Index
Abbey, Edward, [234n.7]
abolitionist movement, 189–91, [273n.21], [274n.22]
Academy of Natural Sciences, 123–24
Adams, Henry, 126
Adams, Stephen, 10, 11, [232n.2], [240n.1]
Agamben, Giorgio, 39, [237n.12]
Agassiz, Louis, 122, 124, [263n.7]
Alcott, Bronson, 188, [255n.26], [263n.7]
alienation, 14, 165, 210, [281n.21]. See also solitude
Allen, Francis, [267n.13]
Allison, Henry, [275n.4]
alterity.See otherness
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 123–24
American Association for the Advancement of Science, 121, 122, [258n.13]
Anderson, Charles, [232n.2]
Anderson, Leon, [241n.4]
antimechanistic philosophies, 110 anxiety, 229, [281n.21]
Aristotle, 167, 168; Physics,[235n.6]
Atlan, Henri, [261n.21], [279n.20]
atomism, 110
Augustine, 213, [235n.6]; Confessions,16, 25, 26–27, 31–32, [234n.2], [269n.3]
authenticity, 212, 216
autobiography, 19, 41, 59, 164, 215–16
autonomy, 2, 163–64, 165–66, 199–200, 208, 218, 221, [279n.18]
Barthes, Roland, 216, [248n.7]
Baym, Nina, 104
beauty: aesthetic idealism, 111; and imagination, 91; and morality, 192–93; and nature, 89, 102, 111, 144–45, 152–57, 161–62, 192–93, [267n.16]; in science, 108, 135–39, [261nn.19–20]; as truth, [261n.20]
biochemistry, 109 biology, 59, 109, 113, 123, [244n.13], [257n.4], [277n.16]
Blake, Harrison, 23, 38, 39, [233n.6], [234n.1]
Bloom, Harold, [232n.4], [256n.28]
Boston, 23, 60, 61, 122, 143
Boston Society of Natural History, 122, 123–24, 143
Boyle, Robert, 112
Brace, Charles, [263n.7]
bream episode, 143–45
Breazeale, Daniel, 166, [277n.14]
Brewster, Sir David, 120
Bridgman, Richard, [273n.18]
Brown, John, 189–90
Brownson, Orestes, 188, 191
Bruce, Robert, 122–25
Buell, Laurence: on nature as constructed, 6, [249n.8]; on the observer's primacy, 83–84; on religious ideology, [242n.7]; on the self in the world, 218; on Thoreau's environmentalism, 15, 144, 219–20, [233n.5], [264n.9], [281n.23]; on A Week,[232n.2]; on writing, [234n.7]
Burbick, Joan, [242n.7]
Burns, Anthony, 189, 190–91, [274n.22]
Burroughs, John, 151, [264n.9], [267n.13]
Cafaro, Philip, [263n.4]
Cameron, Sharon, 6, 81–83, 91–92, 179, 180, [247n.5]
Canby, Henry Seidel, 76, 143, [264n.9]
Cardinal, Roger, 7, [268n.19]
Carlyle, Thomas, 52–53, [244n.15]
Cartesianism.See mindbody dualism
Cartesian subject, 4, 117, 198.See also self/world
Cavell, Stanley, 4–5, 6, 35–36, 182, 194, 195, [271n.13], [273n.19]
change, 34, 42–43, [239n.15]
Channing, William Ellery, 150, [255n.26]
chemistry, 108–9
Christianity, 167, [274n.1]
civil disobedience, 189, 190, 193, [274n.23]
Clay, E. R., [235n.3]
Clodd, Edward, 128
cognition, constructivist theory of, 225, [260n.16], [282n.6]
coherenece, as a value, 138
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, [250n.14]; Aids to Reflection,[231n.1]; Biographia Literaria,[276n.11]; drug use by, 199; Hints towards the Formation of a More Comprehensive Theory of Life,88–90, [250n.13]; on individuation, 171; influence on Thoreau, 17, 88, 89–90, 91; Kant's influence on, 88; on organic vs. inorganic world, 128; on otherness, 209; travels of, 203; on Understanding and Reason, [231n.1]; vitalism of, 110
colonial-Indian relations, 48–49, 56
color/ light, 84–85, [249n.10]
Comte, August, 106–7
Conant, Susan, [241n.4]
Confessions (Augustine), 16, 25, 26–27, 31–32, [234n.2], [269n.3]
consciousness: and the elusive present, 27–28; human vs. divine, 32; meaning/value as dependent on, 14–15; and memory, 74; mystical aspect of, 15–16; public vs. private aspects of, 15.See also James, William; self-consciousness
