While there are some elements of transcendentalism that I do agree with, I wouldn’t call myself a transcendentalist. I agree that self-reliance can be a good thing and that you can determine who and what you are by yourself, but I don’t agree that man is inherently good or that it is always best not to follow examples set by others or by history.
Being self-reliant is generally a good thing. If you can’t get by without constant support and can’t get along by yourself or come up with ideas on your own, you’re probably going to have problems in life. You have to have some degree of self-reliance to be able to find out who you are as a person and succeed in life. On the other hand, I don’t agree with the transcendentalist view that all people are inherently good. I’ve had enough personal experiences and know enough about history and current events to realize that this isn’t true. If people were inherently good, they wouldn’t have committed the atrocities that we know they have.
I also don’t believe that it is always best to ignore the precedents and examples set by others and by history. While going your own way and being original is a good thing, there is so much that can be learned and that can benefit you if you do learn from others and from history. When we were talking about this in class, I instantly thought of the quote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” I believe this to be true, and if someone were to ignore history and choose to go their own way like transcendentalists believe you should, there is always the possibility that what they come up with will cause a repeat of a terrible event in history.
I completely agree with your position on transcendentalism. Man is sinful and cannot be trusted otherwise. Just go to a Holocaust memorial or simply read a newspaper, and you will find a superfluous amount of horrible atrocities man can commit. On another note, we used the same quote about history.
ReplyDeleteI pretty much agree with you here. Success is based on both your ability to collaborate and to work on your own if no help is available; Transcendentalism seems to promote a degree of indepencence that I think can be needlessly harmful and isolating.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that self-reliance is generally a good thing, except I disagree with your idea that man is not inherently good. I feel that every person has some good and bad within them; your character is determined by what you do with what you have. Emerson says that "he who knows that power is inborn, that he is weak becasue he has looked for good out of him and elsewhere..." is the one who can take control of his life and try and be good. Even though there are historical events that demonstrate that man isn't always good, these are just cases where someone "good" has made bad decisions. Based upon the number of people in this world, I feel that all the unpublished day-to-day good things people do definitely outweigh the highly publicized catastrophes that have happened in the past.
ReplyDeleteJust to clarify, I don't believe that man is inherently bad; I just don't think that he is inherently good. I agree with you that people have some good and some bad in them, but I don’t think that either is inherent. I agree with John Locke’s idea of “tabula rasa” or blank slate; I think that people are the product of their experiences and what they make of them, and that is what determines if they are a “good” or “bad” person.
DeleteI disagree with your assertion that bad historical events are “just cases where someone “good” has made bad decisions.” Maybe I’m interpreting your meaning incorrectly, but it seems to me that you are saying that bad events in history are accidents, and I definitely don't believe that’s the case. Some bad things that have happened throughout history were accidents, but there are many others(the Crusades, the Holocaust and other genocides, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, etc.) that were clearly not accidents. They were planned out and intentional.