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TRANSCENDENTALISM (Lat. trans, across...

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Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 172 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TRANSCENDENTALISM (See also:Lat. trans, across, scandere, climb, whence transcendere, to pass a limit) , in See also:philosophy, any See also:system which emphasizes the limited See also:character of that which. can be perceived by the senses and is based on the view that true know-ledge is intuitive, or supernatural. The See also:term is specially applied to See also:Kant's philosophy and its successors which hold that know-ledge of the a priori is possible. It is traceable as far back as the schoolmen of whom See also:Duns Scotus describes as " transcendental " those conceptions which have a higher degree of universality than the Aristotelian categories. Thus ens (being) is more universal than See also:God or the See also:physical universe because it can be predicated of both. Kant distinguishes as " transcendent " the See also:world of things-in-themselves as being without the limits of experience; while " transcendental " is his term for those elements which regulate human experience, though they are themselves beyond experience; such are the categories of space, See also:time, causality. In See also:general use the term is applied rather promiscuously and frequently by way of See also:criticism to an attitude of mind which is imaginative, aloof from mundane affairs and unmoved by See also:practical considerations. The most famous example of the pseudo-philosophic use of the term is for a See also:movement of thought which was prominent in the New See also:England states from about 1830 to 185o. Its use originated in the Transcendental See also:Club (1836) founded by See also:Emerson, See also:Frederic See also:Henry Hedge (1805-1890), and others. This movement had several aspects: philosophical, theological, social, economic. Its See also:main theme was regeneration, a revolt from the formalism of both Unitarian and Calvinist See also:theology and a widening See also:literary outlook. It took its rise to a large extent in the study of See also:German (and to a less extent See also:French) philosophy and spread widely among the cultured classes. In 184o the club began to issue an See also:official See also:organ, The See also:Dial, and the See also:settlement of See also:Brook See also:Farm (q.v.) followed in 1841.

These enterprises themselves did not receive general support even among the Transcendentalist leaders, and the real significance of the movement was the stimulus which it gave to philanthropy, to the Abolition movement, and to a new ideal of individual character. The See also:

chief names associated with it, besides those of Emerson and Hedge, are those of A. B. See also:Alcott (q.v.), See also:Margaret See also:Fuller (q.v.), See also:George See also:Ripley (q.v.), W. E. See also:Channing (q.v.), and H. D. See also:Thoreau (q.v.).

End of Article: TRANSCENDENTALISM (Lat. trans, across, scandere, climb, whence transcendere, to pass a limit)

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