Society and Solitude

by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Overview

This version of Society and Solitude is a rare 1892 edition.

Society and Solitude is comprised of lectures turned into essays that Ralph Waldo Emerson gave over many years as he toured the country. "Courage" and "Success" are moral and principle based whereas daily life is discussed in essays such as "Civilization", "Art", "Eloquence", "Domestic Life", "Farming", "Works and Days", "Books", "Clubs", and "Old Age". The title essay "Society and Solitude" discusses solitude versus contact with society, stating that although solitude is necessary for the scientist, the poet, the philosopher to formulate their thoughts, it is through contact with the world and other humans that one truly learns. Emerson believes that striking a balance between solitude and society is difficult because "solitude is impracticable, and society fatal."

Product Details

BN ID:	2940014873567
Publisher:	Balefire Publishing
Publication date:	08/13/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	316
File size:	14 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society, and he disseminated his thoughts through dozens of published essays and more than 1,500 public lectures across the United States.

Emerson gradually moved away from the religious and social beliefs of his contemporaries, formulating and expressing the philosophy of transcendentalism in his 1836 essay, Nature. Following this ground-breaking work, he gave a speech entitled The American Scholar in 1837, which Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. considered to be America's "Intellectual Declaration of Independence".

Emerson wrote on a number of subjects, never espousing fixed philosophical tenets, but developing certain ideas such as individuality, freedom, the ability for humankind to realize almost anything, and the relationship between the soul and the surrounding world. Emerson's "nature" was more philosophical than naturalistic; "Philosophically considered, the universe is composed of Nature and the Soul."

Emerson's work has greatly influenced the thinkers, writers and poets that have followed him. When asked to sum up his work, he said his central doctrine was "the infinitude of the private man." Emerson is also well known as a mentor and friend of fellow Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau.