Emerson: Political Writings

A study of Emerson's political thought set in the context of the American Civil War.

Kenneth S. Sacks (Edited by)

9780521883696, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 May 2008

280 pages
22.5 x 14 x 2 cm, 0.49 kg

Ralph Waldo Emerson is the central figure in American political thought. Until recently, his vast influence was most often measured by its impact on literature, philosophy and aesthetics. In particular, Emerson is largely responsible for introducing idealism into America in the form of living one's life self-reliantly. But in the past few decades, critics have increasingly come to realize that Emerson played a key role in abolitionism and other social movements around the time of the American Civil War. This selection for Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought highlights not only Emerson's practical political involvement, but also examines the philosophical basis of his political writings. All of the usual series features are included, with a concise introduction, notes for further reading, chronology and apparatus designed to assist undergraduate and graduate readers studying this greatest of American thinkers for the first time.

Acknowledgements
Biography
Background to texts
Introduction to texts
Texts - Nature: Introduction and 'Language': 1. Journal entries
2. American Scholar
3. The Divinity School Address
4. 'Uriel'
5. “Concord Hymn”
6. Letter to Martin van Buren
7. 'Self-Reliance'
8. 'Compensation'
9. Concerning Brook Farm
10. 'Man the Reformer'
11. 'Politics'
12. Journal entries
13. 'Ode Inscribed to W. H. Channing'
14. 'Citizens of Concord'
15. 'Webster' '1854'
16. Journal entries
17. 'Women'
18. 'Napoleon'
19. 'Speech at the meeting to aid John Brown'
20. 'John Brown'
21. 'Fate'
22. 'Power'
23. Journal entries
Chronology
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Political ideologies [JPF], Political science & theory [JPA], History of the Americas [HBJK]