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Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society, and he disseminated his thoughts through dozens of published essays and more than 1,500 public lectures across the United States. Emerson gradually moved away from the religious and social beliefs of his contemporaries, formulating and expressing the philosophy of Transcendentalism in his 1836 essay, ''Nature''. Following this ground-breaking work, he gave a speech entitled "The American Scholar" in 1837, which Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. considered to be America's "Intellectual Declaration of Independence".〔Richardson, 263〕 Emerson wrote most of his important essays as lectures first, then revised them for print. His first two collections of essays ''Essays: First Series'' and ''Essays: Second Series'', published respectively in 1841 and 1844—represent the core of his thinking, and include such well-known essays as ''Self-Reliance'', ''The Over-Soul'', ''Circles'', ''The Poet'' and ''Experience''. Together with ''Nature'', these essays made the decade from the mid-1830s to the mid-1840s Emerson's most fertile period. Emerson wrote on a number of subjects, never espousing fixed philosophical tenets, but developing certain ideas such as individuality, freedom, the ability for humankind to realize almost anything, and the relationship between the soul and the surrounding world. Emerson's "nature" was more philosophical than naturalistic: "Philosophically considered, the universe is composed of Nature and the Soul". Emerson is one of several figures who "took a more pantheist or pandeist approach by rejecting views of God as separate from the world." He remains among the linchpins of the American romantic movement,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Emerson Dilemma )〕 and his work has greatly influenced the thinkers, writers and poets that have followed him. When asked to sum up his work, he said his central doctrine was "the infinitude of the private man."〔Ward, p. 389.〕 Emerson is also well known as a mentor and friend of fellow Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau.〔 〕 ==Early life, family, and education== Emerson was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 25, 1803,〔Richardson, 18〕 son of Ruth Haskins and the Rev. William Emerson, a Unitarian minister. He was named after his mother's brother Ralph and the father's great-grandmother Rebecca Waldo.〔Allen, 5〕 Ralph Waldo was the second of five sons who survived into adulthood; the others were William, Edward, Robert Bulkeley, and Charles.〔Baker, 3〕 Three other children—Phebe, John Clarke, and Mary Caroline–died in childhood.〔 Ralph Waldo Emerson was of entirely English ancestry all of which had been in New England since the early colonial period.〔Ralph Waldo Emerson By George Willis Cooke page 1 and 2〕 The young Ralph Waldo Emerson's father died from stomach cancer on May 12, 1811, less than two weeks before Emerson's eighth birthday.〔McAleer, 40〕 Emerson was raised by his mother, with the help of the other women in the family; his aunt Mary Moody Emerson in particular had a profound effect on Emerson.〔Richardson, 22–23〕 She lived with the family off and on, and maintained a constant correspondence with Emerson until her death in 1863.〔Baker, 35〕 Emerson's formal schooling began at the Boston Latin School in 1812 when he was nine.〔McAleer, 44〕 In October 1817, at 14, Emerson went to Harvard College and was appointed freshman messenger for the president, requiring Emerson to fetch delinquent students and send messages to faculty.〔McAleer, 52〕 Midway through his junior year, Emerson began keeping a list of books he had read and started a journal in a series of notebooks that would be called "Wide World".〔Richardson, 11〕 He took outside jobs to cover his school expenses, including as a waiter for the Junior Commons and as an occasional teacher working with his uncle Samuel in Waltham, Massachusetts.〔McAleer, 53〕 By his senior year, Emerson decided to go by his middle name, Waldo.〔Richardson, 6〕 Emerson served as Class Poet; as was custom, he presented an original poem on Harvard's Class Day, a month before his official graduation on August 29, 1821, when he was 18.〔McAleer, 61〕 He did not stand out as a student and graduated in the exact middle of his class of 59 people.〔Buell, 13〕 In 1826, faced with poor health, Emerson went to seek out warmer climates. He first went to Charleston, South Carolina, but found the weather was still too cold.〔Richardson, 72〕 He then went further south, to St. Augustine, Florida, where he took long walks on the beach and began writing poetry. While in St. Augustine he made the acquaintance of Prince Achille Murat. Murat, the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, was only two years his senior; they became extremely good friends and enjoyed one another's company. The two engaged in enlightening discussions on religion, society, philosophy, and government, and Emerson considered Murat an important figure in his intellectual education.〔Field, Peter S., Ralph Waldo Emerson: The Making of a Democratic Intellectual, Rowman & Littlefield, 2003, ISBN 0-8476-8843-7, ISBN 978-0-8476-8843-2〕 While in St. Augustine, Emerson had his first experience of slavery. At one point, he attended a meeting of the Bible Society while there was a slave auction taking place in the yard outside. He wrote, "One ear therefore heard the glad tidings of great joy, whilst the other was regaled with 'Going, gentlemen, going!' "〔Richardson, 76〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ralph Waldo Emerson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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