CAS WR 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Henry David Thoreau, Tax Collector
4 Jul 2018
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● God should guide you
● Divine source of the universe
● How will god guide you? Bible
○ How can you get moral guidance from god
○ Conscience comes from?
■ Subset of intuition
■ So moral sensibility is universal and inborn
■ Thoreau wants to talk about divine voice/vibration is your conscience
■ What makes him so sure?
● Slavery is so evil
● His conscience told him
● Divine in its source
● He thinks that you wont maintain yourself
● You die-dont maintain true self
● Engage in civil disobedience to preserve yourself
● Top of page 9
○ If only one honest person in america broke with gov and broke with slaves the
effect would be the abolition of slavery in the united states
○ On the surgace doesnt make sense-our job is to figure out how it makes sense
● Pg 7-action from principle changes things, not only seeing whats right but also foing
whats right
● Link between emerson and thoreau
○ Emerson-intuition
○ Thoreau-what makes thoreau so sure his conscience is a good moral guide
○ And use emerson to show that its the right moral guide
○ Emerson says-own business is what interests him
○ Thoreau-”doesnt have to make world better, make his own”
■ Very emersonian
○ Emerson-concerned with politiccs
○ Is thoreaus concern with social a deviation from emersons
○ For thoreau-being involved in civil disoberdiance is a step to be true to yourself
○ Emerson-never conform to others
● Mlk/gandhi civil disobediance
● Not a pacfist
● What is blood should flow-let the blood flow
● Advocates violence in the service of what is right
● Thoreau
● Peoples consciences tell them different things about right or wrong, then god or creator
of the moral order is different
● God does not change her mind about morality
● How do you account for thinking slavery is ok?
○ Not listening to god because if they were listening they would get the same
message
● Pg 8 tax collector refuse to pay taxes for mexican war
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Document Summary
How can you get moral guidance from god. So moral sensibility is universal and inborn. Thoreau wants to talk about divine voice/vibration is your conscience. He thinks that you wont maintain yourself. Engage in civil disobedience to preserve yourself. If only one honest person in america broke with gov and broke with slaves the effect would be the abolition of slavery in the united states. On the surgace doesnt make sense-our job is to figure out how it makes sense. Pg 7-action from principle changes things, not only seeing whats right but also foing whats right. Thoreau-what makes thoreau so sure his conscience is a good moral guide. And use emerson to show that its the right moral guide. Emerson says-own business is what interests him. Thoreau- doesnt have to make world better, make his own . Is thoreaus concern with social a deviation from emersons. For thoreau-being involved in civil disoberdiance is a step to be true to yourself.
