Emerson's modernity and the example of Goethe
Abstract
Looking at Emerson in his time, as he was attempting to define his relevance to his age by creatively engaging an aggregate of attitudes and ideas that he and his contemporaries recognized as modern. Most of those attitudes and ideas Emerson and his contemporaries found expressed with unparalleled authority in the works of Goethe, the greatest writer of the age.
Table of Contents
Emerson's acquaintance with Goethe -- Goethe's modernity -- Nature -- The critique of idealism -- The visual arts -- Literature -- History and biography -- The modern individual.