Emerson's and Thoreau's Attitudes towards the Society

Ralph Waldo was a poet, essayist, and a lecturer, he was born in 1803 and is often considered to be the father of the American transcendentalism; a philosophy which rubbishes the ideology that knowledge can be absolutely acquired through observation and experience. Waldo, in contrary, argues that knowledge and truth reside in the spiritual realm. Thoreau, on the other hand, was his student who was also a renowned essayist and critic (Schneider, 186). The two philosophers had extensive knowledge of American society, and both of them encouraged non-conformity and individualism in society; their ideologies have had a big influence on people's attitudes towards independence and existence. Both Emerson and Thoreau believed in the same transcendentalism views which gave their writings a number of similarities which makes it even hard to point out their differences.

Thoreau is content that men no longer have the freedom to make their own individual decisions in regard to their domestic issues, war and slavery because the government often imposes things on their citizens without their consent; government acts according to the urges of its own self-interests. His quest seemingly focuses on having freedom from the civil government, which is different from Thoreau's whose quest is on having to be oneself. Emerson makes emphasis on the need for a man to gain independence and the free will to form his or her own beliefs and opinions (Emerson, 9). Both Emerson and Thoreau have a common belief that God is the highest authority even though religion was never explicit in their writings, but still, they have a light on the influence of religion on personal life and the entire society.