On Thoreau's Vision On Civilization

Henry David Thoreau is an outstanding representative of Americantranscendentalism in the 19th century, at a time when science andtechnology developed rapidly, changing both the society and the naturalenvironment dramatically, and when people pursued wealth and materialbenefits in an unprecedented way. Thoreau, seeing such a life asmeaningless, called on people to abandon the utilitarian way and to goback to nature. Thoreau believed that through a communion with natureman could eliminate his solitude and get the true meaning of life as wellas entertainment and self-elevation. His two years' experiment onself-reliance and simplification in life at Walden and the resultingmasterpiece Walden, or Life in the Woods, well illustrated Thoreau'spursuit. Yet Thoreau's ideas about life and civilization were notappreciated by his contemporaries. On the contrary, he was regarded as ahermit escaping from society and advocating austerity.On the surface, the ideal life Thoreau called for is similar to, or almostthe same as, that in the ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism which has afar-reaching effect both in China and elsewhere in the world. This thesiscompares Thoreau's and the Taoists' vision on civilization in thefollowing three aspects.In Chapter One, it is pointed out that both Thoreau and the Taoistsemphasize the harmony between man and nature. Yet their concepts ofnature are different. To Thoreau, nature is a symbol of the spirit that has agenuine healthy influence on man's spiritual well-being; to the Taoists,nature is a symbol of spirit to which they submit. In Chapter Two, bothThoreau's and the Taoists' preference for spirit over matter is discussed.They both advocate living in simplicity, reducing material desires,minimizing consumer activity, and emphasizing man's spiritualascendance. But the ways of their pursuit of spirit are not the same. Chapter Three focuses on Thoreau's and the Taoists' view of life. Thoreauand the Taoists share a natural way of living and pursue a spiritualelevation. However, the ends they achieve are not the same. Thoreaulived such a life to prepare for a quality life and to arouse others to dosimilar things for the society. The Taoists do so mainly to isolatethemselves from the rest of the world, at least spiritually, in pursuit ofindividual calmness and self-awareness.The comparison made in this thesis is intended to make clear thatThoreau's vision on civilization, compared with that of the Taoists', is amore active one. It is not the least a vision on civilization of a hermit thatopposes to developments and progress of society, and thus is worthy to befollowed by people in modern society for the healthy development of theindividual and the society as well.