Constable, John, 224–25
constructivism, 133, [260n.16]
Copernican revolution, [275n.4]
Correspondence, 91–92, 103, [252n.20], [253n.21]
Cosslett, Tess, 127–29
The Crisis of European Sciences (Husserl), 226–27, [283nn.9–10]
Critical Philosophy, 201, [276n.6]. See also Kant, Immanuel
cultural history, 16–17, 164.See also history/history writing
Dale, Peter, [256n.3]
Dana, James, 125
Darwin, Charles, 123, 128, 150; Climbing Plants,147–48;The Fertilization of Orchids,147–48;Insectivorous Plants,147–48;On the Origin of Species,110, 111, 125, 147, 148, [263n.7]. See also evolution
Daston, Lorraine, 105–6
deconstructionism, [279n.18]
Deevey, Edward S., Jr., [264n.10]
democracy, 191, [274n.23]
Descartes, René, 116, 213.See also mindbody dualism
destiny, 19–20, 171, [238n.14]
Dewey, John, 140, 225, [282n.7]
dialecticism, 209, 210, [277n.15], [277n.16]
Dirac, Paul, [261n.20]
disenchantment, 126, [259n.14]
Dollimore, Jonathan, [281n.21]
dreams, 64–68, 173, 175–76, 177–78, [272n.17]
Duston, Hannah (a frontier settler), 48–52, [241n.4], [242n.5], [243n.8]
Eckhart, Meister (Johannes), 183
Eckstorm, Fanny Hardy, [267n.13]
ecology.See environmentalism
ecstasy, 38–39.See also mysticism
Egerton, Frank, [264n.10]
Einstein, Albert, [261n.20]
Eiseley, Loren, 142
Ellis, Havelock, [267n.13]
Emerson, Edward Waldo (Ralph Waldo's son), [250n.17]
Emerson, Elizabeth (a frontier settler), [241n.4]
Emerson, Lidian (Ralph Waldo's wife), 98
Emerson, Ralph Waldo: affinity with Thoreau, 97–98; on biography and history, 59; Brownson's criticism of, 191; Carlyle's influence on, [244n.15]; on Correspondence, 91–92, [252n.20], [253n.21]; criticism of Thoreau, 174–75, 188, 223, [270n.9]; on eternal recurrence, [238n.14]; on God as a circle, [235n.5]; Goethe's influence on, 157, [268n.18]; idealism of, 5, 95–96, 102, [245n.17]; influence on Nietzsche, 43, [238n.14]; influence on Thoreau, 17, 43, [250n.17], [252n.19], [256n.28]; on intensification of subjectivity, [238n.14]; interest in electromagnetism, [262n.1]; “Know thyself” credo of, 25, 219, [234n.1]; on memory, 69; on mind, [252n.19]; mysticism of, [255n.27]; Nature, [252n.19], [262n.1]; on nature as serving humanity, 101; pastoral vision of nature, 99; politics of, 188, [274n.22]; religiosity of, 95; and scientists, relationships with, 124; on selfawareness, 157; on selfcreation, 20; on selfhood, 198; symbolism in work of, [255n.25]; Thoreau's break with, 94–95, 98, 101, 223, [245n.17], [281n.1]; on Thoreau's empiricism, [253n.22]; Thoreau's outings with, [253n.22]; Transcendentalism of, [250n.17], [253n.21]
Engels, Friedrich:Communist Manifesto,23
Enlightenment, 165, 212, 214, 215
environmental crisis, [248n.7]
environmentalism, 132, 150, 163, 173, 185, [233n.5], [264n.10]; Buell on, 15, 144, 219–20, [264n.9], [281n.23]
epistemology, 5, 6, 76–83, 99–100
eternity, 35, 37, 38–39, 43–44, [239n.15]
ethical metaphysics, xi, 79, [231n.1]
Evernden, Neil, 84, [248n.7]. evolution, 148, [263n.8], [277n.16]. See also Darwin, Charles:On the Origin of Species
experience: epistemological vs. metaphysical, 114; fragmentation of, 142; immediacy of, 16–17; levels of, 177; and meaning, 121; personalized, 140–41, 174 (see also nature observations); primary vs. captured, 177–78; pure, 28–29.See also James, William
Ezekiel (biblical character), [273n.19]
