Emerson and Eros
eBook - PDF

Emerson and Eros

The Making of a Cultural Hero

  1. 278 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Emerson and Eros

The Making of a Cultural Hero

About this book

Traces the spiritual, psychological, and intellectual evolution of one of America's most important cultural figures.

This critical biography traces the spiritual, psychological, and intellectual growth of one of America's foremost oracles and prophets, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882). Beginning with his undergraduate career at Harvard and spanning the range of his adult life, the book examines the complex, often painful emotional journey inward that would eventually transform Emerson from an average Unitarian minister into one of the century's most formidable intellectual figures. By connecting Emerson's inner life with his outer life, Len Gougeon illustrates a virtually seamless relationship between Emerson's Transcendental philosophy and his later career as a social reformer, a rebel who sought to "unsettle all things" in an effort to redeem his society.

In tracing the path of Emerson's evolution, Gougeon makes use of insights by Joseph Campbell, Erich Neumann, Mircea Eliade, and N. O. Brown. Like Emerson, all of these thinkers directly experienced the fragmentation and dehumanization of the Western world, and all were influenced both directly and indirectly by Emerson and his philosophy. Ultimately, this study demonstrates how Emerson's philosophy would become a major force of liberal reformation in American society, a force whose impact is still felt today.

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Yes, you can access Emerson and Eros by Len Gougeon in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Literary Biographies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Emerson & Eros
  2. CONTENTS
  3. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. 1. PSYCHOMYTHIC HUMANISM: Re-entering Reality
  6. 2. THE SPIRIT AND THE FLESH
  7. 3. “GOD’S CHILD”: Emerson In His Journals 1820–1836
  8. 4. “THE DEVIL’S CHILD”: Emerson’s Early Public Voice 1836–1844
  9. 5. THE CALL TO SERVE: Re-centering America 1844–1871
  10. EPILOGUE: EMERSON, WHOLENESS,AND THE SELF
  11. NOTES
  12. WORKS CITED
  13. INDEX