In his essay “The Transcendentalist”, Emerson links Buddhism, while emphasizing on its spirituality and the current philosophy of transcendentalism.
Emerson claims idealism as being his own brand of philosophy and also makes a clear distinction between materialism and idealism. A spontaneous form of consciousness which is free from any boundaries and any categories gives rise to idealism.
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Materialism on the other hand totally relies on our awareness of the physical world and its orientation at large. Transcendentalism is condemned to be similar to Buddhism on spiritual grounds, though there is no specific transcendentalist party or doctrine in particular.
Emerson states the similarity when he says “anything grand and daring in human thought or virtue, any reliance on the vast, the unknown, any presentiment, and any extravagance of faith”.
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German philosopher Immanuel Kant is related to this transcendental philosophy according to Emerson. Immanuel Kant was of the opinion that consciousness instead of directly arising in the senses comes from the outside world.
A person’s ethics as Emerson states actually flows from self-reliance and it is essential for all the individuals to follow a similar code of conduct. Both idealists and materialists refer to objects and people from different viewpoints, viewpoints which are poles apart from each other.
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While the materialist’s judge objects by number, size and appearance, for the materialists, more and larger means better. Idealists on the other hand, based on intrinsic and personal values, form their basic judgments. Their decisions are also based on ranks.
Idealism measures people and everything else in the world on the basis of their own standards, not on the basis of the standards that society makes for the people or for any other object. The best argument provided by the idealists is that rather than changing the evils of the society and the world at large, each and every individual should focus on changing their own inner self. This will result in betterment of the society and also betterment of the environment.
Inner disposition is responsible for a person’s ethical judgment and this flow is natural. Emerson states the importance of self- reliance which is extremely important and it is very easy to become a self-dependent individual.
No gift or external force is required to be self-sufficient. When the society is nearest to solitude, it is good and it is also essential for a society that it does not violates the individual’s attire.
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Transcendentalism, which is now-a-days, accepted by people at large are actually the extension of the old philosophy of idealism. Throughout agers people have either been idealists or materialists but today they are transcendentalists.
Idealists can never become materialists but the opposite can most possibly happen. There have been instances and there still are instances where materialists become idealists.