Transcendentalism: The Philosophy Of The Mind Essay -- essays researc

Transcendentalism The Philosophy of the Mind     Transcendentalism is the view that the basic truth of the universe liesbeyond the knowledge obtained from the senses, a knowledge thattranscendentalists ensure as the mere appearance of things (Adventures 162).Transcendentalists believe the mind is where ideas are formed. Thetranscendentalist ideas of God, domain, and the universe were not every original, butwere a conclave of other philosophies and religions.     One of the study questions of philosophy is "What is the nature of theuniverse?" Immanuel Kant was wholeness of the major Transcendentalists of his time.One of the major questions he asked was, "What is knowledge, and how is itpossible?" Transcendentalists believe that one really only knows personalexperiences, and that one can not know the universe which exists. Kant came tothe conclusion that there are two universes, one of experience, called the"Phenomenal Universe", and the other the "Noumenal Universe", the one of reason.The source is scientific and the other practical (Frost 42). Transcendentaliststhink there is a dimension of depth in everything that exists. They to a fault thinkthe spirit is what controls your physical side (Halverson 431). both(prenominal)transcendentalists say the earthly concern has no beginning in time, everything takesplace according to the laws of nature. The same people think there is notnecessarily an absolute world who causes the world to be (Frost 42).Transcendentalists think nature is a product of the mind, and without the mindnature would not exist (Santayana 42). These ideas come from the Romantictraditions which originated in England. The Romantics believed in spectralunity of all forms of being, with God, humanity, and nature sharing a universalsoul (Adventures 208).     Transcendentalists came to the conclusion that good and evil were thingsonly man could contr ol. Their belief of man is that man is part of the universeof objects and things. His knowledge is confined to ideas. He is able toreason, and he can form ideas of the outer world of God, freedom, andimmortality (Frost 53). Immanuel Kant said, "Always act in such a way that themaxim determining your conduct might as well become a universal law act asthough you can will that everybody sh... ... a bowl with many crevices and depressions in its contour. Whenone pours water into the bowl, it takes the shape of the bowl, filling all thecrevices. In the same way the environs pours impressions into the mind andthey are received by the mind and shaped according to the nature of this mind(Frost 257). Some transcendentalists think all minds are alike. They say allminds have certain categories such as totality, unity, plurality, and reality.Transcendentalists believe knowledge is limited to the combined role ofsensibility and understanding, both of which are concerned with sense andexpe rience, though in different ways (Hakim 98). They also think knowledge isuniversal (Frost 258). Some transcendentalists think the ideas are of the mindand cannot be applied to a world outside of the mind. They believe ideas are aresult of the kind of thinking organ which people have, and are determined byits nature.     Transcendentalism is a combination of beliefs, some of which are fromother religions and other people and their philosophies. It is a belief thatthere is another way knowledge is obtained, not only from the senses, but alsofrom the mind.