Weaks - Emerson - Thoreau Blog

In the introduction to his seminal essay “Nature” Ralph Waldo Emerson tells his readers that he is seeking a new way to worship God, a way that flies in the face of traditional Puritan beliefs, when he writes, “the foregoing generations beheld God and nature face to face; we, through their eyes. Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should not we have poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs?”

Emerson was born a Puritan and was actually a minister but the Puritan teachings of predestination and man’s natural born depravity turned his head and in 1832 he left the ministry in search of the true meaning of God. Emerson believed that man had the possibility to understand nature, and therefore he went to Nature (the wilderness) in search of meaning.  In his search, Emerson never swayed in his belief in God. Emerson was living in an age of science and believed through God, Nature and science man could achieve perfectibility. Emerson sometimes uses the words God and Nature interchangeably when he writes, “The kingdom of man over nature, which cometh not with observation, -- a dominion such as now is beyond his dream of God, -- he shall enter without more wonder than the blind man feels who is gradually restored to perfect sight. In this passage Emerson is acknowledging man has the possibility to achieve human perfectibility.

Emerson also believed that the fruits of nature are placed here by Him for man’s enjoyment and use when he writes, “The misery of man appears like childish petulance, when we explore the steady and prodigal provision that has been made for his support and delight on this green ball which floats him through the heavens. What angels invented these splendid ornaments… Nature, in its ministry to man, is not only the material, but is also the process and the result. All the parts incessantly work into each other's hands for the profit of man.”  Those words however relevant at the time are in direct conflict with most of the teachings of today’s philosophers that believe man is just one element of nature and is no more important or no less important than any other elements of nature.  

In Emerson’s world, God is perfect and in the following quote Emerson is saying that man has the possibility to also achieve perfection. “Nature is thoroughly mediate. It is made to serve. It receives the dominion of man as meekly as the ass on which the Saviour rode. It offers all its kingdoms to man as the raw material which he may mould into what is useful.” I feel in this quote Emerson is saying through Nature man has the opportunity to “mould” himself into perfection.

Emerson goes further toward the end of his essay and leaves little doubt on his belief that man can achieve perfectibility when he writes, “But who can set limits to the remedial force of spirit? A man is a god in ruins. When men are innocent, life shall be longer, and shall pass into the immortal, as gently as we awake from dreams.” In my limited powers of observation it seems perfectly clear to me that Emerson is saying man has the possibility to achieve immortality and in doing so, will achieve human perfectibility.

Emerson’s essay is somewhat optimistic and paints humankind as having the possibility of achieving perfectibility and Thoreau in “Civil Disobedience” looks at Americans in a little different light although he shares some common ground with Emerson.

Henry David Thoreau was jailed for one night for failure to pay a poll tax and as legend has it that incarceration was the catalyst that inspired his famous essay “Civil Disobedience.” In “Civil Disobedience,” “Thoreau castigates Americans for failing to live up to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.”

In first paragraph of “Civil Disobedience” Thoreau gives his views on the ideal state when he writes, “That government is best which governs least’; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe—‘That government is best which governs not at all’; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient.”

Thoreau makes it clear that he believes that limited government is best and government should stay out of the way of commerce. “Trade and commerce, if they were not made of india-rubber, would never manage to bounce over obstacles which legislators are continually putting in their way; and if one were to judge these men wholly by the effects of their actions and not partly by their intentions, they would deserve to be classed and punished with those mischievious [Sic] persons who put obstructions on the railroads.” Thoreau’s ideal state is one with very limited government.

Thoreau views on the ideal human differ somewhat with those of Emerson. Thoreau believes an ideal human is one that resist the will of the majority and one that follows his own conscience. He writes, “why has every man a conscience then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right. It is truly enough said that a corporation has no conscience; but a corporation of conscientious men is a corporation with a conscience.”

Thoreau also believes the ideal human is one that expresses his free will. “A wise man will only be useful as a man, and will not submit to be ‘clay,’ and ‘stop a hole to keep the wind away,’ but leave that office to his dust at least: ‘I am too high born to be propertied, To be a second at control, Or useful serving-man and instrument to any sovereign state throughout the world.”

Since we are reading Moby Dick, it is interesting to note that Melville also used the word “clay” in Chapter 125 in describing Pip. “One hundred pounds of clay reward for Pip; five feet high—looks cowardly—quickest known by that! Ding, dong, ding! Who’s seen Pip the coward?” (Melville Moby Dick).

Returning to Thoreau, he makes it no secret that he believes the war with Mexico is unjust and he feels that the ideal person is one that will not fight in that war, “the soldier is applauded who refuses to serve in an unjust war…” Thoreau also feels that the ideal man will take a stand against slavery and chastises those that do nothing when he writes, “There are nine hundred and ninety-nine patrons of virtue to one virtuous man.”

Thoreau is consistent in his views as to the qualities of his ideal human. His ideal human is one as one with an open mind and free will. In the following quote Thoreau calls men to action when he writes, “cast your whole vote, not a strip of paper merely, but your whole influence. A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority…”

Thoreau’s essay of “Civil Disobedience” has been the inspiration of many organizations attempting to correct social ills in America.  Martin Luther King openly admitted that he was influenced by Thoreau’s essay and women’s suffrage movements were also inspired by Thoreau’s words. Emerson on the other hand is a good read, but much of what he posits about God and nature is dated philosophy. 

Emerson was seeking in man God and Thoreau was seeking man with free will. Thoreau’s ideal human is grounded in reality, whereas Emerson’s ideal human is one with nature, one with God and even one with the universe. To Emerson man is a manifestation of his concept of idealism.