Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Relationship Between Nature and the Self

Abstract

In his essays Nature (1836) and Self-Reliance (1841), Ralph Waldo Emerson phenomenally illuminates nineteenth century Transcendentalist philosophy through his divulgence of the occult relationship between Nature and the Self. In particular, the symbiotic collaboration between humankind and our natural world reveals physical objects as the the earthly conduit for spiritual truths. Yet, such corporeality is only elevated insofar as it is realised independently by the imaginative, spiritual, and intellectual capabilities of the human Self — namely, the articulation of Truth through the vivid poetry of Language as well as the display of Virtue by all men and women. Should translations differ from one to the other, individuals should each be allowed their own authentic Truth — or, in Emerson’s words, ‘an original relation to the universe’. Indeed, the prescriptive lens with which society fashions humanity distorts our perception of reality, leaving us fettered to the tethers of Social Constitution and thereby reliant upon institutions to forge and mediate a connection with something to which we are so intrinsically connected. It is only when recognise our own constitution in — and seek communion with — Nature can we partake in a catharsis that purges the Soul of dross and thus brings us back to a pure state of being, akin to that of the child, which precedes the contamination of our consciousness by age, experience, and society.