Category
Oral - Textual or Investigative
Description
For many, the American Transcendentalist movement carries a connotation of moral subjectivism. It seems only natural, as one of the defining features of the Transcendentalist movement is the emphasis placed on individual experience. However, is this truly the case? This project examines whether a subjectivist view is held by one of the movement’s integral figures, Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his Divinity School Address. This work was chosen because of its significance to the Transcendentalist movement, regarded as an accurate but concise compilation of Emerson’s fundamental assertions, and thus, an accurate representation of his general philosophy. This study was conducted by examining the nature of the ethical claims made in the Divinity School Address, discerning whether they assert a position of objective morality, and examining Emerson’s influences to discern the origin of his moral philosophy. When research was conducted in this manner, there were many instances of both objective and subjective ethical claims made in the Address; however, those that were subjective were only such insofar as subjective moral faculties, such as intuition, led one to objective morality. These ethical positions are also asserted by Immanuel Kant, one of Emerson’s influences. Study of Kant’s writings yielded possible insight into Emerson’s view of objective morality, especially as it pertains to one’s intuition. Thus, the conclusion of this study is that the Divinity School Address does not assert that morality is ultimately subjective as decided by one’s intuition, but that within one’s intuition is the ability to perceive the objective moral law. This study could imply a misinterpretation of Transcendentalist ethics more broadly and may necessitate further study into the ethical claims of other Transcendentalist works.
Understanding the Sublime: Objective Morality in the Divinity School Address
Oral - Textual or Investigative
For many, the American Transcendentalist movement carries a connotation of moral subjectivism. It seems only natural, as one of the defining features of the Transcendentalist movement is the emphasis placed on individual experience. However, is this truly the case? This project examines whether a subjectivist view is held by one of the movement’s integral figures, Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his Divinity School Address. This work was chosen because of its significance to the Transcendentalist movement, regarded as an accurate but concise compilation of Emerson’s fundamental assertions, and thus, an accurate representation of his general philosophy. This study was conducted by examining the nature of the ethical claims made in the Divinity School Address, discerning whether they assert a position of objective morality, and examining Emerson’s influences to discern the origin of his moral philosophy. When research was conducted in this manner, there were many instances of both objective and subjective ethical claims made in the Address; however, those that were subjective were only such insofar as subjective moral faculties, such as intuition, led one to objective morality. These ethical positions are also asserted by Immanuel Kant, one of Emerson’s influences. Study of Kant’s writings yielded possible insight into Emerson’s view of objective morality, especially as it pertains to one’s intuition. Thus, the conclusion of this study is that the Divinity School Address does not assert that morality is ultimately subjective as decided by one’s intuition, but that within one’s intuition is the ability to perceive the objective moral law. This study could imply a misinterpretation of Transcendentalist ethics more broadly and may necessitate further study into the ethical claims of other Transcendentalist works.
Comments
Undergraduate