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Song 1- "Earth Song"- Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson had the approach to life like Thoreau.  We shouldn't have war.  The murdering of people in war is exactly why Thoreau went to jail.  He didn't want to pay taxes for the production of guns which is the same as firing that gun.  Jackson is trying to shed the light on killing and ruining the world.

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Song 1- "Earth Song"- Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson had the approach to life like Thoreau.  We shouldn't have war.  The murdering of people in war is exactly why Thoreau went to jail.  He didn't want to pay taxes for the production of guns which is the same as firing that gun.  Jackson is trying to shed the light on killing and ruining the world.

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Lyrics- "Did you ever stop to notice all the blood we've shed before? Did you ever stop to notice this crying Earth, these weeping shores? What have we done to the world. Look what we've done."

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Sometimes, you can feel lost. When you are lost, you can actually start to see yourself clearly. Sometimes, taking time to explore and rely on yourself can help open yourself up to who you actually are.

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In the image below, a man has been taken over by nature. In Thoreau's thoughts, God is in everything, especially nature. Thoreau also wanted to be engulfed in nature. He wanted to "be" and not just live. The image below is a perfect representation of all of Thoreau's beliefs and thoughts.

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In Transcendentalism and the Cultivation of the Soul, Barry Andrews talks about the ideas that the group of transcendentalist had years ago.  Andrews also talks about ways we can perform transcendentalism now.

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Song 2- "A Place With No Name"- Michael Jackson.  Michael Jackson has found a special place like Thoreau did.  This place has plenty of nature and happiness.  Since the beauty has been shown to Jackson, he finds it hard to leave, much like Thoreau leaving Walden.

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Song 2- "A Place With No Name"- Michael Jackson.  Michael Jackson has found a special place like Thoreau did.  This place has plenty of nature and happiness.  Since the beauty has been shown to Jackson, he finds it hard to leave, much like Thoreau leaving Walden.

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Lyrics- " I've seen the grass, and the skies and the bird, and the flowers, surrounded by trees. This place is filled with love and happiness, how in the world, could I wanna leave."

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In this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, he says that being yourself when everything and everyone tries to pull you away from that is amazing. Society tries to make people be a certain way. If you can ignore society and be you then that is amazing.

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In this picture, there are five storm troopers that are supposed to conform to each other and stand at attention; however one storm trooper refuses to take up a weapon. Instead, the storm trooper takes up a water gun and a plant. If this doesn't show a nonconformist that cares about nature, then nothing does.

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In this article, the Britannica editors explain what transcendentalism really is.  They talk about the influential people of the movement as well.

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What is Transcendentalism?

What inspired Transcendentalism?

This article was most recently revised and updated by

Transcendentalism, 19th-century movement of writers and philosophers in New England who were loosely bound together by adherence to an idealistic system of thought based on a belief in the essential unity of all creation, the innate goodness of humanity, and the supremacy of insight over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths. German transcendentalism (especially as it was refracted by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Thomas Carlyle), Platonism and Neoplatonism, the Indian and Chinese scriptures, and the writings of such mystics as Emanuel Swedenborg and Jakob Böhme were sources to which the New England Transcendentalists turned in their search for a liberating philosophy.

Eclectic and cosmopolitan in its sources and part of the Romantic movement, New England Transcendentalism originated in the area around Concord, Massachusetts, and from 1830 to 1855 represented a battle between the younger and older generations and the emergence of a new national culture based on native materials. It attracted such diverse and highly individualistic figures as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Orestes Brownson, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, and James Freeman Clarke, as well as George Ripley, Bronson Alcott, the younger W.E. Channing, and W.H. Channing. In 1840 Emerson and Margaret Fuller founded The Dial (1840-44), the prototypal "little magazine" wherein some of the best writings by minor Transcendentalists appeared. The writings of the Transcendentalists and those of contemporaries such as Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, for whom they prepared the ground, represent the first flowering of the American artistic genius and introduced the American Renaissance in literature ( see also American literature: American Renaissance).

In their religious quest, the Transcendentalists rejected the conventions of 18th-century thought, and what began in a dissatisfaction with Unitarianism developed into a repudiation of the whole established order. They were leaders in experimental schemes for living (Thoreau at Walden Pond, Alcott at Fruitlands, Ripley at Brook Farm); women's suffrage; better conditions for workers; temperance for all; modifications of dress and diet; the rise of free religion; educational innovation; and other humanitarian causes.