facts, 107; as complex/contextdependent, 196, [275n.2]; listing of, in nature observations, 146; and natural history/history writing, 99–100; personalized (see nature observations); as poetic/aesthetic, 228; and poetic vision, 18; as representing reality, 196; and science, 113–18, 136, [258n.9]; vs. theory, 119–20, 138, [258n.12]; vs. values, 137–38
fate.See destiny
Feyerabend, Paul, 133
Fichte, Johann Gottlieb, 8, 19, 166, 207–10, [276n.11], [277nn.12–15]. See also selfpositing I
Foerster, Norman, [267n.13]
Fredriksen, Paula L., 68
freedom, 12.See also autonomy free will, 42–43, 171, 200, [276n.6]
Freud, Sigmund, x, 58
Fritzell, Peter, 219, 220
Fugitive Slave Law (1850), 190–91, [274n.22]
Fuller, Margaret, 145
future, 26, 43–44, [240n.16]
Galaty, David H., [257n.4]
Galison, Peter, 106
Garber, Frederick, 84, 198
geology, 123, 128
Gifford, Don, [246n.20]
Ginzburg, Carlo, 58, [244n.11]
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 51; on aestheticism of science, 136–37; on facts/objectivity, 114–15, 116, 118, [258n.9]; on Holism, Empirical vs. Rational, 90–91; influence of, 131; influence on Emerson, 157, [268n.18]; influence on Thoreau, 17, 86, 87, 90, 155, [268n.17], [268n.18]; on integration of self/world via aesthetic experience, 136; on objectivity, [249n.10]; on the Primal Plant/unity of nature, 86–88, 111–12, 155, [257n.6], [267n.14]; Romanticism of, 85–86; symbolism in work of, [255n.25]; A Theory of Colors,84–85, [249n.10]; Thoreau's criticism of, 155–57; on time/history, [268n.18]; travels of, 203
Goodman, Russell, 28, [282n.6]
Gougeon, Len, 190, [273n.21], [274n.22]
Gray, Asa, [263n.7]; Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States,123
Hansen, Olaf, 95, [234n.8], [252n.20]
Harding, Walter, 149, 150, [233n.5], [240n.1], [251n.18], [263n.7], [273n.20]
harmony/community, 148–50, [263n.8]
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, [241n.4]
Heberden, William, 110
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 88–89, 209, 210, [250n.14], [277n.15]
Heidegger, Martin, 44, [240n.16], [282n.7]
Helmholtz, Hermann, 109, 110
Heraclitus, 212
heroes, 14, 66, 173, 217, [232n.4], [270n.7], [272n.17]. See also Thoreau, Henry David: heroic selfimage of
Heschel, John, 118
Hicks, Philip Marshall, [233n.5], [250n.16], [252n.19]
Hildebidle, John, 150, 151, [242n.7]
history/history writing, 45–74; and accessibility of distant past, 51; as creative/poetic/biased, 51–53, 59; criticism of foundations of, [246n.22]; exaggeration in, 53; historiographical standards, 72; as impressionistically interpreted, 46–47; and memory, 40–41, 45–47, 59–68, 68–74, 215, [245n.16]; moral character of, 72; and myth, 65–66, [246n.21]; as narration, 47–53; and past as present, 66; personalization of, 74; and presentism, 72–73; redemptive, [242n.7]; as a relation, 47, [240n.2]; reliability of, 70–71; scientific approach to, 48, 55, [244n.10]; semiotic, 53–59, [244n.11]; and social identity, 73; subjectivity vs. objectivity in, 53, 59, 68, 71, 73, [243n.9]; Thoreau's ambivalence toward, 58–59; and time, 29, [235n.4]
Hocks, R. A., 88
holism, 88, 90–91, 125, [257n.5]
Holmes, Sherlock (fictional character), 58
Homer, 167
Hosmer, James, [282n.4]
humanism, 125–31.See also nature observations
Humboldt, Alexander, Baron von, 17, 90–91
Hume, David, 107
Husserl, Edmund, 20, 164, 225, [279n.18], [282n.8], [283n.12]; The Crisis of European Sciences,226–27, [283nn.9], [10], [12]
Hutton, Patrick H., 73
