Clear all
Work #870 · Early

Nature

Ralph Waldo Emerson
1836 · English
Philosophical essay · Nineteenth-century American transcendentalism

Emerson's 1836 founding essay of American transcendentalism — the unity of mind and Nature

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Nature (Early)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Single
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Theistic
Observer · Moral Authority Experience
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Nature

The temporal communion of self and Nature.

Space

Nature

The "bare ground" of perception.

Matter

Nature

Nature as the symbolic body.

Observer

Nature

The "transparent eye-ball".

Energy

Nature

Energies of mystical attunement.

Information

Nature

Nature as symbolic language.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Nature

Emerson's Nature: founding work of American transcendentalism; foundational for Thoreau, Whitman, and the American Romantic-spiritual tradition.