Emerson's Truth, Emerson's Wisdom: Transcendental Advice for Everyday Life

This book introduces Ralph Waldo Emerson's Transcendental philosophy to a modern reader. It takes the unique approach of coupling a generous sampling of his essential writings (essays, poems, lectures, and addresses) with a discussion of the biographical and historical circumstances from which they arose. Emerson's essay "Experience" and his poem "Threnody," for example, are far more approachable when they are directly connected to the untimely and tragic death of his infant son, Waldo. His essay "Politics" can be more easily understood in the context of his crusade against slavery. In presenting Emerson in his private as well as his public roles as husband, father, friend, and citizen, it is possible to trace the thread of his experience through the fabric of his thought. The second goal of this book is to indicate how Emerson's timeless wisdom can serve readers today in discovering spiritual truth, developing self-reliance, dealing with bereavement and loss, experiencing both personal love and cosmic love, achieving worldly success, and more.

Author: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Len Gougeon
Publisher: American Transcendental Press
Published: 08/03/2010
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.13lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.79d
ISBN: 9780615348452

About the Author
Len Gougeon, Ph.D. is a Professor of American Literature and Distinguished University Fellow at the University of Scranton, where he has taught for thirty-five years. A former President of the Ralph Waldo Emerson Society, he is the author of Virtue's Hero: Emerson, Antislavery, and Reform(1990, 2010), and Emerson & Eros: The Making of a Cultural Hero (2007). He is also the co-editor of Emerson's Antislavery Writings (1995, 2001). In 2008 he received the Ralph Waldo Emerson Society's Distinguished Achievement Award for his scholarship on Emerson and the Transcendental movement.

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