Huxley, Thomas, 127–28, [264n.8]
hypothesis, 107, 129, [258n.12]
Ibn Arabi, 183
idealism: aesthetic, 111; of Emerson, 5, 95–96, 102, [245n.17]; Kant on, [253n.21]; moral, 111; positivist, 111–12; and science, 111, 119; vs. Transcendentalism, 95–99, 100–101, 102, [252n.20], [255n.26], [256n.28]; and unity of Reason, 200–201
identity: and memory, 69, 70, 71, 73, 74; personal, 205–6; and purity of vision, [234n.8]; social, and history/history writing, 73
Imagination, 62; aestheticism of, 91; categorical, [276n.7]; vs. empiricism, 118–19; and morality, 172; scientific, 129–30; and the selfpositing I, 197
“imagination,” use of, 11, 115
Indians, historical writing about, 49, [242n.7], [244n.14]
individualism, 200, 218, 221
individuality/independence, 7, 24–25, 190, 194
individual vs. communal interests, 163, 189
individuation, 87–90, [250n.13]
inductivism, 119, 120, [258n.12]
intellectual speculation, 96, [255n.23]
Intelligence, 79–80
isolation.See solitude
Jacob (biblical character), 187, [272n.17]
Jacobi, Friedrich, [276n.6]
James, William, 7–8, 166, 225, 227, [279n.20], [282n.6]; Essays in Radical Empiricism,28–29;The Principles of Psychology,8, 27–28, 210, [235n.3]
Jeremiah (biblical character), [273n.19]
Jonas, Hans, 43–44, 218–19, [240n.16]
Journal (Boston Society of Natural History), 122
Journal (Thoreau): on aestheticism of science, 136–37; “arc” passage, 33; attention to detail in, 158–59, 160–61, 224; on beauty, 75, 97, 131, 153–54, 174; on Being, 34; on bird songs, 152; bream episode, 143–45; criticism of, 151; dreaming frogs in, 173, 175–76; on ecstasy, 38–39; egocentrism of, 34; on Emerson, [281n.1]; on epistemological standing of nature, 113–14, 142; on facts, 99–100, 113, 141, 143, 157, 175, 196, 228, [275n.2]; on flowers' human value, 159–60; heroic images in, 185–86, [270n.7], [272n.16]; on history, 17, [244n.14]; on human relationships, 113, 223, [281n.2]; on ideal nature, 113, 183–84; on individualism, 7; on knowledge, 76, [258n.11]; leaf image in, 83, [267n.14]; on living in the present, 23; on memory, 40, 59, 60–61, 63, 73; on mind/world, 91–92, 178; on the moral, 75, 97, 100, 101, 166, 180; on Mt. Ktaadn climb, 63, [245n.17]; on mysticism, [237n.10]; on nightwarblers, [253n.22]; on observer's separateness from nature, 152, 173–74, [270n.8]; Romanticism of, 19, 92, 161, [268n.19]; on Ruskin, [263n.3]; sandbank image in, 87; on science, 121, 131, 141, 142, [262n.2]; on science/poetry, 120, 141–42; selfawareness/selfreflection in, 157–60, 197, 204; on self-consciousness, 2, [276n.9]; on selfhood, 11–12, 19, 197, 205; on
― 308 ―solitude, 13, 14, 164, 174–75; on strife, [272n.15]; and subject/object distinction, 81–82, 105, [247nn.5–6]; on time, 23, 29–30, 33, 34, 35, 38–39, 45, 47, 53; on Transcendentalism, 11, 93–94, 98–99; on unity of nature, 87, [250n.12]; on virtue, 3, 169–70, 171, 173, 197, [269n.4], [269n.5], [275n.3]; on Walden Pond experiment, 12, 13; on the wild, 11; on writing, 15, 81–83, 176–77, 182
Kalendar project, 80–81, 147
Kant, Immanuel, [250n.14]; categorical imperative of, [274n.1]; on idealism, [253n.21]; influence on Coleridge, 88; influence on Thoreau, 88, 152; Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science,109; on mind, [275n.4]; on the noumena, 119; on self, 28, 209; on theoretical vs. practical reason, 200–201, [275n.4], [277n.12]; Third Critique,109, [275n.5]; on transcendental apperception, 198–99; on the transcendental faculty, [275n.5]; on transcendental synthesis, 116; on unity of apperception, 207; on virtue, 167
