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Chapter 7: Spirit
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Nature, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Unity and Interconnectedness
The Transformative Power of Nature
Religion, Science, and Individualism
Reason, Understanding, and Truth
Summary
Analysis
Emerson examines different ways to study nature. The key shortcoming of empirical science is that it breaks nature down into small, disparate parts rather than considering nature as a whole. Emerson praises the naturalist who, by contrast, recognizes that they know very little about the world and that the way to learn is through “untaught sallies of the spirit” and self-discovery. Such a person sees that sometimes guesses are more valuable than proven facts, and dreams contain more truth than countless experiments.
Emerson raises two issues with science: first, that it examines individual parts of the natural world without also taking a holistic approach, and second, that it overvalues the things that can be taught (Understanding). Emerson praises alternate ways of knowing (intuition, guesses, dreams) as key means for self-discovery and learning about the world.
Themes
Each person is part of the greater whole of the world, but they’re also a reflection, or microcosm, of the whole. Emerson quotes a poem from George Herbert, in which the speaker stresses the unity of all things. The speaker likens the natural world to a comforting, protective, comfortable house and people to the house’s residents.
This passage points back to the image of the “transparent eyeball”—in that section, Emerson felt God flowing through him, but he also sensed that he was part of God. Here, he takes a similar approach by suggesting that while a person is part of the whole world, they also are the whole world in that they’re a microcosm of it.
Themes
Quoting Plato, Emerson underscores that “poetry comes nearer to vital truth than history,” and that science has lost sight of truth, too. He references the ideas of a “certain poet,” suggesting that humankind has gone astray now that people are so disconnected from nature. People used to enjoy a close, nourishing relationship with the natural world. Now though, people only rely on their “understanding” rather than using a combination of reason and understanding.
Near the beginning of the essay, Emerson declared that humankind has diverged from the “road to truth,” an idea he fleshes out more here. The underlying issue he sees is that people are overly focused on understanding (learning intellectual truths or facts about the world through observation), so they miss out on the richer spiritual and moral lessons that nature has to teach.
Themes
Emerson suggests that what destroyed this past utopia is people growing disconnected from themselves. A person cannot be a naturalist, Emerson writes, “until he satisfies all the demands of the spirit.” To become united again, each person must learn to look at the world through a new perspective.
The crux of Emerson’s argument is that all things are connected. Thus, he advocates for people to seek spiritual wholeness on an individual level in order to heal and unite society (and indeed, the world) more broadly.
Themes
Literary Devices
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