Self-Reliance is an essay written by American Transcendentalist philosopher and essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson. It contains the most solid statement of one of Emerson's repeating themes, the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, and follow his or her own instincts and ideas. Emerson's ideas are considered a reaction to a commercial identity; he calls for a return to individual identity.

HistoryThe first hint of the philosophy that would become Self-Reliance was presented by Emerson as part of a sermon in September 1830 a month after his first marriage.[1] His wife was sick with tuberculosis [2] and, as Emerson's biographer Robert D. Richardson wrote, "Emerson's belief in immortality had never been stronger or more desperately needed!"[1]From 1836 into 1837, Emerson presented a series of lectures on the philosophy of history at Boston's Masonic Temple. These lectures were never published separately but many of his thoughts in these lectures were later used in "Self-Reliance" and several other essays.[3] Later lectures by Emerson, especially the "Divinity School Address", led to public censure for Emerson's radical views; the staunch defense of individualism in "Self-Reliance" may be a reaction to that censure.[4]Self-Reliance was first published in his 1841 collection, Essays: First Series.

AnalysisEmerson presupposes that the mind is initially subject to an unhappy nonconformism.[5] However, "Self-Reliance" is not anti-society or anti-community. Instead, Emerson advocates self-reliance as a starting point, not as a goal.

Help in understanding Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay, Self-Reliance: "It is said to be the age of the first person singular" - Ralph Waldo Emerson"Nothing at last is sacred but the integrity of your own mind." - Ralph Waldo Emerson, from Self-Reliance

Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay "Self-Reliance" is often the first or only exposure students get to Emerson's thought. Here are some resources to help understand this essay: Background:

What is Transcendentalism?An essay introducing the background and context of Transcendentalism, for help in understanding where Emerson's ideas came from.

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Transcendentalism - DefinitionsFrom Emerson himself, with some dictionary and other simple definitions listed as well. TranscendentalismBasic information on Transcendentalism - links to the two items above plus more.

Self-Reliance OnlineSelf-Reliance - HTML searchable copy of the text at EmersonCentral.com

About Emerson's essay, "Self-Reliance"On Self-RelianceAnn Woodlief's excellent introduction to the Emerson essay, Self-Reliance. Emerson and the Irony of Self-Reliance: An American Response to NihilismAn article by Alfred I. Tauber (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader). Looks at the problem of selfhood in Emerson's essay and relates that to relevance today, especially in religious belief in our increasingly-secular age.

The reflexive project: reconstructing the moral agent Alfred I. Tauber Department of Philosophy, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA 02215. Tel: 617-353-2604; fax: 617-353-6805ait@bu.edu In the 17th century, ‘reflexivity’ was coined as a new term for introspection and self-awareness. It thus was poised to serve the instrumental function of combating skepticism by asserting a knowing self. In this Cartesian paradigm, introspection ends in an entity of self-identity. An alternate interpretation recognized how an infinite regress of reflexivity would render ‘the self’ elusive, if not unknowable. Reflexivity in this latter mode was rediscovered by post-Kantian philosophers, most notably Hegel, who defined the self in its self-reflective encounter with an other, and whose full articulation would occur at the final culmination of Reason's evolution. In the rising tide of 19th-century individualism, Emerson and Kierkegaard formulated constructions both in debt to, and in opposition against, Hegelian metaphysics. For each, although employing distinct strategies of self-consciousness, ‘the self’ reached its apogee through divine encounter. Characterized by personal responsibility and individual choice, their philosophies would later be subsumed by secular existentialists committed to defining moral individualism and asserting the possibilities for human freedom and selfauthentication.

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Quotes from Self-RelianceIt's worth thinking about these quotes. Try to figure out what they mean. Sometimes they make more sense when you see them in context -- do a search on the essay online to find their context.

Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one

of its members. Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little

statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.

It is easy to see that a greater self-reliance must work a revolution in all the offices and relations of men; in their religion; in their education; in their pursuits; their modes of living; their association; in their property; in their speculative views.

Travelling is a fool's paradise. Insist on yourself; never imitate. Society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on

the other. The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet. Society is a wave. The wave moves onward, but the water of which it

is composed does not. And so the reliance on Property, including the reliance on

governments which protect it, is the want of self-reliance. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you

peace but the triumph of principles. Some questions to think about:

How is Emerson's idea of Self-Reliance different from and similar to the common use of the term (take care of your own needs and don't depend on others outside yourself)?

Is Emerson really saying "Believe anything you want to believe and do anything you want to do"? Is he really saying "Nothing outside yourself matters"?

In what ways is Emerson speaking religiously -- that is, about our relationship to the divine?

Emerson's religious ideas are claimed today by groups as diverse as the Unitarian Universalists and the Mormons. Does this make sense? How have such different religious groups made use of Emerson's ideas, especially those in "Self-Reliance"?

How do Emerson's "Self-Reliance" and Thoreau's ideas (in "Walden" and elsewhere) inspire the environmental and sustainable growth movements today?

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What would Emerson think of the survivalist movement? What would Emerson think of 21st century American capitalism? Would Emerson's ideas as expressed in this essay result in a stronger

or weaker government? More or less democracy? Was Emerson a liberal or conservative -- and in what ways? (You

might also want to read Emerson's essay "The Conservative.") What would Emerson think about today's libertarianism? If you're familiar with the work of Ayn Rand, how is Emerson alike,

how is he different? What would Emerson say about the human capacity for good and for

evil? How have Emerson's ideas helped shape our concept of the American

Dream? Should students read more essays of Emerson, or just this one? Is this

the best selection from Emerson for a high school or college student? A closing thought:Like many thinkers, Emerson's thought evolved through his lifetime. He later came to value social reform movements and group action more than he did in his early life. This was perhaps partly due to the maturity one gains in the life cycle, perhaps partly due to the failure of individual philanthropy to solve the increasing social problems of his age, perhaps partly due to the issue of slavery, in which the individual interests of slave vs. slaveholder were in stark contrast. But certainly, Emerson's later writing was more interested in relationships among people, and ethical behavior, than early works like "Self-Reliance" may indicate. Nevertheless, the worldview expressed in "Self-Reliance" is not, I would contend, one of radical separation of the individual from the rest of the universe, though Emerson has sometimes been accused of that view.

What is Transcendentalism?

Readers have asked this question often. Here's my answer:

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When I first learned about Transcendentalism, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau in high school English class, I admit: I couldn't figure out what the term

"Transcendentalism" meant. I couldn't figure out what the central idea was that held all those authors and poets and philosophers together so that they deserved this categorical name, Transcendentalists. And so, if you're at this page because you're having difficulty: you're not alone. Here's what I've learned since high school

MargaretFuller*

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about this subject.

The Transcendentalists can be understood in one sense by their context -- by what they were rebelling against, what they saw as the current situation and therefore as what they were trying to be different from.

TheodoreParker*

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One way to look at the Transcendentalists is to see them as a generation of well educated people who lived in the decades before the American Civil War and the national division that it both reflected and helped to create. These people, mostly New Englanders, mostly around Boston, were attempting to create a uniquely American body of literature. It was already decades since the Americans had won independence from England. Now, these people believed, it was time for literary independence. And so they deliberately went

EmilyDickinson*

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HarrietMartineau*

ThomasWentworthHigginson*James

Martineau*

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