Kateb, George, [238n.14]
Keats, John, [261n.20]
Kierkegaard, S⊘ren, 180, 183, 210, [278n.17], [279n.18]; Fear and Trembling,181–82
King Philip's War, 49
King William's War, 48, [242n.6]
knowledge: empirical experience as basis for, 107 (see also positivism); fragmentation of, 140; harmonization of, 91; integration of forms of, 142; personalizing of, 6, 17; selectiveness of, 2, 9; tacit dimension, 134–35; value of, 76. See also epistemology; facts; history/history writing; natural history/history writing; nature observations; objectivity; positivism; science “Know thyself,” 25, 219, [234n.1]
Kolakowski, Leszek, 107, [256n.2]
Krell, David, 74
Krutch, Joseph Wood, 6, [273n.20]
Kuhn, Thomas: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions,132–33, [259n.15]
language: as functional, 182; limits of, 173–85, 196, [271n.12]; meaning in, 182, 183, [271n.14]. See also Kierkegaard, S⊘ren; Wittgenstein, Ludwig
law, 107. See also natural law
Lebeaux, Richard, 30, [273n.18]
Lennardson, Samuel (a pioneer settler), 48–49
Leopold, Aldo, [264n.10]
Lepore, Jill, 49
Levinas, Emmanuel, xi, [231n.1]
liberalism, 200
libraries, 122
life's mystery, meaning of, 149
light/color, 84–85, [249n.10]
literary theory, [236n.7]
Locke, John, 116, 199, 200, [251n.18]
logical positivism, 132, 134
loneliness, 14. See also solitude
Lowell, James Russell, [250n.17], [252n.19], [267n.13]
Lyell, Sir Charles, 128
MacIntyre, Alisdair, 167–68
Magritte, René, 179
“manifest destiny,” 23
man/nature. See self/world
Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States (Gray), 123
Marcuse, Herbert, [283n.10]
Marx, Karl, 210; Communist Manifesto,23
Marx, Leo, 14–15, 143, [270n.10], [281n.23]
Massachusetts, libraries of, 122
mathematics, 86
Mather, Cotton, [241n.4]; Magnalia Christi Americana,48, 49, 50, [242n.5], [243n.8]
Matthiessen, Francis O., [234n.6], [250n.17]
McAtee, W. L., [267n.13]
McGregor, Robert Kuhn, 10, 63, [245n.17]
McIntosh, James, 6, 89, [253n.21], [255n.27], [270n.8]
memory: Augustine on, 31–32; authenticity of, 70; and consciousness, 74; as constructed, 59–68, [245n.16]; despondent, 69–70; history as remade by, 68–74; and history/history writing, 40–41, 45–47; and identity, 69, 70, 71, 73, 74; moral character of, 69, 70, 71–72; and natural history/history writing, 40–41, 215; as public, 72; and self, 215; and the soul, 31; and time, 31–32, 40; and writing/inscription, 74. See also history/history writing; time
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice, [282n.8]
metaphysics, 107, [279n.20]
Milder, Robert, 20–21, [237n.12]
Mill, John Stuart, 118, [258n.12], [274n.1]
mind: as active participant in the world, 225; cognitive functions of, [275n.4]; elusiveness of, 210; and nature, 91; time as a function of, 27, 29, 40
mindbody dualism: degrees of, 177; and facts, 116–17; influence of, 116; positivist answer to, 116–17; and primal substance, [257n.5]; reductionist answer to, 110. See also self/world
Minkowski, Hermann, [261n.20]
Mirick, B. L.: History of Haverhill,
Massachusetts, 48, 50, [243n.8]
moralism, 100–101
