Nathaniel Hawthorne’s collection of short stories, Mosses from an Old Manse, serves as his contribution to the philosophical discussions on Transcendentalism in Concord, MA in the early 1840s. While Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and the other individuals involved in the Transcendental club often seem to readily accept the positions presented in Emerson’s work, it is never so simple for Hawthorne. Repeatedly, Hawthorne’s stories demonstrate his difficulty in trying to identify his own opinion on the subject. Though Hawthorne seems to want to believe in the optimistic potential of the spiritual and intellectual ideal presented in Emersonian Transcendentalism, he consistently dwells on the evil and blackness that may be contained in the human heart. The collection of short stories written while Hawthorne lived in Concord and surrounded himself with those dominant literary figures represents the clearest articulation of his ambivalent position on Transcendentalism.

My thesis is that there is an aesthetic dimension of nature that is metaphysically significant, qualitatively pluralistic, and artistically creative, and that this accounts for the sensuous complexity of experience, as well as the possibility of discovering new qualitative features about the world and expressing them in novel forms, as exemplified in art. I call the philosophy that endorses the reality of this dimension Transcendentalist Aesthetics. The term "Transcendentalist" recalls the philosophy of New England Transcendentalism with its core in Ralph Waldo Emerson, and which influenced the philosophical writings of Charles S. Peirce and the art of the nineteenth-century American landscape painters of the Hudson River School and Luminism. The primary overall goal is to present and argue for a Transcendentalist Aesthetics by making use of the philosophy of Emerson and Peirce, together with the writings and landscapes of the painters. More specifically, Emerson's claims about nature and art and the painters' representations of nature provide various poetic observations of nature that provide an empirical starting point concerning the rich aesthetic complexity of the world. This complexity finds a theoretical ground in Peirce's metaphysical cosmology, which presents a rationally coherent account of the greater structures and processes of the universe while possessing important aesthetic consequences for lived experience and art. The landscape paintings also have a role in that they are expressive of the Transcendentalist philosophy itself, serve as case studies for theoretical interpretation, and are concrete evidence that new qualitative features about the world may be discovered and realized in novel artistic ways.

This essay is a contribution to literary history that explores Edgar Allan Poe’s criticism of the transcendentalist movement and its key figure Ralph Waldo Emerson through an analysis of the short stories “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “Never Bet the Devil Your Head.” By using genre criticism to define aspects of the Gothic genre, Poe’s criticism through Gothic tropes is studied together with an intertextual reading of the short stories and historical literary objects such as letters, magazines and literary reviews that details his views on transcendentalism. The purpose of this is to see if Poe used his fictional work to criticize his contemporaries. The analysis finds that “Never Bet the Devil Your Head” includes satirical comments on transcendentalist beliefs, as well one instance of specific criticism that targets Ralph Waldo Emerson as a writer - all of which can be connected to Poe’s non-fictional correspondence with fellow literati. In “The Fall of the House of Usher” Poe utilizes aspects of the Gothic genre that function as opposites to common transcendental beliefs.

Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne are arguably two of the most highly read and heavily debated nineteenth-century antebellum authors in America. Their writings fascinate readers, while their character depictions, particularly their characterizations of fictional women, prompt intense academic debate. This thesis examines the previously less-studied historical developments surrounding Poe and Hawthorne in the antebellum era that shaped their approach to writing fiction. In particular, this study scrutinizes the effects of the development of a newly popular art form, ballet, the ascendency of female authorship, and the impact of American theatrical reform upon antebellum authors’ authorial faculties, especially Hawthorne and Poe.

Emerson frequently illustrates his philosophy with complementary scientific examples that clarify his ideas. This study examines Emerson's enumeration of the laws and powers of Intellect in conjunction with twentieth-century science, illustrating his ideas in the method he often employs. The physiological model of the two hemispheres of the brain parallels the two intelligences Emerson ascribes to man--understanding and reason. Hemispheric theories describe an analogue to the Emersonian epiphany-- hemispheric integration--and help to distinguish the epiphany from other experiences associated with altered states of consciousness. Quantum physics and relativity theory illustrate the vision of the unity of nature perceived during the epiphany. Using modern science to illustrate Emerson's ideas in this way makes us apprentice to a rhetorical technique used and advocated by him.

