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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.