morality, 18–19, 163–94; and autonomy, 163–64, 165–66; conceptions of, 5, [274n.1]; and environmentalism, 163; and free will, 171; and heroic selfimage, 185–94, [272n.16], [273n.19], [273n.20]; and imagination, 172; and individuality, 194; individual vs. communal interests, 163, 189; and knowledge of the world, 195; metaphysical basis of, [279n.20]; and narrative, 168–69, [269n.3]; and natural beauty/law, 192–93; and observer's separateness from nature, 173–74, [270n.8]; and personalization of experience, 174; and politics, 188–94, [273n.21]; as private vs. public, 172–73; reason as foundation of, 127–28; and reform of self/society, 193; scope of, 172; and seeing, 172, 195; and self, 18; and self-consciousness, 5–6, 166–67; and selfdefinition/personhood, 170–71, 194; self-determination as foundation of, 166; and self-responsibility, 42, 165–66, 171, 191, [274n.1]; spiritual aspect of, 169–71, 180–81, 184; and Thoreau's ability to communicate his vision, 20–21, 173–85; time's moral character, 31, 35, 37–38, 42, [235n.6], [237n.13]; and value, 5–6; and virtue, 19, 167–73, 197–98, [269n.4], [269n.5]. See also selfpositing I
Morelli, Giovanni, 58
Moser, E. I., [240n.1]
Mount Ktaadn (Maine), 63, 99, 145, [245n.17]
Müller, Johannes P., 224
Museum of Science (Boston Society of Natural History), 124
mysticism: of consciousness, 15–16; of Emerson, [255n.27]; and the limits of language, 183; of Plotinus, [236n.9]; and solitude, 13, 38–39; and subject/object distinction, 179; and transcendental experience, 78–79. See also under Thoreau, Henry David
myth, 65–66, [246n.21]
Nagel, Thomas, 112, 198, [257n.7]
narrative, 47–53, 168–69, [269n.3]
Nash, Roderick, [233n.5]
natural history/history writing, 16, 75–103; and color/light, 84–85, [249n.10]; and Correspondence, 91–92, 103, [252n.20], [253n.21]; as creative/poetic/biased, 75, 102, 215; vs. cultural history, 16–17; and detached observation, 80–81; and dissolved observation, 81–82, [247n.5]; and dualism of nature, 88–89; emotionalism of, 84, [249n.9]; and environmental crisis, [248n.7]; and epistemology, 76–83; and facts, 99–100; and Holism, Empirical vs. Rational, 90–91; and human history, 57–58; and immediacy of experience, 16–17; and individuation, 87–90, [250n.13]; legitimation of interpretation of, 81; and memory, 40–41, 215; moral character of, 16–17, 75, [242n.7]; and moralism, 100–101; and the observer, 83–84, 92–93, 131–32; and the organizing principle, 88; and the Primal Plant/unity of nature, 86–88; Romanticism of, 75, 87–88, 102; and seeing, 83–92; and subject/object distinction, 81, 114, [247n.5], [248n.7], [249nn.10–11]; and time, 77–78; and vitality, 88; and worlding of nature, 92–93, [250n.15]. See also nature; nature observations; Transcendentalism
natural law, 87, 91, 128, 138, 192–93, 200, [248n.7]
nature: beauty of, 89, 102, 111, 192–93; vs. civilization's inhibition, 172; as constructed, 20, 84, [248n.7], [249n.8]; harmony/community in, 148–50, [263n.8]; ideal, 183–84; immersion in, 99, 100, 101, 102; indifference of, 43, 63; integration vs. domination of, 101, [255n.27]; integration with, 77; interrelatedness/connectedness in, 154, [267n.14]; kinship with, 128; observations of, 17–18, 140–62 (see also nature observations); observer's separateness from, 173–74, [270n.8]; organic view of, 129; otherness of, 63; pastoral vision of, 99; polarity/dualism in, 88–89, 91; as a retreat from man, x; sensuousness of, 96–97, 99, 102; telos of, 88–89; union with, 34, 37–38; unity of, 86–88, 90–91, 102, 138–39, [250n.12]; unity of, and science, 108–12, [256n.3], [257n.5]; value of, 96; as within us, 202–3; worlding of, 92–93, [250n.15]. See also natural history/history writing; nature observations
