Welcome to your first online journal! Please answer the following question(s) thoughtfully, giving a detailed response. The more in-depth the response, the better the grade!
Do you agree with the Transcendentalists' optimistic view of human perfectibility? Or are you more like the Dark Romantics, believing that the word has a dark, irrational side that can't be ignored? Explain.
Journals must be posted by class time on Friday.
15 comments:
I fall somewhere in the middle of the Transcendentalists and the Dark Romantics. I consider myself in-between optimism and pessimism; I'm a realist. If I had to pick, however, I was say I agree more with the Dark Romantics. The Transcendentalist's view of human perfectibility is very flawed in my opinion. Humans are not perfect, and this is a good thing because we need to learn from our mistakes. It also seems that some Transcendentalists used their religion as an excuse. Emerson believed we are capable of evil only because we are separated from a direct, intuitive knowledge of God. To me, this sounds like, "Oh, it's okay if I sin, because I just don't have a deep connection with God." The Dark Romantics realized that everyone does have the little voices in our head wanting to do bad things. We all have the little devil on our shoulder telling us to talk back to our parents, or watch television instead of doing our homework (or worse in some people's cases). The majority of the population doesn't act on these impulses, but we all have them. I feel that the Transcendentalists were too optimistic, while in some cases, the Dark Romantics took it to the other extreme.
I agree with Natalie in that Transcendentalism is a flawed system. Human beings are born into sin thanks to the actions of Adam and Eve. In theory, Trancendentalism is very appealing, however, it is almost impossible to put into practice, as we see each day. The capacity for evil in people is too great to create a utopian society. We as a society are to selfish and inconsiderate to create such a world. Dark Romantics tapped into that idea that we were not perfect in any way. I agree with the idea they had of the darkness that is all around us. I myself am more of a middle of the road person. However, the Dark Romantics were the more realistic of the two groups in my mind.
I am in the middle. I think Transcendentalism was majorly flawed. There is no way human beings are able to live a perfect life. I agree with what Natalie said in class, that there are too many cultures for the utopian projects to work. But I also think they were right in trying to make the world a better place. I would agree more with the Dark Romantics in the idea that everybody has the potential act of evil in them. However, sometimes they took this idea to far like the Transcendentalists' took their ideas. So over all, i'm in the middle of these two groups. I think Transcendentalists had the right idea of making the world a better place and the Dark Romantics were right to see the potential evil in humans.
I am more of a Dark Romantic. I am this way because there is no possible way to look at the world and not see the dark and irrational side of it. Of course, it would be great if the world did not have a dark side but it is impossible for that to happen with 6-7 billion people living together. The world today is full of things that the Dark Romantics would love to write about. Two examples are the war and school shootings. I think that I am an optimistic person but that does not mean that the world is the same way. Also, I think that most people today do not try to create utopian societies because they know that inside of every person there is a dark and irrational side so they do not expect the world to not have the same thing. The Transcendentalists had a great vision of the world but the Dark Romantics had the more rational way of looking at the world.
I am in the middle. Although the optimistic and perfectibility of Transcendentalism can be appealing I believe that Transcendentalism in itself has flaws. As humans we will never be capable of perfection and besides the world is full of people with their own and different opinions on life. Living your life by this notion seems to me like a waste of time because you are striving for something that you will never achieve. I believe that the Dark Romantics view is much more realistic because as Logan put it we are born into sin there fore we have the capability of evil, I think is really depends on if you give completely into this impulse or restrain from it. I am an optimistic person and wish the world could be as wonderful as the Transcendentalists wanted to be but I don’t think that my optimism gets in the way of me understanding the realities of evil in human nature.
I definitely agree with the Dark Romantics. Nobody can be perfect and we all make mistakes. Transcendentalists were wrong in thinking that they could achieve their goal of perfectibility. Everybody has their own ideas about everything and those ideas will always conflict with someone else's ideas. This leads to sin and imperfectibility. Dark Romantics believed in original sin while Emerson and other Transcendentalists ignored those aspects.
