Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Emerson's "The American Scholar" 10/13/10
Yesterday in class, the whole goal was to delve a a bit deeper into the "influences" that Emerson discusses in regards to the American scholar, and what the stand for. The firs two are pretty simple. Nature is all around us. Everything that humans work toward, all the sciences that humans treasure so much, can all be classified in terms of nature. It really represents all of the world around us, an obvious influence on scholars. The minds of the past is the second great influence on the American scholar. Those who came before us all worked towards the enlightenment of our species, and they left their legacy in the hands of generations to come later: that would be us. The third influence is the hardest and most difficult to understand. It's action. Action as an influence can be most easily described as the expectation of other great minds around you to add to the wealth of knowledge of the human species. Just about the worst type of person to Emerson was one who, though completely capable, sat there and didn't contribute to society.
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I think you have got this speech and its points pretty well in mind. Nature is all that is within and outside of us; the mind of the past is those who came before offering us their understanding of the things that they saw and thought; action is what is required to give life to our thoughts. When we are able to see farther, then it is our responsibility to tell others what we see. He speaks to men of letters. What must they do?
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