“Nature” (R. W. Emerson), [252n.19], [262n.1]
nature observations, 140–62; and attention to detail, 160–61; and awe, 145; and beauty, 152–57, 161–62, [267n.16]; bream episode, 143–45; criticism of, 151, [267n.13]; economic benefits to, 149; educational role of, 147, [263n.6]; and evolutionary theory, 148, [263n.8]; and facts, listing of, 146; and harmony/community, 148–50, [263n.8]; individual vision vs. objectivity in, 151–52; and interrelatedness/connectedness, 154, [267n.14]; as a literary pursuit, [264n.9]; and the meaning of life's mystery, 149; moral perception in, 161–62; pastoral sensitivity of, 145–47; poetic aspect of, 160; and realness of phenomena, [262n.3]; seed study, 146–49, [263n.7]; and selfawareness/selfreflection, 157–62; spiritual aspect of, 149–50, 152–53; and Thoreau's science, 141, 143–53, [262n.1]
Naturphilosophie,88, 91, 119, [250n.14]
Neff, Mary (a pioneer nurse), 48–49
Nehamas, Arthur, [239n.15]
neo-Platonists, [235n.6]
neurosis, [281n.21]
New England Zion, [241n.4]
Newton, Isaac, 84, 110, 145, 199
Nietzsche, Friedrich, 222; on character's influence on philosophy, 7–9;
― 311 ―Emerson's influence on, 43, [238n.14]; on eternal recurrence, [238n.14], [239n.15]; on eternity and selfwilled overcoming, 43, [239n.15]; on existential loneliness, 43; “God is dead,” 44; on morality, 166, 171, [274n.1]; perspectivism of, 136; on science, 227, [283n.11]; on subjectivity vs. objectivity in history writing, [243n.9]; on will, [272n.16], [274n.1]nihilism, 43–44, 218–19
noumena, 119
objectivity: absolute, [257n.7]; communitarian, 106, 112–13; and detachment from the world, 199–200; vs. individual vision, in nature observations, 137, 151–52; and levels of experience, 177; mechanical, 106, 107–8, 112–13; vs. subjectivity in science, 105–6, 108–9, 112–13, 116–17, 130, [257n.7], [262n.1]; vs. subjectivity of knower/observer, 105–6, 116, 135–36; and truth, in science, 72, 85, [246n.22], [249n.11]; and universalized vision, 152. See also subject/object distinction
observation: detached, 80–81; dissolved, 81–82, [247n.5]. On the Origin of Species (Darwin), 110, 111, 125, 147, 148, [263n.7]
organic vs. inorganic world, 109, 110, 128
otherness, 208, 209–10, 211–12, [277n.15], [279n.18]
paleontology, 123
pantheism, [257n.5]
Parker, Theodore, 188
passive resistance, 190
Pasteur, Louis, 110
past/history, 25–26, 51, [240n.16]. See also history/history writing
pastoral sensitivity, 145–47
patriotism, 217–18 Paul, Sherman, 6, 94, 95, 150, 193, [250n.17], [252n.20]
Peabody, Elizabeth, 188
Peck, Daniel: on the arc image of time, 31; on categorical imagination, [276n.7]; on individuation in nature, 89–90; on morning, imagery of, 65; on realness of phenomena, 6, [262n.3]; on the river image, [246n.18]; on seasonal change as cyclic, 30; on self/nature, 82; on time vs. history, 29, [235n.4]; on A Week as a remembrance, 47, [241n.3]; on worlding of nature, [250n.15]. perception, 224–25
personal identity. See self
Personal Knowledge (Polanyi), 134–35, 138
personhood. See self
perspectivism, 136, 224
Petroski, Henry, 1–2, 179
phenomena, realness of, [262n.3]
phenomenology, 177, 225–26, [257n.6], [279n.18], [282n.8]
philosophy: character's effect on, 7–9; limits of, [271n.12]; as a moral guide, 3; vs. psychology, [261n.19]; and science, 118–21, [258n.12], [260n.16]; of science, 85; and value, 8
The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences (Whewell), 118–19
