Blog 4 - Transcendentalism

This image above really demonstrates the nature of transcendentalism. It goes against the constraints of spirituality and even intellectualism to give a more bare view of nature and man. This relates to the aesthetic appreciation of nature because of its inherent link between nature and man. It allows us to take a view of the natural world around us, not as a function of society and what other people think, but rather as a function of ourselves. It calls for the stripping away of anything we previously thought we knew and calls on the inner spirituality and essence of yourself. The American transcendentalists were not initially aware of the German roots of the movement but came to similar conclusions regardless. Through the belief that institutions clouded and corrupted the individual, the movement called for a very individualistic approach to all things. In other words, there was a call to pay attention to the gut feelings that you have when you experience nature rather than the constraints put forth by the scientific, religious, and political institutions.