Heavily indebted to the Transcendentalists' organic philosophy, aesthetics, and democratic aspirations were the pragmatism of William James and John Dewey, the environmental planning of Benton MacKaye and Lewis Mumford, the architecture (and writings) of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, and the American "modernism" in the arts promoted by Alfred Stieglitz.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Adam Augustyn.

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Transcendentalism | Definition, Characteristics, Beliefs, Authors, & Facts

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Transcendentalism, 19th-century movement of writers and philosophers in New England who were loosely bound together by adherence to an idealistic system of thought based on belief in the essential unity of all creation, the innate goodness of humanity, and the supremacy of insight over logic and experience.

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Song 3- "Xscape"- Michael Jackson.  Michael Jackson had transcendental ideas by wanting to escape from the system and the relationships that aren't worth having.  Jackson also wants to escape the ideas of what people are supposed to be.  Jackson is in full control of his life because of self-reliance. 

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Song 3- "Xscape"- Michael Jackson.  Michael Jackson had transcendental ideas by wanting to escape from the system and the relationships that aren't worth having.  Jackson also wants to escape the ideas of what people are supposed to be.  Jackson is in full control of his life because of self-reliance. 

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Lyrics- "Xscape, got to get away from the system lose in the world today. Xscape, the pressure that I face from relationships that's gone away. Xscape, the man with the pen that writes the lies that hassle this man. Xscape, I do what I wanna cause I gotta face nobody but me."

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Henry David Thoreau is saying that appreciating nature can make your whole day. In the morning, the beauty of nature is obvious and to take in the sunrise during a nice leisurely walk can make your day phenomenal.

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In this picture, there is a boy who goes against everyone else and takes the path least travelled on.  This is an example of nonconformity.  He is also going in to nature to take in everything the world has to offer.

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I took this picture at my cousins house in Louisiana. While we were in the back yard, took note to the beauty of the three ducks on the grass with the water in the background was. I decided to take a picture of it.

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In the poem, The Frankness of Nature by James Russell Lowell, Lowell talks about how nature can tell us things before someone else does. Nature can never be silenced but it can be heard.

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Ralph Waldo Emerson states here that the sky is something our eyes feed off of. When the sun is out, it gives us energy and makes us wake up. When it is cloudy, we get to observe to clouds and take in the beauty. In any forecast, the sky really does feed our eyes and body.

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In this Ted Talk, Brain Heather explains how important nature is. Some of the best architecture is inspired by nature.

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The Importance of Reconnecting Our Cities to Nature: Brian Heather at TEDxSeattle

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I created this word art. It contains some of the ideas of transcendentalism and the influential people that were involved in the movement.

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In this podcast, Mark Linsenmayer talks about the works of Emerson and what they mean.  He talks about what Emerson believed and what individuality is.

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The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:06:45 - 116.1MB)

On Ralph Waldo Emerson's "The American Scholar" lecture (1837) and his essays "Self-Reliance" and "Circles" (1841).

How should we live? Emerson thinks that conformity, which includes most of what passes for ethics, jobs, and scholarship, makes us less than truly human. Be true to yourself! But since we're all ever-changing, that's a moving target, right? But Emerson thinks that when you get really truly honest about what you think and feel, it turns out that you've tapped into something universal, something beyond just you, something eternal.

But don't expect Emerson to really explain that part; the upshot of these essays is primarily social, not religious, much less metaphysical. Trust yourself, stop bullshitting, stop living according to others' expectations! Mark, Wes, and Dylan argue over whether this is tired cliche or acutely perceptive, and whether Emerson's poetic language provides helps or distracts. Read more about the topic and get the essays.

End song: "Idiot, Listen" by Mark Lint, recorded mostly in 1997, newly completed and mixed.

Please support the podcast by becoming a PEL Citizen or making a donation.

Also, please support our sponsor, Squarespace for your web-site creation needs. Use the checkout code "Examined" for a free trial and 10% off.

The picture is by Corey Mohler for PEL.

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Episode 102: Emerson on Wisdom and Individuality

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:06:45 - 116.1MB) On Ralph Waldo Emerson's "The American Scholar" lecture (1837) and his essays "Self-Reliance" and "Circles" (1841). How should we live? Emerson thinks that conformity, which includes most of what passes for ethics, jobs, and scholarship, makes us less than truly human.