Ralph Waldo Emerson transformed America by writing in an utterly unique, personal, and insistently optimistic voice about matters that concern us to this day: our lives alone and with others, the true sources of identity, and the specifically American promise of freedom and equality for all. A principal voice of the transcendentalist movement, Emerson embodies an independent American intellectual tradition rooted in deep moral convictions and the pragmatic ability to adapt to changing circumstances. This volume contains Emerson’s most consequential essays, selected by NYU University Professor Ulrich Baer, including ‘Self-Reliance, ‘ ‘Politics, ‘ ‘Experience, ‘ and ‘Friendship, ‘ as well as writings about political issues. The introduction by Harold Bloom explains Emerson’s unrivaled status as America’s foremost philosopher. This beautifully curated Warbler Press edition includes an illuminating biographical timeline of Emerson’s life and work.
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Contents
Emerson: The American Religion by Harold Bloomvii
History1
Self-Reliance17
Compensation36
Love51
Friendship60
The Over-Soul72
Circles85
The Poet94
Experience111
Character129
Nature141
Politics153
Illusions163
The American Scholar172
The Divinity School Address187
An Address Delivered in the Court-House in Concord, Massachusetts, on 1st August, 1844, on the Anniversary of the Emancipation of the Negroes in the British West Indies201
Biographical Timeline221
Over de auteur
Ulrich Baer holds degrees from Harvard and Yale and teaches as University Professor at NYU. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty, and Humboldt fellowships, he is the author of Remnants of Song: On Charles Baudelaire and Paul Celan; The Rilke Alphabet; Spectral Evidence: The Photography of Trauma; translations of Nietzsche, Freud, and Rilke; and new introductions to numerous classic books.