In his 1836 essay 'Nature', Emerson famously describes himself as what kind of entity to illustrate the loss of individual ego in the presence of the divine?
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Correct answer: A transparent eyeball
Emerson uses the 'transparent eyeball' metaphor to describe a state where the individual ego vanishes and one becomes part of the universal current. In this state, the observer sees all and is circulated through by the 'currents of the Universal Being'.
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More Ralph Waldo Emerson questions
- What is the primary thesis of Emerson's 1837 oration 'The American Scholar'?
- In the essay 'Self-Reliance', Emerson asserts that 'Whoso would be a man must be a ______.'
- Which Emersonian concept describes the spiritual unity that connects all humans, nature, and the divine?
- Emerson resigned from his position as a pastor at the Second Church of Boston primarily due to his disagreement over which ritual?
- In 'Self-Reliance', Emerson defines 'foolish consistency' as the '______ of little minds.'
- What does Emerson identify as the 'first school' of the scholar in 'The American Scholar'?