The American Scholar

E29158

The American Scholar is a landmark 1837 address-turned-essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson that helped define American intellectual independence and the philosophy of Transcendentalism.

All labels observed (3)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf essay
public address
alsoKnownAs The American Scholar (essay)
The American Scholar address
associatedWith Boston intellectual culture
Harvard University
author Ralph Waldo Emerson
callsFor break from European cultural dominance
creation of a distinct American culture
centralTheme American intellectual independence
relationship between individual and nature
self-reliance in thought
the role of the scholar in society
countryOfOrigin United States
date 1837
deliveredAt Harvard College
linked to: Harvard University
deliveredIn Cambridge, Massachusetts
deliveredTo Phi Beta Kappa Society
describesScholarAs Man Thinking
emphasizes direct experience
individualism
intuition
moral responsibility of the intellectual
firstDeliveredAs oration
genre literary criticism
philosophical essay
historicalSignificance called the intellectual Declaration of Independence for America
influenced American Renaissance
American Transcendentalist movement
linked to: Transcendentalism

American literary nationalism
influencedBy German Idealism
linked to: German idealism

Immanuel Kant (indirectly, via Transcendentalism)
linked to: Immanuel Kant

Romanticism
keyConcept correspondence between nature and mind
unity of all knowledge
language English
laterPublishedAs essay
movement Transcendentalism
opposes mere bookish learning
originalForm public lecture
period 19th-century American literature
philosophicalOrientation Transcendentalist philosophy
relatedWorkByAuthor Nature (Emerson essay)
Self-Reliance
structureIncludes analysis of the duties of the scholar
discussion of the influences on the scholar
year 1837

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (10)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ralph Waldo Emerson notableWork The American Scholar
Nature (essay) relatedWorkByAuthor The American Scholar
subject linked to: Nature
The American Scholar alsoKnownAs The American Scholar (essay)
linked to: The American Scholar
Ralph Waldo Emerson notableWork The American Scholar
subject linked to: Ralph
Man Thinking describedIn The American Scholar
Nature (Emerson essay) relatedWork The American Scholar
Success (essay) relatedWork The American Scholar
subject linked to: Success
Beauty (essay) associatedWorkOfAuthor The American Scholar (address)
subject linked to: Beauty
linked to: The American Scholar
New England Reformers relatedWork The American Scholar
Emerson’s collected essays includesWork The American Scholar