A Study Of Emerson's Idea Of Freedom

In this thesis, the Emerson's idea of freedom is considered the final and unifying argument through all his works. His process of demonstration is this: from Over-Soul to Self-Reliance, and then to Freedom. Emerson's idea of freedom also produces profound influences on American literature.There are altogether five chapters in this thesis.The first chapter is an introduction to this thesis, in which, first, a brief overview of the researches on Emerson conducted home and abroad is summarized; second, the argument of this thesis is proposed, that is, the idea of freedom in the final and unifying argument of Emerson's thought system; last, the significance of this thesis is mentioned.The second chapter mainly focuses on Emerson's idea of freedom, which, according to this thesis, is the final and unifying argument in the system of Emerson's thinking. It could be put into three general categories, that is, scholarly freedom, religious freedom, and political freedom. Emerson also notes restrictions on our freedom in all his later writings.The third chapter elaborates on Emerson's idea of Over-Soul which is considered as the first step to understand Emerson's idea of Freedom. According to Emerson, the whole world is the flux from the Over-Soul. Therefore, God reveals himself through nature and resides in the heart of Man. However, as an idealist who has metaphysical measure of things, Emerson thinks that nature, literature, history are nothing but subjective phenomena. By emphasizing the idealistic perception of nature, Emerson gradually shifts his focus to the idea of Self-Reliance. Then in this chapter the resources of Emerson's Over-Soul will be examined.The fourth chapter primarily concerns with another key idea of Emerson, that is, Self-Reliance. In this chapter, the present thesis argues that it is the logical development from Emerson's idea of Over-Soul. The self is the ultimate measure of all things, the only true security lies in one's faith in his limitless possibilities and in rejecting all conformities. Thus, to be self-reliant means to be no-conformable; to be free from any forms and conventions. Emerson also proposes four steps of Self-Reliance, from which one can see that Emerson has great interests in the social issues of his time. Up to now, Emerson eventually manages to demonstrate his idea of freedom from Over-Soul to Self-Reliance then to Freedom.