to improvements in the plight of laborers.
Margaret Fuller's efforts on behalf of women are set
forth in detail. The reformer, Alcott brought about
new education methods/methodologies.

The presentation is in the
tradition of deep religious and philosophical
thinking in Europe and America. The 1850s brought about
a considerable opposition to slavery and this aspect
is highlighted in the book. The transcendentalist,
Ellis spoke about the origination of ideas via
Divine Revelation. The scientist, Dr. Benjamin Fain
developed this connection in his work-
Creation Ex Nihilo.

The Transcendentalists worked from Biblical associations
to create unique utopian reforms. Emerson believed in the
notion of a primitive universal language to facilitate
commuication.

Charles Fourier envisioned a grand Ediface of Association
consisting of a medieval-like elongated building with
multiple stalls lining the front. This style of architecture
epitomized a unique housing arrangement integrally related
to the form of social organization within.

There is a unique discussion on spontaneous reason in
the "essential nature of things" . This comports with
life itself. Much thought is inspirational and spontaneous
in nature and implementation. The work is a marvel for
students of the American Religious Experience , as well
as American History buffs and philosophical thinkers.
In addition, the work has a number of very realistic
portraits of famous transcendentalists and important
edifices of the period. It is well worth the
price of admission.

This is the most comprehensive historical overview of American Transcendentalism of the half dozen I have read so far. Built around the voluminous collections of biographies, important publications, events and personalities produced during the mid-19th Century period, it also stitches the encyclopedic details into a readable narrative. It is an indispensible reference of the quick-guide variety as well as a pleasure to read.

I gained the impression that American liberal religion during this brief period displayed as bright a rainbow of talents and temptations as ever before or since. If there yet remain any other conceivable but untried variations on the theme of authentic Christianity, as well as non-Christian and experimental progressive American moral and religious efforts, they elude my imagination. Every such thing launched, promoted, and critiqued found prominent spokespersons in Transcendentalism, somewhere.

With such a maelstrom of creativity, it comes as no surprise that Transcendentalism could run dry. So it seems to Gura and others he cites. And his history looks reliable, with at most only occasional reader double-takes, sometimes getting lost in wordiness offered in summary or an infrequent, but by comparison with the reliable flow, abrupt non-sequitar.

The only substantial complaint is Gura's employment for his conclusion of some classic dismissals of Emerson that are now viewed as grave misunderstandings. For instance, George Santayana popularized implications of scientific materialism for philosophy and that alone would suggest his perspective as difficult, if not unable, to evaluate someone as complex as Emerson. As Stanley Cavell writes in an essay titled "Emerson, Coleridge, Kant,"

"(W)hen, in 'The Genteel Tradition,' Santayana describes Emerson as 'a cheery, childlike soul, impervious to the evidence of evil' he does not show (there or anywhere else I know that he mentions Emerson) any better understanding of Emerson's so-called optimism than, say, his contemporary H. L. Mencken shows of Nietzsche's so-called pessimism--he merely retails, beautifully, of course, but essentially without refinement, the most wholesale view there is of him."

Cavell follows that writing that Santayana "harps on him [Emerson] without quoting one line of his prose"--a pattern Cavell shows was not limited to Santayana.

Yet Gura quotes Santayana's essay favorably at some length and set, as it is, in the context of his conclusion can leave the reader with the mistaken notion that those pop versions of Emerson are the end of the story. Not so, as recent studies show. (Russell B. Goodman, PRAGMATISM [NY: Routledge, 1995] p 23 writes, "Long ignored not only by students of pragmatism but by professional philosophers, Emerson's writing received new and inspired attention in the 1980s from such philosophical writers as Stanley Cavell, Richard Poirier, and Cornel West. Emerson now appears as not only a formidable thinker in his own right but also as a source for Nietzsche and Heidegger and, in America, James and Dewey.") Gura seems unaware of Emerson's improving fortunes. (For an extended commentary on one Emerson essay, see [...])
Nietzsche confessed he was an admirer of Emerson and, in a comparable revival of scholarly interest, old embers are catching fire. Logical positivism may not have succeeded in pulling the rug out from under Transcendentalism as Gura implies. The ongoing transformation of analytic philosophy, finding compatibilities now with continental philosophy, indicates a need for some second thoughts. At second thoughts, Transcendentalism excels, as well as at third, fourth, etc.