Ce mémoire démontre que la pratique littéraire de l’écrivain américain Ralph Waldo Emerson s’inscrit dans le sillage de la tradition des exercices spirituels mise au jour par l’helléniste Pierre Hadot et qu’elle permet de penser une modernité insoupçonnée par ce dernier. La production de textes littéraires devient alors une manière d’établir « une relation originale avec l’univers » (cf. l’introduction de Nature). Le premier chapitre explique la spécificité de la spiritualité traditionnelle, où l’écriture consiste à implanter en soi le texte de la tradition. La pratique littéraire de Marc Aurèle, Sénèque et saint Augustin est étudiée afin de montrer comment ils tâchent de vivre conformément à la conception de la transcendance qui est la leur : personnelle chez les stoïciens, institutionnelle chez les chrétiens. Le deuxième chapitre montre comment Emerson renverse le rapport traditionnel au texte dans la vie de l’esprit en arguant que la révélation du Christ est, à l’origine, une expérience personnelle de la transcendance qui n’est pas institutionnalisable. Il se dégage de cette confrontation romantique avec le christianisme un concept de littérature lié au mysticisme et inséparable d’une compréhension « expressiviste » du langage (Charles Taylor). Le dernier chapitre examine l’ascèse littéraire d’Emerson : sa conception antiscolastique du « scholar » est étudiée puis mise en relief avec sa façon d’arrimer sa pratique de la pensée à une conception fluctuante de l’univers. La dernière section porte sur la façon dont son mode de vie expérimental suppose une conception de la littérature en tant que processus. / This master thesis considers how the literary practice of Ralph Waldo Emerson might help us rethink the modern heritage in the tradition of spiritual exercises. The nineteenth century American writer followed the path of this antique tradition that was uncovered by the philosophy historian Pierre Hadot, allowing us to consider anew this tradition within the framework of modernity. It is thus possible to access an unexpected modernity of spiritual exercises, unknown to Hadot himself, characterized by the production of literary texts that convey what Emerson calls, “an original relation to the universe.” The first chapter explains the specificity of traditional spirituality, where writing serves to incorporate traditional text into oneself. It considers the literary practice of Marcus Aurelius, Seneca and Saint Augustine, who all attempted to live according to their conception of transcendence: personal under stoicism, institutional within Christianity. Chapter two illustrates how Emerson overturns the traditional way of behaving with a spiritual text. His critique of Christian theology shows that the revelation of Christ is, in its origin, a personal experience of transcendence that cannot be instituted. From this romantic dissension with Christianity emerges a theory of literature related to mysticism and in close ties with an “expressivist” conception of language (Charles Taylor). The final chapter examines Emerson’s literary askesis. First explained is the antischolastic conception of the scholar, subsequently showing how his way of thinking is interrelated to a fluxional conception of the universe. Lastly demonstrated is how his experimental way of life relies on a conception of literature as process.

The works of the nineteenth-century American thinker Ralph Waldo Emerson continue to be inspiring particularly due to their empowering effect on the individual. It is especially Emerson's concepts of the sovereignty of the individual, the importance of self-definition, the view of life as a transitory flow, and the relationship between freedom and fate which can be practically and usefully applied in the life of an individual. It is possible, then, to understand and evaluate Emerson's works through the practical effects of his concepts, in other words through the prism of pragmatism. Emerson's empowering philosophy can be of use especially to disempowered groups such as African Americans. The Emersonian themes which are to be found in the works of various African-American non-fiction writers such as W.E.B. Du Bois, James Baldwin, Martin Luther King Jr. and Cornel West testify to the relevance of Emerson for this minority group. In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and Richard Wright's Native Son, two African-American novels, Emersonian principles are shown to be of utmost importance for the positive development of the protagonists.

