394 Emerson, Ralph Waldo
of reason. The address lays out a path of American
thought that he sees as emancipation from old ideas
and institutional forms, and he argues for a provoca-
tive new form of American intellectual experience.
The fundamental issue “The American Scholar” sets
forth is the creativity of originality and the scholar’s
duty to pursue this freely.
Michael Modarelli
educatiOn in “The American Scholar”
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s address to the Phi Beta
Kappa Society at Harvard in August 1837 positions
the “scholar,” in an abstract sense, as the character
who receives education, which Emerson considers
of the highest import to truly live in the world. The
archetypal scholar serves as a model for members of
the society. Emerson begins with a comparison of
the commencement of a new school year to a club, a
type of education that merely passes around “letters”
of old. In other words, he calls for new letters to
come from an American education. From the start,
Emerson’s speech looks toward a new day when the
sluggish intellect of America will stop depending
on books and knowledge from past civilizations and
“foreign harvests.” The American scholar, then, will
move forward in his own right, apart from other
countries and civilizations, to promote a new brand
of American thought and education.
This theme of education must, according to
Emerson, remain in the present, which is an idea
that serves as the foundation for what follows in the
speech. The American Scholar must educate himself
in the lands, nature, writings, and thoughts of Amer-
ica. Instead of learning from books of the past, the
true scholar must become an active “Man Thinking.”
As in other professions, Emerson warns, there lies a
danger in becoming the thing that one does; so it
is with “Man Thinking.” Like “Man on the Farm,”
who, without active participation and enthusiasm,
becomes simply the farmer, “Man Thinking” can
often degenerate into a mere thinker. Emerson
warns that education must always propel one for-
ward, away from the past. Essentially, the active life
in all respects is far better than the passive life.
Since “Man Thinking” exists only in action,
thought must direct action. And here is where
Emerson claims his idea of education connects the
two. He argues that all humans have the power to
achieve the highest state of intellect because every
man is a student for the world’s education, and
Nature and the world’s writings are available to all.
For Emerson, education comes from three main
sources: nature, books, and action. Nature exists as
a mystery to the scholar—it is boundless, circular,
and exciting. Even more, nature resembles human
spirit; it is the soul imprinted. America serves as a
perfect model for nature since it is yet undiscovered
and free from the history of past civilizations. Books
are records of man’s thoughts in these past civiliza-
tions and are useful; however, when ill used, they
are poor instruments of education. Books should be
used simply as part of a system of education, which
means as a stepping-stone, not as an end themselves.
Books always look backward, while “Man Thinking”
should look forward in action. Action, says Emer-
son, has value as a resource of the mind—the mind
thinks and the body replicates thought into action.
Emerson states that thinking is the “function,” but
living is the “functionary.” To live is to be strong to
think and act.
Once educated thus, according to Emerson, the
scholar has duties to keep his education moving
forward through dissemination. Similar to notions
in the actual education of the scholar, past and
present play a great part in his duties. Emerson
again asserts that the scholar only use the past for
reflection; the focus should be on the present. His
abstraction of the scholar then begins to shift to
individuals. Emerson claims that the “universal
mind took through the eyes of one scribe” and can
pass that on to future generations. In other words,
the duty to educate continues the progress of every
person, and there exists a oneness or singularity of
mind in all individuals. To that end, proper educa-
tion—acquired in nature, books, and action—must
flow from each person like an electrical charge,
sending currents to every individual. Emerson
wants this to especially happen in the United
States, as the young country struggles to shape its
own independent identity. In essence, this serves as
Emerson’s vision for a greater and more intellectual
society.
Often called the American “Intellectual Decla-
ration of Independence,” “The American Scholar”