In fact, while I have not yet come across a specific reference in it to Transcendentalism, my recent discovery of the online "Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory" might pass for a descendent of "The Dial," digital version and free. And not a Unitarian anywhere in sight, so far.

This book is a history of the American Transcendental Movement that focuses on those individuals who either participated in the movement or were otherwise associated with it. Professor Gura is rather less interested in the ideas and social context of the movement. This is strangely appropriate since the one constant among American transcendentalists was their belief in individualism. Unfortunately the reader is then left with the task of sorting out just what transcendentalism was and the social context in which it developed.

The American Transcendentalist Movement was quite small. It was limited almost entirely to a handful of liberal Unitarian clergyman. But the movement also included a couple of remarkable women, Margaret Fuller and Elizabeth Peabody. Geographically it was principally confined to Massachusetts and to a lesser extent New England. Its most active period was from the early 1830's through 1850. Finally it was a religious not a philosophical movement. Its core premise was perhaps best expressed by George Ripley (1802-1880) when he argued that: man was..."conscious of an inward nature, which is the source of more important and comprehensive ideas than any which the external senses suggest." As applied to religion this concept give individual conscious precedence over everything else in matters of religion. This individualism gave the transcendentalist movement its unique character, but also prevented it from becoming a cohesive philosophy. Ralph Waldo Emerson its most famous member also presented the most radical ideas on the importance of the individual and inward revelation.

It has been argued by some scholars that the American Transcendental Movement was founded on a third hand misunderstanding of German idealism. This does not do justice to the movement. German Bible scholarship represented by the `new criticism' provided key insights for the principal proponents of transcendentalism. Further transcendentalist thought was influenced by early 18th Century American theologian Jonathan Edwards who argued that Grace was an internal transformative principle. Of course the transcendentalists also were greatly influenced by the works of the English scholar and historian Carlyle and the French philosopher Fourier who had their own understandings of German idealism. But, in the end it can be claimed that the transcendental movement was a uniquely American interpretation of the concepts originally set forth by Immanuel Kant one of the most important philosophers of any age. Even though Kant did not directly influence their thinking his powerful intellect is still clearly reflected in their works.

I found the sections dealing with the sociologiccal impacts of Transcendentalism quite interesting. However, those parts treating the theological implications bogged down in religious hairsplitting which would probably be of interest only to a theologian. Book does contain good descriptions of the main players in the movement.

I have been reading several books on the American Transcendentalists pursuant to a class I am in that is using a Teaching Company course on the subject. Out of the books I have read, this is by far the best one. It sets the movement in place in terms of the earliest thinkers and the historical circumstances of religion in America. It follows Transcendentalism through its development by tracing the early seminal thinkers and their study of German Higher Criticism. It explains how Emerson became the foremost Transcendentalist (which none of the other books did), giving an account of the controversy that not only brought him into the public eye but (in effect) split the movement into those who were interested in personal spiritual development and those who turned to social concerns. I would recommend it for anyone who wants to really understand how Transcendentalism came about in America and how it disintegrated in so short a time.

What I like about this book was that it didn't leave out anyone. Most of the other books only focus on four or five main characters and let you fill int he blanks. While this book certainly focuses on those characters as well (how could it not) there are a lot of other people that played key parts in the movement that you may not find elsewhere. Other than that: it's not biased and gives the history from beginning to end. If you're looking for the one book that explains it all you've found it.

There is a great book to be written about American Transcendentalism, but this is surely not it. I do wonder about the positive reviews. Perhaps respect for the author's abundant knowledge and life's work? But this is not an illuminating text. You seldom get a sense of the drama of these ideas and the times that fostered them. When you do, the book almost takes off, especially near the end when he addresses the the response of Theodore Parker and others to the Fugitive Slave Act. Alas, the rest is pretty sleepy.