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The Role Of Transcendentalism In American Society

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Ever since its creation, the United States of America has given people the opportunity to speak and practice their own philosophies and religion. As a prime example, transcendentalism is a philosophical and literary movement that gained followers during 1836-1860 that encouraged social reform, self-transformation, and people to rise above their immediate experiences. Developed by Ralph Waldo Emerson and lived by Henry David Thoreau, the essence of transcendentalism was to live life with simplicity and to elevate intuition and imagination over logical reasoning. However in today’s society, true transcendentalism is irrelevant and cannot be practiced.
The essence of Transcendentalism is rooted in the idea that all humans and the natural world …show more content…

Transcendentalist ideals are too outdated for people to cut all connections with society and immerse themselves within nature. For instance, in the 1800’s most Americans were farmers who were already disconnected from society by acres of farmland, but today people only have to pull out their phone or computer to partake in civilization. According to a 2016 Nielsen Company audience report, adult Americans devote about 10 hours and 39 minutes each day to consuming media. Today’s technology has made it too easy to communicate with each other especially with the rise of social media. People today have become too dependent on one another to only be satisfied with nature. Even if a person wants to become completely dependent on nature as soon as that person walks outside, he or she is bombarded with advertisements, television, different clothing brands, new electronics, etc. Life in today’s society is too effortless and unless all three-hundred and twenty million people in America decided to make a drastic lifestyle change, it is physically not possible to escape it, and fully immerse oneself in nature causing transcendentalism to be left

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