Tuesday, November 2, 2010
21st Century Transcendentalism Importance?
In today's society, I believe that Transcendentalist thought still offers some important values. It is important to countenance individuality, especially due to the forced conformity in today's culture. In the 21st century, there is a lack of compromise that makes individuality meaningless. If we don't utilize individual thoughts, society will become very conformed. Although it is important to have order in society, it is not necessary to be conformed. This is where it is essential to differ in Transcendentalist beliefs and applying Transcendentalist thought to modern day. Although Transcendentalism offers some good values, such as the importance of valuing nature, it also calls for anarchy. I do not believe anarchy is beneficial in today's society. But if we are able to separate the good beliefs of Transcendentalism from the bad, I believe it could help our world greatly.
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I agree with this Ciaran. I think that although some degree of conformity is necessary for a functioning society, total conformity stops society's progress altogether. Also I agree with your statement that some, but not all, of Transcendentalist beliefs are helpful to society. Many of the suggestions are too extreme to apply to modern society.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that following Transcendentalism might cause anarchy in our society. However, I think supporting individuality and not conforming to oppression are not necessarily following Transcendentalism. I thought your opinion of the importance of individuality is more like Enlightenment. Like you said, I agree that it is necessary to have both conformity for society's order and countenance for individuality. However, Transcendentalism has more depth than just Enlightenment. It is more extreme: total nonconformity to authority and truth derived from one's own essence. Unlikely, Enlightenment encourages people to be fully aware,rational and civilized whereas Transcendentalism encourages anarchy for the sake of anarchy to remove authority.
ReplyDeletei agree with sarah and ciaran in that while some transcendentalist ideas would be beneficial to society, many ideas would be too extreme to apply to today's modern society. The aspect of conformity is very important in today's society. Conformity is necessary to a certain point. However, excessive conformity in society would result in no diversity which would cause many problems. At the same time, not enough conformity would result in nobody adhering to any laws, rules, or other people's values and that would cause many problems. However, if we utilized the beneficial transcendentalist ideas in society then daily life would be greater.
ReplyDeleteI think that Ciaran's point about differentiating transcendentalist thought and the application of transcendentalist ideas in our society today is interesting. If our society can use some transcendentalist ideas as a base to build off of, new modernized ideas can fit and positively affect our society. For example, the idea that we need to recognize the harm of working in the "market" to much can be altered in a few ways to modernize it and shape it to our society. If we are able to do this then I believe that transcendentalism could create a base for a stable and successful society.
ReplyDeleteI like Ciaran's view on the presence of Transcendentalism in today's society. I think that conformity is necessary for a society to function, but with total conformity comes a loss of progress. Also I agree that many Transcendentalist beliefs are too extreme to implement into today's society, but I also think that if the more extreme beliefs can be dissected and the goal be taken away from the means that the goal can be used, but a less extreme way of getting there.
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