What Is ‘Emersonian’ Enlightenment?

Abstract

Daniel A. Campana demonstrates that an early exposure to Kant and the literature of Vedanta provided the young Emerson with themes that resonated throughout his literary career. However, Campana blurs his argument by mapping Emerson’s life and thought to a rather ill-defined notion of “faith.” While the transcendental movement exhibits the “universal and necessary” arguments of the Critique of Pure Reason, Emerson’s resignation from the Unitarian ministry is uncannily prefigured in Kant’s What is Enlightenment? If we put aside the discussion of “faith,” even more compelling arguments for the continuity of Emersonian themes can be found in such works as “Compensation,” “The Transcendentalist,” and most significantly, the late “Immortality” essay.