Video: Introduction to Philosophy Online Class Session — Thoreau and American Transcendentalism

The following is a video recording of my recent Introduction to Philosophy online class session on the Henry David Thoreau and American Transcendentalism. See below for a list of topics covered in this online class session.

Introduction to Philosophy Online Class Session — Thoreau and American Transcendentalism

Date

April 16, 2020

Instructor

Zachary Fruhling, College of Eastern Idaho

Topics Covered:

• Attendance Question: What are the most transcendent experiences you have ever had?

• The Ineffable and the Sublime

• Transcendentalist Art:

  • Among the Sierra Nevada, California by Albert Bierstadt

  • Niagara by Frederic Edwin Church

  • The Icebergs by Frederic Edwin Church

  • Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone by Thomas Moran

  • Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich

  • Hope on the Horizon by Greg Olsen

• Walden by Henry David Thoreau

• Discussion Questions:

  • Is transcendence a special / important category of experience?

  • Accessing the divine through transcendence?

  • What kinds of experiences are transcendent?

    • Nature

    • Music

    • Religion: 

      • Prayer

      • Meditation (especially transcendental meditation)

      • Worship

    • Altered states of consciousness:

      • Psychedelic drugs (e.g., LSD)

    • Sex

    • Reading / Writing

  • Is transcendentalism a form of escapism?

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