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Post by 14elesvi on Feb 21, 2013 20:12:19 GMT -5
"Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong is what is against it" (270). Emerson is saying that good and evil is subjective because society's view of good and evil is different (the 'names' good and bad)from that of the individual (good and bad of 'constitution'). This speaks to the Transcendental principle of an original relationship with the universe; viewing the world in a unique way (in this case, the labels of good and bad).
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Post by laurensc116 on Feb 24, 2013 16:41:58 GMT -5
I agree with your statement that "good" and "bad" are subjective. Since transcendental thinkers are those who think their own original thoughts and create their own perspectives about the world, what is seen as "good" and "bad" is specific to each person. Society has created its own definitions for these words, but since society is for those who conform, those who choose not to confom may see the world in a different way.
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Post by patrickha112 on Mar 2, 2013 18:58:40 GMT -5
This is very true in Thoreau's "Conclusion". He says, "I do not say that John or Jonathan will realize all this" meaning that everything can be interpreted in its own way. This includes good and evil, society and nature, and the art and the world. Only through traveling through one's soul can one determine what is good and evil to them.
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Post by 14elesvi on Mar 18, 2013 18:46:55 GMT -5
What I find interesting is that this means Transcendentalists and Anti-Transcendentalist live by their individual set of morals. That leads into the "geniuses are misunderstood" idea. People do not understand that they believe what they are doing is what is right...
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