Emerson's Truth, Emerson's Wisdom

Upcoming Event in Northampton

Upcoming Presentation in Northampton, MA

I hope everyone is feeling well today. I just thought that I'd take this opportunity to let you know that I'll be making a public presentation in Northampton, MA on Sat. October 9 at 5:00 p.m. in the Great Hall at the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence, 220 Main Street. This event is co-sponsored by The David Ruggles Center for Early Florence History and Underground Studies and The Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence. The title of the presentation is "Abolition in Black and White: Ruggles, Douglass, and Ralph Waldo Emerson."

David Ruggles was a radical, black abolitionist who once lived in the Florence section of Northampton. He was a friend of Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, William Lloyd Garrison, and other notable reformers of his day.  In the 1840s and later Florence was known as a community of social activists. As it turns out, I actually grew up in the house that Ruggles lived in until his death in 1849. You can learn more about Ruggles and see a picture of my boyhood home at:

http://davidrugglesinflorence.blogspot.com/2006/07/david-ruggleshannah-randall-house.html

 Needless to say, this revelation about Ruggles and me came as quite a surprise. In a way, it made me wonder if growing up in this house had something to do with my later interest in Emerson and his commitment to the antislavery movement, something that I've written quite a bit about. It made me think that Hamlet was probably right, "There's a divinity that shapes our ends,/  Rough-hew them as we will." The major theme of the talk is how black reformers and white reformers interacted in the pursuit of social justice and an end to the heinous institution of slavery.

You can find out more about this talk at:

http://www.davidrugglescenter.org/?page_id=437

Maybe I'll see you there.

Emerson's Truth, Emerson's Wisdom

 The particular focus here is on how Emerson's philosophy can be seen to address the problems of modern life, both social and personal. The blog is designed to bridge the gap between traditional academic scholarship and real-world self-help and therapeutics. As a means towards this end, I am introducing here my most recent book, "Emerson's Truth, Emerson's Wisdom: Transcendental Advice for Everyday Life" (American Transcendental Books, 2010). Based upon over forty years of reading and writing about Emerson, this book seeks to introduce Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Transcendental philosophy to a broad audience of modern readers. As those acquainted with Emerson's writings know, they can be challenging, especially to non-specialists. In an effort to address this difficulty, this book takes the unique approach of coupling a generous sampling of Emerson's essential writings (essays, poems, lectures, and addresses) with a discussion of the biographical and historical circumstances from which they arose. Emerson’s essay “Experience” and his poem “Threnody,” for example, are far more approachable when they are directly connected to the untimely and tragic death of his infant son, Waldo. His essay “Politics” can be more easily understood in the context of his crusade against slavery. In presenting Emerson in his private as well as his public roles as husband, father, friend, and citizen, it is possible to trace the thread of his experience through the fabric of his thought. Throughout the book, the "abstract' quality of Emerson's writing is diminished by providing the real-world context of his life.



The text presents several of Emerson's most seminal works in their entirety. These texts are presented in chapters that deal with such topics as "Discovering Spiritual Truth," "Self-Reliance," "Personal Love and Cosmic Love," "Society and Self," "Fate and Power," and "Wealth and Success." Each of these chapters is subdivided into shorter thematic sections that discuss topics such as "The Search for Faith," "Vanquishing Fear and Anxiety," "Dealing with Bereavement and Loss," "The Meaning of Suffering," "Developing Personal Power," and several others. The purpose here is to encourage the kind of thoughtful and even meditative approach that Emerson's writings demand. You just cannot read Emerson's writing as you would a novel. His thoughts demand more attention than that. Therefore, in each section, I have presented the reader with Emerson's profound and moving insights coupled with my own commentary which reflects upon Emerson's words and relates them specifically to the problems and challenges of everyday life. Additionally, I have sought to emphasize the poetic quality of Emerson's prose by presenting it in typographically shortened lines with generous word spacing. This format also encourages the kind of contemplative, leisurely, and laid-back approach that Emerson himself recommended. He once said "I would have my book read as I have read my favorite books, not with explosion and astonishment, a marvel and a rocket, but a friendly and agreeable influence stealing like the scent of a flower; or the sight of a new landscape on a traveller." This book seeks to facilitate that sort of reading and to encourage the kind of personal self-reliance and self-understanding that are the hallmarks of Emerson's Transcendental philosophy.