Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Delon, Nicolas

Area of Concentration

Environmental Studies

Abstract

This thesis introduces a living lineage of Transcendentalist philosophy, one which has historically inspired the most influential cultural revolutions of the nation. I suggest that the ethical and ideological frameworks which blossomed during the Transcendentalism Movement directly paved the way for the revolutionary social movements of the mid-1950s through the 1970s. From the genesis of the movement in the 19th Century to the modern epoch, I trace the peak revivals of American Transcendentalism through historical and philosophical contexts, underscoring the causal influences from one emergence to the next. Concluding the paper, I include excerpts from interviews of a diverse array of citizens on their relationships to nature, personal identities, with the intentions of illuminating the real-life applications of philosophy, ethics, and morality on behavior and identity formation. I propose that by returning to this uniquely American genealogy, individuals gain the philosophical tools necessary to navigate their relationship to themselves, the natural environment, and society as a whole in the wake of the climate crisis.

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