transcendentalists emerson and thoreau
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Arguably, the two men at the forefront of transcendentalism were Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Transcendentalism is defined as "any system of philosophy emphasizing the intuitive and spiritual above the empirical and material." Transcendentalism can somewhat be understood by its context - what the transcendentalists remonstrated against, what they viewed as the relation to their time, therefore, were trying to be non-conformists of their time. Transcendentalism is, in a way, a philosophy of its own.
The "father" of the Transcendentalists, Ralph W. Emerson is one of America's foremost philosophers. One of his best works, "Self-Reliance" exemplifies his main ideologies. He promotes individuality and independence through most of his writings. He believes one should live to the morals of their inner-self. Emerson was a resolute non-conformist: "Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist...