Naturalistic Transcendentalism. (7th December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bishop, Peter
• Is Part Of: Essays in the philosophy of humanism. Volume 24:Number 2(2016:Sep.)
• Page Start: 207
• Page End: 219
• Publication Date: 2016-12-07
• Subjects: naturalistic transcendentalism. -- naturalism -- intuition -- transcendentalism; Humanism -- Periodicals; Humanists -- Periodicals; 144.05
• DOI: 10.1558/eph.32011
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1522-7340

Abstract

Abstract : Transcendentalism was a philosophical movement that arose prior to Darwin publishing The Origin of Species. It arose out of the Enlightenment, in which the importance of natural law in the working of the universe was recognized. Ralph Waldo Emerson was interested in exploring religious questions from the point of view of the enlightenment. For him, the human faculty of intuition was very interesting. After Darwin was published, most of science lost interest in exploring human intuition partly because no naturalistic basic for it was known. Today, it is appropriate to return to the study of transcendentalism, building on what was done in the 19th century, but with a 21st century understanding of the laws of nature. Much work can be done from this perspective, possibly developing a new philosophy of the humanities. This is the defining work by the author of this approach to philosophy.