Can You Explain Transcendentalism To Me?

Question

Well I'm supposed to find 4 quotes from Grapes of Wrath that relflect the philosophy, but I'm still not completely sure what it means.

In our study guide it says to put it simply...

-We are all part of a Divine Soul

-Greatness lies in the individual rather than in istitutions

-Individual intuition and self-reliance are more important than external authority

-Nature is a doorway to the spiritual world

-Spontaneity and spirituality are more important than rationality and science

So, would this quote work as one of them?

"Maybe,' I figgered, 'maybe it's all men an' women we love; maybe that's the Holy Sperit - the human sperit - the whole shebang. Maybe all men got one big soul ever'body's a a part of.'"

Thank for any help helping understand this philosophy better.

:D

Answer 1

Cliff notes version, there is a path to transcending or rising above the world we see here, hence the name. As to the particulars, it will vary slightly from system to system, just like the different denominations within Christianity all basically agree but have differences on the particulars. Most transcendentalists practice meditation as a way to free themselves from this world & realize their oneness with the Divine.

Blessings!

Answer 2

Please click the link

below for answer.

Hope I was able to help

Answer 3

You have the right idea, and that quote is one of the well-used quotes in that book that reflect that idea. Casey goes into this idea several times, the quote you have near the beginning of the book, right before he gets killed there is another, and Tom says something to his Mom before he leaves that also fits the bill. That's three...you'll have to search out number four!  Probably anything that reflects the idea that the 'Okies' moved out there as a whole movement, together. Maybe somewhere in the idea behind the 'nice' camp they were in.

If you want more data, google 'transcendentalism' along with The Grapes of Wrath

Good luck!

Answer 4

*raises hand*

No, but i will have a go at "synchronicity".

(i am still trying to understand "transcendental mathematics" and may never have a full understanding of it... then again...

insha'Allah)

this afternoon i was picking grapes... actually apples... off the two Gravenstein apple trees that are in the back yard for a brother of mine...  i was reflecting on "The Grapes of Wrath" written by John Steinbeck... why i do not know... perhaps that is "transcendentalism"  ... but i was.

then i find this question because my beloved and blessed sister Phae 'starred it'.  

That is an example of "synchronicity".

thank you for your question...

and may God bless you and guide you and love you always!

Psalm 23 to your question.  (those are very good quotes).

Answer 5

Transcendentalism was invented by Satan as a tool to convince you that God does not exist.

This evil being presented by Satan and his evil cohorts goes like this:

Transcendentalism:  An early 19th century American school of philosophy, lead by Ralph Waldo Emerson. It saw an essential unity of all creation and a deep continuity between nature and humans. Nature is an emblem of spiritual reality, through which one can gain access to transcendental truth, which has highest value. To understand spiritual truths, you need to develop sensitivity to and communion with nature. It was an emancipatory philosophy, which argued for liberation from tradition and convention and was associated with progressive social movements such as abolition of slavery and new forms of education.

Transcendentalism is a bald-faced lie.  For your own good and the safety of your eternal soul you must completely avoid it at all costs.

Answer 6

Simply put, transcendentalism implies that there is a "true" reality that is transcendental to the "apparent reality" of our daily lives.  

When one "transcends" or "rises above" this material reality one experiences a union of opposites, and a disappearance of differentiated phenomenon; or to put it more simply: everything becomes the same.  This is what might be called Divine Soul.

Yes, I think your quote works well : )