In Ralph Waldo Emerson's speech, The American Scholar, he uses the term "man-thinking" to denote an independent thinker, or one who is free of constraining fetters of conformity and dogmatic beliefs. The mind of the independent thinker is engaged by the spectacles of nature and ponders his connection to "the inexplicable continuity of this web of God." The scholar sees his connection to nature and his soul's reflection therein; thus, to study and contemplate nature is to study and contemplate one's soul. The scholar also finds inspiration in books and knowledge; however, the true man-thinker uses this rich source of information to create ideas relevant and reflective of his day. He does not deify past thinkers nor apotheosize their works. Great minds think against themselves and accepted ideas in an attempt to arrive at their own personal truth; they are not afraid of contradiction and change. One of interesting comments Emerson makes about the universe is it is "without center, without circumference." (If you saw the movie "I (heart) Huckabees" this should sound familiar.) The size and scope of the universe is beyond our imagination and understanding. What thoughts do you have about the universe? What thoughts does the universe inspire you to think? Think for yourself and be a non-conformist.
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Every time I think of Ralph Waldo Emerson, I can not help but think of W.E.B. DuBois who used his work, "Representative Men" to model his life. DuBois made himself a representative man in all aspects of his long, impressive career and in doing so included women in his works. Neither Emerson nor DuBois believed that women should be excluded from high art and intellectual thought. For DuBois, this did not always translate well into his personal life, but I suppose nobody is perfect. In short, I dig their inclusionary tactics that were very woman friendly. They were truly anachronistic individuals.
Interior shown everything deeply and see what we have in Ralph Waldo Emerson's speech, The American Scholar is the true meaning.
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