On the other hand, Chris McCandless’s life is documented by the book Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer. Within the book, Chris’s past is documented by his inability to conform. He was expected to go to college, but after his experience freshman year summer travel, he wanted to travel the world and admire nature instead. He resisted his family’s wishes to finish college, but decided to obey his parents and graduated after taking some unusual coursework. Chris was anti-governmental and valued the idea of living off the land, not being tied down, the need for adventure, self sufficiency, and kindness.
He believes nature to be necessary to personal well-being and spiritual awareness, and reflects on the importance of a minimalistic lifestyle. He is dynamic, and therefore is constantly forming new beliefs and ideas so he can improve as a human in daily life. b. Ralph Waldo Emerson i. Though not mentioned directly or often Emerson is the most influential character, other than Thoreau, on the book itself both directly and indirectly. He is known as the leader of transcendentalism, which is the movement that inspired Thoreau.
Kant defined this as private reason and considered it a necessity. Kant used an illustration of how catastrophic it would be in an office to question the appropriateness of an order rather than obeying it. The private use of reason was counterbalanced by an individual’s public use of reason. In this system of reason the individual takes upon the responsibility of an intellectual who “has complete freedom, indeed even the calling, to impart to the public all of his carefully considered and well-intentioned thoughts”. (Kant 3).
This paper will focus on the limitations of human reason as presented in GT and Candide, with focus given to the influence of man’s passions and emotions, as well as the conflict between reason and faith, drawing on the philosophy of the time as a guide. In Pierre Bayle’s view, according to T.O Wedel, “man is an ungovernable animal, ruled by self-love, given over to evil incomparably more than to good, the slight glimmering of reason which has been left him usually worsted in
Qutb viewed the masses as unable to lead themselves as they were self-interested and corrupted therefore the elites who had the interest of the society at heart were to lead. Similarly, Leo Strauss believed that social equality was a myth and that elites were important in setting up a functioning society and curbing the ever so corrupting
While transcendentalists spoke of the importance of nature in our lives and how we should try and be as close to it as we can, Thoreau went and experienced it himself when he went to live at Walden pond for two years, two months and two days. He even recognizes the reason why he went there in the chapter “Where I lived and what I lived for”, when he says: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to
Although he unites with the nature, he is not “wholly involved in Nature”, and “[he knows himself] as a human entity” (180). That is, Thoreau harmonizes with the nature and becomes a part of the nature; however, he does not lose his independence. He wants to improve himself as a human, and the unification helps him to do it. Thoreau believes that the nature is basically higher existence than human. It has purity, nobility and freshness.
Why I Went to the Woods by Henry David Thoreau is a piece of literature taken from the book Walden that discusses Thoreau’s desire to experience life and it's meaning by living by the most simple terms possible. Thoreau lived off the land, built his own home, hunted and fished his own food. Through these things, Thoreau experienced how life is lived without luxury and only with the raw basics. Although his passion for the natural world shows through his writing his goal is not to persuade others to follow in his footsteps by going out and living in nature. Thoreau wanted others to follow him by living their best life which would be achieved by following their passions and the things they enjoy.
Man alone, as a free being, responsible for his actions and his attitudes, for his will and striving, his love and his hatred, his joy and his sorrow, and his super-actual basic attitudes, can be morally good or bad. For, far above his cultural accomplishments, rises the importance of the man 's own being: a personality radiating moral values, a man who is humble, pure, truthful, honest and loving. But, how can man participate in these moral values? Are they given to him by nature like the beauty of his face, his intelligence, or a lively temperament? No, they can only grow out of conscious, free attitudes; man himself must essentially cooperate for their realization.
He believed in sticking to honesty at all times and was against the use of unethical means. He strived towards uplifting the people associated with him morally and spiritually. He emphasized on people to believe in personal freedom and not give away themselves for the fear of any person or situation. He engrossed himself in the sense of duty, thus showing his Dharmic Leadership style. His Transformational Leadership style came forward when he came up with a shared vision of an independent India.