Nature

E29157

Nature is an 1836 essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson that laid the foundations of American Transcendentalism by exploring the spiritual and philosophical relationship between humans and the natural world.

Aliases (1)

Statements (51)
Predicate Object
instanceOf essay
philosophical work
addressesConcept nature as commodity, beauty, language, and discipline
associatedWith American Renaissance
New England Transcendentalism
author Ralph Waldo Emerson
countryOfOrigin United States
firstPublicationPlace Boston
form prose
genre Transcendentalist literature
philosophical essay
hasPart chapter "Beauty"
chapter "Commodity"
chapter "Discipline"
chapter "Idealism"
chapter "Language"
chapter "Nature"
chapter "Prospects"
chapter "Spirit"
historicalContext early 19th-century American religious and philosophical reform
historicalSignificance foundational text of American Transcendentalism
influenced American Transcendentalism
American literature
influencedBy German Idealism
Romanticism
keyConcept correspondence between nature and spirit
nature as a source of moral and spiritual insight
nature as a symbol of higher truths
language English
literaryPeriod 19th century
mainSubject American Transcendentalism
relationship between humans and the natural world
movement Transcendentalism
notableQuote I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.
openingConcept transparent eyeball
philosophicalPosition emphasis on direct experience of nature over secondhand doctrine
optimistic view of human potential
philosophicalTheme individualism
intuition as a source of knowledge
self-reliance
spiritual significance of nature
unity of God, nature, and the human soul
publicationYear 1836
publisher James Munroe and Company
relatedWorkByAuthor Self-Reliance
The American Scholar
religiousTheme critique of traditional organized religion
immanence of the divine in nature
structure series of chapters
targetAudience general reading public
title Nature


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