A Comparison of the Political Thoughts of Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman

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Title:	A Comparison of the Political Thoughts of Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman
Authors:	張其羽
Contributors:	中國文化大學
Date:	1999-07-01
Issue Date:	2012-05-15 10:07:09 (UTC+8)
Abstract:	美國超越主義作家，如愛默生、梭羅、惠特曼等人，所倡導、追尋的是一種類似於小政府式的個人主義，強調接近自然，發揚理性和尊重人權。愛、梭二人崇尚自然或自奉簡約，相信管事最少的政府便是最佳的政府，前者重視人身保障並奠立超越主義的基本主張，後者則以消極手段（如抗稅）反對政府行不義之舉；惠氏被譽爲民主詩人，主張分工合作可造福社會，認爲政府不過是人群的保護者或教化者。三人皆反對蓄奴制。沒有證據充分顯示這三位超越主義作家曾經受到美國開國先賢的影響，然而不容否認，他們彼此問在理性、自然法、自然權利以及個人主義等問題的看法均頗爲一致，而由於時代背景的影響他們主要的政治觀點與民主理想也多少與自盧梭、洛克以降的憲政主義思潮不謀而合。身爲超越主義、自然利嚥的力待，愛、梭、惠三人或許是試圖將自然法中神格的理想轉化成爲理性層面的現實運用，以達到人類追求幸福的目的。雖然這種努力於當時並未廣爲接氫其理論基礎也顯屬薄弱，然而由現今的美國民主觀之，他們的努力並不枉然，因爲他們所指陳的理念早已深植人心。 Transcendentalists, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman, trying to advocate and pursue American individualism, had their anti-federalist tradition, which was closely related to the notion of a minimal state. In favor of an independent life close to Nature, they laid much emphasis on humanity, reason, and individualism. Loving Nature, the incarnation of God and ultimate value (reason), Emerson and Thoreau were more convinced that the best government was the one that governed least. Emerson, the drafter of transcendentalism, was more concerned about human protection, while Thoreau was stoic in life and tended to defy injustice by means of uncooperative disobedience such as refusal to pay taxes. Regarding human division of labor as something making a society thrive, Whitman would rather consider Government nothing more than a protector or cultivator. There is no evidence that proves American transcendentalists like Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman to be influenced by American Founding Fathers, but it seems that they, living in the 19th century, had much in common with one another in the notions about reason, the laws of nature, rights of nature, and individualism, and that such political views and ideals might have derived from some of the main ideas of those constitutionalism forerunners such as John Locke. Hued with a deist tendency, these transcendentalists might ever be in an attempt to transform the divine quality of the natural law into a rational one for the pursuit of happiness. Although looking much more like doctrines than theories, their political thoughts may have shown people the way to individual independence and freedom.
Relation:	華岡英語學報 5期 P.111-125
Appears in Collections:	[Department of English Language and Literature ] Hwa Kang English Journal

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