As my video lecture suggests, Emerson’s philosophy of Transcendentalism and his idea of self-reliance was a philosophical reaction to the social and economic problems of 19th century American culture. As an individualist philosophy, it attacks industrial capitalism, mass culture, consumerism, public opinion, party politics, institutionalized religion, and even certain aspects of scientific empiricism, for their degradation of the individual’s power to act, think, and thrive in American society. In many ways, Emerson is reacting to and criticizing a certain legacy of the Enlightenment period (i.e., the 18th century) and its historical consequences. For this forum post, I would like for you to think about how Emerson’s idea of self-reliance relates to Benjamin Franklin’s Enlightenment idea of individualism (per his Autobiography). Are they completely different? Similar? How is Franklin’s celebration of vanity, the pursuit of self-interest, and scientific reason different from Emerson’s promotion of intuition, non-conformity, and mysticism (i.e. his celebration of Transcendental/out-of-body experience)? If you want, you may also refer to Thoreau’s Walden as a concrete instance of what Emerson means by self-reliance.
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