Ralph Emerson. 2012

“Every man I meet is in some way my superior; and in that I can learn of him”.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON – american philosopher, poet, essayist, one of the most prominent thinkers and writers of the United States (1803-1882).

Emerson is the leader of the transcendentalism movement – faith in the unity of the world and God. The soul of each individual is identical with the whole world and represents this world in miniature. As one of the most influential writers of Romanticism, Emerson argued that art, more than science, is capable of expressing truth. Emerson’s ideas proclaimed the sovereignty of the “Self” of each person. The doctrine of “self-reliance” was developed by convincing the reader that the soul of a person is connected with God and identified with him. The thinker preached personal autonomy, believed all people possessed the same abilities that needed only one thing – the creation of conditions for unimpeded development. In his poetic works he inspired life and promoted moral perfection.

Representatives of contemporary liberal currents of thought regarded Emerson as their spiritual leader; his ideas had an enormous influence on American philosophical social thought and literature.

WORKS  “Nature” (1836), “Essays” (1844), “Representative Men” (1850), “English Traits” (1856), “Society and Solitude” (1870)