Ralph Waldo Emerson
Essays--First and Second Series
Reading notes--Adam Kissel
- eschatology: there is always a larger future; we never
reach perfection, 193
- permanence means only relative permanence, 193, 195
- things are superseded, 194; so are thoughts, 195
- thesis/antithesis/synthesis, a recurring pattern, 195, 198
- everyone believes he may progress, 196-97
- the world distracts from the spirit, 197
- generalization is a new, exciting influx of divinity, 198
- accept new truth, hold not to the old; show openness, 198
- idealism: certainty that all nature is goodness executing/organizing
itself, 199
- perfect understanding reduces words/conversation to silence, 200
- literature gives us perspective on ourselves so as to help
us move ahead, 200
- Christianity (Emerson’s view) teaches that God will supersede His Trinity;
scriptural evidence, 201
- everything is eternal generation of the soul, 202
- virtues are superseded, 202 (thus we differ in our accounts of it, being at different stages, 203)
- on debts: duties are not just material, 203
- the Self is always experimenting as it moves in relation to the fixed soul, 204-05
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pp. 208-223 (R 323-347)
intellect constructive: = genius; intellect is the
power motivating action and construction, 208
it produces, combining Thought and Nature,
214 LIKE
THE ESSAYS HEREIN
thought via revelation is first; then, publication, art,
communication, expression, 215
art needs some willful control over spontaneous
genius, 216
dreams are different--they are without will, 216
intellect receptive: thought is better off not
inhibited by will, 210
intuition is prior to logic [cf. induction and deduction], 211
instinctive thought rises into reflection; this is very difficult,
though, 212-213 (cf. 241 on poet/expression)
intellect brings light to various facts, classifies, 213-14
One should maintain a balance in the treatment of topics
(vs. specialization or monomania), 217
Spending time to get encyclopedic knowledge is also a mistake, 218
Rather than detachment or aggregation, seek vigilance
Vigilance is intellectual proficiency in the perception of likeness
and identity in all things, 218-19
Moral duty resembles intellectual duty: one should forgo all
for truth, 219
moral : intellectual :: loving : knowing . . . . . . . their
synthesis is an open question, 222
Truth vs. Repose (cf. 16-17, 33 on mixed life); like the priority
of hearing over speaking, 220
words confine; silences frees us to the universe, 220
The intellect has entire self-reliance, 221
on the use of other philosophy, 220-21
intellectual giants mainly speak to each other, 223
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pp. 224-236 (R 349-69)
progressive soul is producing a new and fairer whole, 224
useful arts vs. fine arts
use v. beauty
imitation v. creation, aspiration
features v. character
nature v. expression . . . . . . . . . 224-25, but the categories are unified
at 235
selection is one of the higher faculties, given its use of
symbols, 225
symbols/art must be relevant to the artist’s context, which is
inescapable anyway, 225-26
arts as artifacts of the height of a soul in a context, 226
art educates perception of beauty, 226
detachment (without overdoing it), providing, on top of holistic
enjoyment/contemplation, also Thought, 226
art sees object-by-object; other leaders do the same by helping us
focus on separate things, 227
we magnify by detaching; this depends on the
depth of our insight into the object [remember: macro present in micro]
the succession of objects teaches immensity of the world, i.e., the
opulence of human nature, 228
On painting, color, and expression of form; choice of form,
228; image leads us back to the world.
Ditto sculpture: anatomy of form, 228-29 (cf. 233)
The highest art is universally intelligible; restores
simplicity of mind; is religious, 229
nature is as the art of genius, 229
art is ultimately human, and beauty exists in ourselves to the
extent that we behold it, 229-30
artist imparts himself, his character, 230
Arts are, yet, initial, 232; they point beyond, to the creation of man and nature; art makes artists, 233
Art chooses objects but does not detach them from humanity,
234
Art should not be an escape from life/nature, 234-35
vs. a vulgar notion of beauty or of use, 235
can redeem the useful arts through love, 236
Beautiful: alive, moving reproductive; useful:
symmetrical, fair, 236