English 3667F/G Lecture : Lecture 008 - Emerson
23 Dec 2011
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Document Summary
American sense of looking at the world in a new light (like the eyes of a child -> dominant metaphor in the sense of american vision) Rejection of the old world, rejection of the past, a sense of the past history tradition can be discarded at will. American vision tends to be future-oriented, inventive, eyes of the child will not see something for it"s intended purpose and think of a way to use it in a way not thought possible. For emerson, the real world is only a sign, a presence of the spiritual world and the sense behind it. Emerson"s thinking is very much platonic; sees the physical reality as a presence of the spiritual reality. Interested in material physical sensory appeal of nature; nature is available for human use (emerson passes this over as the lowest level of consideration)
