The American Scholar

“The state of society is one in which the members have suffered amputation from the trunk, and strut about so many walking monsters,—a good finger, a neck, a stomach, an elbow, but never a man.” 

One of Emerson’s central ideas in this essay is an idea of connectivity or oneness: a state from which he believes that modern man has become detached. This is one of many blunt and vivid images that he employs to make what he sees as the isolation and fragmentation of modern life immediate—and disturbing—to the reader.

“He shall see that nature is the opposite of the soul, answering to it part for part. One is seal and one is print. Its beauty is the beauty of his own mind.”

Emerson believes that the American scholar must have an awareness of the natural world, an awareness that involves something beyond mere knowledge. He also believes that the American scholar should not only have a scientific understanding of the natural world, but something like a mystical one as well. The American scholar should have a sense of himself as a part of this world, rather than a detached observer of it, and should see its patterns as the same patterns that govern him. 

“Meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon, have given; forgetful that Cicero, Locke, and Bacon were only young men in libraries when they wrote these books.”

While Emerson believes in the importance of studying classic old works of literature, he does not believe that the modern intellectual should be “meek” before these works or view them as perfect and infallible. He believes that to do so is to deny these works their life and vitality, as well as the modern scholar’s own. The scholar should instead see the authors of these books as flawed human beings and should see himself in their company.

“The one thing in the world, of value, is the active soul.”

The idea of the primacy of the soul, and the ephemerality of the so-called real world, is one of the tenets of Emerson’s philosophy of transcendentalism. He insists on man’s ability to shape the world, through his thoughts and deeds. He does not see the world as a separate, finished thing, but rather as a reflection of man’s consciousness.

“We hear, that we may speak.”

Emerson is referring specifically here to the act of reading, which he sees as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. He believes that writers read other writers in order to find their own voices in the world; they do not just read merely to read. This statement shows his orientation towards action, even while he is discussing intellection.

“Colleges, in like manner, have their indispensable office,—to teach elements. But they can only highly serve us when they aim not to drill, but to create; when they gather from far every ray of various genius to their hospitable halls, and by the concentrated fires, set the hearts of their youth on flame.”

This statement shows Emerson’s democratic belief in the potential creative genius of every man. He sees institutions like colleges as valuable only as far as they recognize and nurture this potentiality; he does not see them as valuable in themselves. The “fire” metaphor shows his belief in the power of individual consciousness and the shifting and evolving nature of the material world.

“Only so much do I know, as I have lived.”

Emerson believes that experience is the true teacher and that the American scholar should endeavor to have as much of it as possible. He laments the tendency of the modern scholar to shut himself off from the world, and to associate only with men like him. He believes that book knowledge is an outgrowth of real world experience but is not a substitute for it. 

“So there is no fact, no event, in our private history, which shall not, sooner or later, lose its adhesive, inert form, and astonish us by soaring from our body into the empyrean.”

Emerson is focused on the primacy of action and real world experience but is equally focused on more ephemeral matters: the soul, and the idea of divinity and eternal life. “Empyrean” refers to the highest point in heaven, and Emerson believes that a wide range of worldly experience is important precisely because it will one day “soar from our body” and inform the invisible world around us.

“The mind now thinks, now acts, and each fit reproduces the other.”

Emerson insists on the importance of action, even or especially for a thinking man. He does so by framing action as a means to thinking, rather than a hindrance to it. He also frames this process of thought and action mutually informing one another as an organic, natural process, thereby underscoring his idea of man’s closeness to nature.

“The world of any moment is the merest appearance.”

Emerson is speaking here about the need for a scholar to cultivate “self-trust”—to trust in his own intuitions and observations, rather than to be swayed by fashion and popular opinion. He draws a distinction between self-reliance and hermetic isolation: the first is faith in oneself, while the other is shrinking from the world. He also draws a distinction between the world of “the moment”—which he believes should not concern the scholar—and the more timeless natural world, to which he believes that the scholar should be alert.

“Not he is great who can alter matter, but he who can alter my state of mind.”

Emerson believes that consciousness is the true shaper of the world, as this statement shows. He believes that the modern American intellectual has lost sight of this truth and sees himself as existing apart from the world rather than in it. He wishes the American scholar to see himself as a shaper of the world, as much as—if not more than—the leaders of governments and other, ostensibly “worldly” figures.

“In a century, in a millennium, one or two men; that is to say, one or two approximations to the right state of every man. All the rest behold in the hero or the poet their own green and crude being,—ripened; yes, and are content to be less, so that may attain its full stature.”

Emerson refutes the idea that there are only a few great men in history; he believes that this idea paralyzes most men and makes them “content to be less.” He believes that all men should see themselves as individuals and as potentially great themselves; he sees such an attitude (one that is both democratic and individualistic) as conducive to a healthier and more vibrant society.

“It is one light which beams out of a thousand stars. It is one soul which animates all men.”

At the same time that Emerson believes in the potential individual greatness of every men, he believes that this greatness springs from a common source. He believes in a universal soul, or spirit, from which all men derive their strength. He further believes that this soul is an expression of the natural world and shares a consciousness with it. This is seen in his comparison of the common light of stars to the common soul of man: a comparison which at the same time shows his idea of man’s inherent divinity.