Life of Ralph Waldo Emerson

European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy, 2021

Critical Notice of Joseph Urbas's The Philosophy of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Routledge, 2021).

The Indian Journal of English Studies , 2022

A new world swam within the vision of civilized man when, on October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus, and his crew sighted land after a perilous voyage of six weeks across the Atlantic in search of the fabled Indies. While discovering the new world, perhaps by default, five centuries and thirty years ago, Columbus may not have imagined that he was setting his foot on what would be, in due course of time, the most advanced nation and the most powerful democracy in the world. In a span of over two centuries and a half after Columbus's discovery, America was predominantly known as the cluster of thirteen English Colonies, each one independent in terms of economic as well as political governance but still owing common allegiance to the King of England and observing all traditions and customs essentially British in nature and origin. The idea of America as a nation evolved when these thirteen Colonies, hitherto loosely bound by common economic interests, joined hands to oppose the imposition of the "Stamp Act" by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765 on the Colonies. The act of joint rebellion by the Colonies became evident with what is historically known as the "Boston Tea Party," an incident that saw the Americans throwing (instead of unloading) 342 chests of tea belonging to the East India Company into the Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773. This unprecedented act of protest set in motion the great American Revolution against what they called the tyrannical rule of the King of England. In the realm of thought and ideas, a large share of motivating the rebellion must go to the Englishman Thomas Paine whose 47-page pamphlet entitled Common Sense (1776) addressed to the "Inhabitants of America" gave the clarion call for severing their ties with the mother country:

William Wordsworth, regarded as the most celebrated and and influential Romantic English poet, and as the greatest English poet after Shakespeare and Milton, was born at Cockermouth, Cumberland, in the Lake District in the north of England, the third son John Wordsworth, attorney to James Lowther, the Earl of Lonsdale. He was educared at primary schools in Cockermouth and Penrith, and from 1779 to 1787 at Hawhshead Grammar School. Wordsworth lost his mother when he was eight years old, and his father when he was thriteen, in 1783. Wordsworth was denied the blessing of a happy home. Domestic arrangements caused Wil-liam to be separated for nine years from his beloved sister, Dorothy Wordsworth. In 1787 William entered St John's College, Cambridge, (1787-1791) Where he did not like the unfamiliar climate of wordliness and intellec-tual sophistication.

I greet you on the re-commencement of our literary year. Our anniversary is one of hope, and, perhaps, not enough of labor. We do not meet for games of strength or skill, for the recitation of histories, tragedies, and odes, like the ancient Greeks; for parliaments of love and poesy, like the Troubadours; nor for the advancement of science, like our cotemporaries in the British and European capitals. Thus far, our holiday has been simply a friendly sign of the survival of the love of letters amongst a people too busy to give to letters any more. As such, it is precious as the sign of an indestructible instinct. Perhaps the time is already come, when it ought to be, and will be, something else; when the sluggard intellect of this continent will look from under its iron lids, and fill the postponed expectation of the world with something better than the exertions of mechanical skill. Our day of dependence, our long apprenticeship to the learning of other lands, draws to a close. The millions, that around us are rushing into life, cannot always be fed on the sere remains of foreign harvests. Events, actions arise, that must be sung, that will sing themselves. Who can doubt, that poetry will revive and lead in a new age, as the star in the constellation Harp, which now flames in our zenith, astronomers announce, shall one day be the pole-star for a thousand years? In this hope, I accept the topic which not only usage, but the nature of our association, seem to prescribe to this day, ⎯ the American Scholar. Year by year, we come up hither to read one more chapter of his biography. Let us inquire what light new days and events have thrown on his character, and his hopes.

2019

ed poet or writer must face in a tangible fashion an evil which threatens to make smaller the life around him, and that writers and scholars indeed do have practical, longterm obligations as citizens.” Emerson’s speech went on to describe that Christian religion and the Constitutional values of Americans were incongruent with the current state of racial affairs. Emerson chastised a man he had formerly admired, Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster, in his shift from slavery’s adversary to one who pushed for the law’s passage. Emerson wrote, “It is contravened by all the sentiments. How can a law be enforced that fines pity, and imprisons charity?” His own shift came not in turning his back on slaves as Webster did, but in moving from passive observation, as a peaceful founder of a major philosophical movement, to anger: “when justice is violated,” he wrote, “anger begins.” Finally, true to his defense of moral good, Emerson responded with fury as the issue of human bondage “turn[ed] ...

Arizona Quarterly: A Journal of American Literature, Culture, and Theory, 2016

"Society and Solitude: Twelve Chapters by Ralph Waldo Emerson Callaway, H.G. ISBN10: 0-7734-5127-7 ISBN13: 978-0-7734-5127-8 Pages: 296 Year: 2008 Description This new edition of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Society and Solitude reproduces the original 1870 edition—only updating nineteenth-century prose spellings. Emerson’s text is fully annotated to identify the authors and issues of concern in the twelve essays, and definitions are provided for selected words in Emerson’s impressive vocabulary. The work aims to facilitate a better understanding of Emerson’s late philosophy in relation to his sources, his development and his subsequent influence. Reviews “This book is in fact a scholarly jewel suited for a large audience of university students and the educated public in general.” – Professor Jaime Nubiola, Department of Philosophy, University of Navarra, Spain “The present edition . . . goes beyond the usual compartmentalization of Emerson as an exclusively American figure almost exclusively in the literary milieu. . . . The book shows that Emerson should be read as an important figure in nineteenth-century thought—one who had a strong impact on contemporary philosophers, authors, and artists.” – Dr. Krzysztof Piotr Skowronski, Institute of Philosophy, Opole University, Poland Table of Contents Preface Note to the Text Introduction: Emerson and the Law of Freedom I. Society and Solitude II. Civilization III. Art IV. Eloquence V. Domestic Life VI. Farming VII. Works and Days VIII. Books IX. Clubs X. Courage XI. Success XII. Old Age A Brief Emerson Chronology Bibliography Index"

The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, 2003