When dealing with the issue of Transcedentalism and the Dark Romantics there is definitely no way for me to ride the fence so I will try to be as distinct as I can. There are definitely spiritual things at work in this world because both sides seem to be centered around that principle. It would appear though, the Transcendalists often looked to the positive side while the Romantics sought out the darker side of the spiritual spectrum. With their observations, Hawthorne, Melville, and Poe did not seem to beat around the bush of Transcendentalism but rather cut through it to find the evil inherent in all men. They acknowledged the urge to sin in all of us and how that would keep us from attaining the Transcendentalists' "Utopian Paradise". Seeing our world now, that definitely sounds more realistic to me. It is this sin that we must rise up out of in order to reach the Transcendentalist "God". The Trandy's(tired of typing it) believed that the level of perfection that God creates can be reached. With my beliefs this is impossible so that is another strike against Mr. Emerson. I suppose if you need a definite answer now, I am a Dark Romantic...not just cuz im good with the ladies either.
I agree with the dark romantics because they see how the world really is. Everybody is capable of doing evil no matter who they are. Normally i am a nice person and am not mean to anyone, but if someone were to hurt or disgrace me, my religion, or my family i would do my best to hurt them. I think this is how it is with everyone, they can be nice but if you hurt them in a very important place they will probably try to do something evil to you. I also like the dark romantics view because they did not really disagree with the transcendentalists, they just didnt see everything as happy and perfect but they didn't think everything was dark. You can never make everyone agree. If you try to make a utopia someone will try and take charge and his views will never be exactly the same as everyone else's. I think to have a utopia everyone would have to be the same race and religion, and maybe even gender. Also, i want world peace but don't you think the world would be a little wimpy wimpy if evrything was perfect? Anyways, the dark romantics were right in my eyes, people are not 100% good, we all have evil inside of us.
I have to go with Natalie and say I am a realist. I am not a negativer person, but I am definately not as optimistic as the Transcedentalists were known to be. I also believe the Trascedentalists views are flawed in that there is no way that any human could ever be perfect. It just is not going to happy. Much like the eutopian society they struggled for. The world does not work that way. I agree with the Dark Romantics and their view of evil tendancies in man, however I do believe those tendancys are easily controlled. As Emily said in class she may come across as sweet and innocent, but sometimes her thoughts aren't so sweet. I think the same is true for almost everyone, but we are able to control ourselves from acting on that impulse. Though I agree with parts of both I would have to say I am probably more on the side of the Dark Romantics.
I easily agree with the Dark Romantics. We all have a dark side and there is now possible way for a utopia. I base this upon the information that there are over 4200 religions in the world, all with different opinions. Many historical wars were started over religion or in the name of religion. Only in fiction could we see all of them united together. The transcendentalist view was much to optimistic for me. Still, I feel that their intentions were correct. We can always work towards a better future by starting with ourselves. However, striving for peace is hard enough even in our own lives. Alas, world peace is still impossible. The dark romantics were correct in thinking that everyone has a dark side. Even I have a dark side. HaHaHa. =)
I agree with parts of both.. but if I had to pick I would say probally the Dark Romantics. This is because no one can be completly perfect in life or at anything... everyone makes at least one mistake at some point. Sure it is nice to strive to be perfect.. and not to sound negative.. but no one can be perfect.. its just life. Yes, I do agree with the fact that everyone can be nice and do good things , but deep down inside every person i believe that there is a darker side to them. On the other hand it is nice to sort of "get away" from the reality of life and imagine that there is no evil in the world.
Ok well not to sound too boring but i also think i fall somewhere in the middle. I believe that people can improve themselves but there is simply no way for humans to be perfect. Now, i'm not completely negative though either. I agree with the Dark Romantics in saying that our world has a dark side to it and it can't be ignored because it is seen everyday whether it be bullies at school or wars being fought. We are constantly surrounded by negativity, but we can work at being better, but nowhere near perfect.
I'm in the middle on this subject. Although, I would say that I lean more closely to the Dark Romantics then I would to the Transcendentalists. Everytime you turn on the television you see the bad things that happen in this world. I think in that time it would have been easier to be all bright and happy but in the present it would be really hard to be straight up Transcedentalist without living under a shell or doing drugs. :)
I disagree with the trancendentalists, but i do not agree with the dark romantics either. My opinion is that humans cannot reach perfection whether that be physically, mentally, or emotionally. On the other hand, I tend to be optomistic about most things in life. Just because we cannot become perfect does not mean that we should not strive to be the best that we can. I think that a common phrase can sum up how I feel about most of life: Hope and expect the best, plan for the worst. We should be realistic about who we are and the circumstances we are in while enjoying the time we have. Not all things will be great, but I think we can assume that the majority of them can be.
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