Girard's Arguments Against Transcendentalism

We watch the movie “Lord of the Rings” and see Legolas sliding down steps on a shield while using his bow and arrow to kill Orcs, without doubting his skills. By us not questioning his actions nor inquiring how he can do the impossible, we are willingly suspending or disbelief. In my definition this means that you sacrifice realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment; you believe the unbelievable. The term is an essential part of theatre because as a narrator of any kind in theatre, you would want to create an allusion for the audience, which they believe without a doubt, like for “The Lord of the Rings”. The idea of suspension of disbelief is used in other areas of knowledge in order to understand and explain it, which is why it is essential

According to skepticism, we can never reach a final decision regarding any issue because there will always be two opposing ideas that are equally compelling, in such a way that you cannot take anyone of them as a final answer. Sextus Empiricus, who is an ancient philosopher, explained in his book the principles of skepticism and the methods applied by a skeptic that will empower him to reach his ultimate goal which is mental tranquility. In this paper, I will discuss Sextus’s argument on how skepticism can bring peace to our life by shedding light on the steps that a skeptic uses while searching for knowledge. Moreover, I will be arguing against Sextus’s argument about assertions through presenting an argument from the Republic, in which it shows that assertions can lead us to mental tranquility.

When Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography was published in the 18th century, it reflected Franklin’s uncommon and advanced mindset at that time, considering the fact that at that time, humans could be hanged for doubting the Revelation. In his Autobiography, Franklin expresses skepticism toward religion and explains why he does not commit himself to one particular faith. However, Franklin respects the freedom of religion and highly promotes moral and virtuous behavior. Franklin discusses his reflections on religion and the distinction between organized religions and beliefs that are not bound to religious systems. He emphasizes that organized religion and sects are more focused on following specific rules and practices, than concentrating on really understanding God and His ideas of humility, moral behavior and virtue.

Voltaire certainly believed in freedom of religious expression, which he actually found pivotal to the propagation of religion and its very realm of existence. He did not believe in circumscribing the way that individuals expressed their religious conviction. More importantly, perhaps, Voltaire also held firm in the conviction that there should be a distinction between church and state. This notion has proved fairly controversial throughout the course of Westernization; one of the reasons that Voltaire maintained this conviction was because he was aware of the tendency of ecclesiastical powers to surmount reason in governing due to the unrestrained sort of influence the church could

1. Introduction A Rumor of Angels is a book written by Peter L. Berger, which is one of his most important works on the topic of the sociology of religion (“A Rumor of Angels: Modern Society and the Rediscovery of the Supernatural”, n.d.). This book analyzes whether there is any theological possibilities and if so, what they are.

He then takes you through the thought process that led him to the one thing that lies beyond all doubt. He finds certainty in the statement Cogito, ergo sum or “I think, therefore I am.” FOOTNOT The first Meditation in Descartes Meditations On First Philosophy, is based on doubting almost everything he once believed as true. When Descartes found that beliefs he had were false, he realized all of his beliefs could be threatened.

Transcendentalism developed mainly during 1820s to 1840s and as a protest to the liberal New England Congregationalists. Transcendentalists believed in inheriting goodness of both man and nature, and its definition is “The view that the basic truths of the universe lie beyond the knowledge we obtain from our senses, reason, logic, or laws of science. We learn these truths through our intuition, our ‘Divine Intellect’” (“Transcendentalism” para 1). However, transcendentalists criticized Harvard University for emphasizing intellectualism and Unitarian church teaching at Harvard Divinity School. Transcendentalists thought that formulating religion and political parties were depraving the purity of the individual (“Thoreau and Emerson” para 3), which caused disrespect toward other races, especially African Americans.

Michael Servetus denied that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. In addition, he denied the idea of paedobaptism, which in turn, furthered him from the Catholic and Protestant churches. Before coming to this heretical belief, Michael Servetus became involved with Protestant leaders and was even a Protestant himself but that all changed. Once he began to write and publish books, it was all downhill from there. His books were analyzed by the Caltholic Church and that is when they condemned him as a heretic.

Firstly, Lloyd illustrates how Descartes adapted reason into a methodical thought that he used to attempt to form a rational basis for the belief in God (Lloyd, 1993:39). Descartes mentions in the Meditations dedicatory letter that he believes that for theists it is their faith that holds the rational basis for belief in God, whereas atheists do not have this faith and so it lies in reason to prove that God exists in order to persuade them (Descartes, 1996:3). However, REFERENCE AGAINST THIS POINT Moreover, from Descartes thoughts on reasoning he stemmed his dualistic view of the body and mind being two separate entities, which Lloyd notes includes the distinction between the rational mind, which Descartes identifies with the soul, and the irrational body (Lloyd, 1993:45). As Descartes has established his dualistic view, he highlights the cogito in his third meditation,

The Transcendentalists believed that everyone was their own person and that conforming to others ruined what it meant to be human. In “Self-Reliance”, Ralph Waldo Emerson stated that “Whoso be a man, must be a nonconformist”(Emerson 370). This quote means that the Transcendentalists believed so much in individualism, that they went so far as to say that one is not a man if they conform to society. Another example of individualism is in “Self-Reliance” when Emerson said that to be great one must not follow the societal norms, but instead go their own way. Someone may be misunderstood in life but in the future they could be looked upon as a hero(Emerson 372).

I require the people who understand what they 're doing," said Schweikart. One of these books, "A People 's History of the Bound together States," by revisionist understudy of history Howard Zinn, particularly incenses Schweikart. Zinn has no sources. I tell understudies, 'Go to the back and look at his sources. ' They say 'Goodness, he doesn 't have any. '

He didn’t like that he had Puritan ancestry, he was ashamed of it. Hawthorne was a transcendentalist and he made the main character, Hester Prynne one too. This shows how he truly felt and his views on his ancestors. Puritans and transcendentalists were two different groups of people. However, both were clearly used in The

People always want to look like they fit in with the crowd, or the herd, but transcendentalists and their works, think otherwise. The works of Emerson’s “Nature” reveals to us his life within the forest, and his bonding with Nature. He also shows to us how he doesn’t care about how he acts within the forest, moreso acting like a child. Another piece of transcendentalist work, “Civil Disobedience” by Thoreau, uncovers his book about his two years, behind bars in prison. He ended up in prison due to refusing to pay a highway tax in which he believed what was an unjust taxing, for a horrible cause.

Transcendentalists believed nature is a source of truth and inspiration. They are people who go beyond who go beyond the reasoning of something. For example Thoreau and Emerson were transcendentalist who had these same beliefs. It is important to be an independent thinker because it teaches you not to be like other people and to be your own unique person. “I am a transparent eyeball, I am nothing; it’s all the currents of the universal being circulate through me; I am a particle of god”- Emerson.

Individuality is key in a world that is constantly searching for people to “brainwash” and become someone they are not. To stop oneself from being conformed a specific way, you have to think, and that’s exactly what Ralph Waldo Emerson did. To realize you are not your true self under society ’s watch is one thing, but to fix that problem is something greater. Emerson worked tirelessly during his time to warn the people of the grave dangers of becoming followers in society; he preached that when humans conform to society, they have lost their true selves, the selves that were given to them by God.