Ce mémoire démontre que la pratique littéraire de l’écrivain américain Ralph Waldo Emerson s’inscrit dans le sillage de la tradition des exercices spirituels mise au jour par l’helléniste Pierre Hadot et qu’elle permet de penser une modernité insoupçonnée par ce dernier. La production de textes littéraires devient alors une manière d’établir « une relation originale avec l’univers » (cf. l’introduction de Nature). Le premier chapitre explique la spécificité de la spiritualité traditionnelle, où l’écriture consiste à implanter en soi le texte de la tradition. La pratique littéraire de Marc Aurèle, Sénèque et saint Augustin est étudiée afin de montrer comment ils tâchent de vivre conformément à la conception de la transcendance qui est la leur : personnelle chez les stoïciens, institutionnelle chez les chrétiens. Le deuxième chapitre montre comment Emerson renverse le rapport traditionnel au texte dans la vie de l’esprit en arguant que la révélation du Christ est, à l’origine, une expérience personnelle de la transcendance qui n’est pas institutionnalisable. Il se dégage de cette confrontation romantique avec le christianisme un concept de littérature lié au mysticisme et inséparable d’une compréhension « expressiviste » du langage (Charles Taylor). Le dernier chapitre examine l’ascèse littéraire d’Emerson : sa conception antiscolastique du « scholar » est étudiée puis mise en relief avec sa façon d’arrimer sa pratique de la pensée à une conception fluctuante de l’univers. La dernière section porte sur la façon dont son mode de vie expérimental suppose une conception de la littérature en tant que processus. / This master thesis considers how the literary practice of Ralph Waldo Emerson might help us rethink the modern heritage in the tradition of spiritual exercises. The nineteenth century American writer followed the path of this antique tradition that was uncovered by the philosophy historian Pierre Hadot, allowing us to consider anew this tradition within the framework of modernity. It is thus possible to access an unexpected modernity of spiritual exercises, unknown to Hadot himself, characterized by the production of literary texts that convey what Emerson calls, “an original relation to the universe.” The first chapter explains the specificity of traditional spirituality, where writing serves to incorporate traditional text into oneself. It considers the literary practice of Marcus Aurelius, Seneca and Saint Augustine, who all attempted to live according to their conception of transcendence: personal under stoicism, institutional within Christianity. Chapter two illustrates how Emerson overturns the traditional way of behaving with a spiritual text. His critique of Christian theology shows that the revelation of Christ is, in its origin, a personal experience of transcendence that cannot be instituted. From this romantic dissension with Christianity emerges a theory of literature related to mysticism and in close ties with an “expressivist” conception of language (Charles Taylor). The final chapter examines Emerson’s literary askesis. First explained is the antischolastic conception of the scholar, subsequently showing how his way of thinking is interrelated to a fluxional conception of the universe. Lastly demonstrated is how his experimental way of life relies on a conception of literature as process.

This study explores continuities in thought between Jonathan Edwards and Ralph Waldo Emerson by comparing their respective views on spiritual awakening. Their parallel ideas are discussed as results of similar perceptual dispositions which lead both to view awakening as an inner metamorphosis that leaves man less self-centered and more capable of a universal perception and appreciation of spiritual unity and beauty. Emphasized are parallels in Edwards's and Emerson's concepts of God, their views on the nature of awakening, their versions of preparation, and their thoughts about virtue and the awakened man. These continuities are also discussed as ideas that compose an underlying unity in American thought which unites the seemingly contradictory heritages of Puritanism and transcendentalism.

In the Midst of Spoils is a setting, for SATB choir and small instrumental ensemble, of the poem "Blight," by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson's poem contrasts modern man's exploitative attitude toward nature with the more reverent attitude assumed by ancient or primitive cultures. This setting is in a single movement, approximately twenty minutes in duration, consisting of fifteen distinct sections.