Ralph Waldo

American genius extraordinaire. Highly unusual for his time and place. Nietzsche, reading his early, immature, unconsolidated thought in his first book, Nature, admired him. A strange acquiescence. In Emerson's awkward, unindoctrinated thought, Nietzsche found something genuine. More accessible and acceptable. Pure joyfulness, zest, passion in his scholarship and playful, unpredictable development of thought. A breath of fresh air probably impossible in Europe. Nature was published anonymously because he thought it would be ridiculed.

It was.

His early work, though, stands out among the mature, a true mark of original thinking. The originality comes from the way he puts his studies together and presents them. Although the ideas are not unique, his interpretations of them are. He takes the best from the best and points out the way. Every American artist, no matter what platform, will read him and take something from him. He gives without recompense, instructs the hardline American myth of self-creation. Art comes from the land so discover it, locate the ultimate imagination of it, transcend. With an untraditional approach and unorthodox presentation, he’s hard to place on the intellectual grid. Most of his later work was presented by him as lectures so it reads well, like a grandparent who actually has something to say. But with zeal and enthusiasm, no frustration, no confusion, no harking back to the good old days. He never looks back. Even his ramblings coalesce into something greater: good clean thought. It comes from a methodical examination of books, views and affairs. If the ideas are scattered-brained or happen-stance, the presentation saves them, making it something more worthwhile.

To say nothing of Whitman and Thoreau, who adored him and took up his calling (Melville – dark, brooding, infinite – made fun of him but still accepted the challenge), I think Emerson's questions remain unresolved, the American myth yet to be explored. His questions run deep and require more than superficial answers, simplistic solutions. He’s the great lumberjack, a true marksman, the first environmentalist. Take the “Napoleon” essay. You’d think a true republican, one who believes in a democratic republic, would have nothing to do with a despot. But there’s an enlightening essay about him. Napoleon could get things done. There’s always something to learn. Take “Swedenbourg,” the obscure but influential mystical religious thinker, Blake’s inspiration. With Emerson he becomes meaningful and accessible. And there are countless other examples.

He leads the way.

The first prominent American philosopher.

Our intellectual founder.