philosophy of the subject, 198–203
photography, 216
physics, 109
physiology, 108–9, 123, [257n.4]
Pierce, Charles S., 225
Plato, 76, 167, 183, [237n.13]
Plotinus, 183, [235n.6], [236n.9]
pneuma,110
poetry/poets, 156–57, 183, 215; and science, 137, 141–42, 228, [262n.3], [283n.12]
Polanyi, Michael: Personal Knowledge,134–36, 138
polarity, 88–89, 91
politics, and morality, 188–94, [273n.21]
Porte, Joel, 38, 94, 95, 96, [236nn.8–9], [250n.17], [252n.20], [273n.20]
positivism: aims of, 108; criticism of, 72, [246n.22]; definition of, 106–7; on facts, 115, 117–18, [258n.9]; growth of, 132; history of, 107–8; idealism of, 111–12; influence/scope of, 108–9, 132, [256n.2]; logical, 132, 134; methods of, 108–9, 112–13; and mindbody dualism, 116–17; and objectivity vs. subjectivity, 108–9, 117–18, 134; and reductionism, 109–10, [257n.4]; rise of, 20, 59, 105; vs. Romanticism, 17, 105–13, 120, 126; and social sciences, 107; and unity in nature/society, 108, 109, [256n.3]; on value judgments, 107–8 Postlethwaite, Diana, 128, [256n.3]
postmodernism, 212, 213, 220
pragmatism, 225
praxis,[282n.7]
presence, [237n.13]
present: living in, 23, 24–25, 30–31, 32, 35–36, 38, 40; time as, 16, 25, 26–29, [235n.3], [239n.15]
Primal Plant, 86–88, 111–12, 155, [257n.6], [267n.14]
The Principles of Psychology (James), 8, 27–28, 210, [235n.3]
privacy. See solitude
Proceedings (Boston Society of Natural History), 122
psyche, 71, [281n.22]. See also consciousness; mind
Puritanism, [241n.4], [242n.7]
Putnam, Hilary, 137–38
quantum mechanics, [249n.11]
Reason: as foundation of morality, 127–28; vs. free will, [276n.6]; scientific, 226–27, [283n.10]; theoretical vs. practical, 200–201, 207, [275n.4]; vs. Understanding, [231n.1]; unity of, 200–202, 207–8, 227, [277n.12], [283n.9]
reductionism, 109–10, 125, 126–27, [257n.4]
reform of self/society, 193
relation, 199, 209–10. See also otherness
res cogitans/res extensa. See self/world
“Resistance to Civil Government” (Thoreau), 190, 193
responsibility, 42–43, [239n.15]. See also morality; self-responsibility
Richardson, Robert, [252n.19], [263n.7]
Rieff, Philip: Freud: The Mind of the Moralist,x; The Triumph of the Therapeutic,x
river, 64, [246n.18]
Romanticism: critique of science, 126–27, 140; expressive turn of, [273n.20]; goals of, 108; holism of, [257n.5]; and man/nature as unified, 84–85; and man's place in nature, 198–200; of natural history/history writing, 75, 87–88, 102; vs. positivism, 17, 105–13, 120, 126; and the present, [246n.20]; and the primacy of the knower, 93; and relativism, 214; and selfdiscovery, 7; and selfhood, 203–4. See also Coleridge, Samuel Taylor; Fichte, Johann Gottlieb; Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von; idealism; selfpositing I; Transcendentalism
Rosen, Stanley, [237n.13]
Rosenblum, N. L., [274n.23]
Ross, Donald, 10, 11, [232n.2], [240n.1]
Rossi, William, 105
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 111, 213, [281n.22]; Confessions,215
Ruskin, John, 224–25, [262n.3]
Sadi, 205
Salt, Henry, [251n.17]
Sanborn, Frank, [263n.7]
Sattelmeyer, Robert, 30, 88
Schelling, Friedrich, [250n.14]; influence on Thoreau, 88, 91
Schiller, Friedrich von, 111, 126
science, 17, 104–39; as aesthetic/personalized/creative, 108, 135–39, 140–41, [261nn.19–20] (see also nature observations); aims vs. methods of, 108; American, 121–25; Cartesian dualism's influence on, 116–17; constructivism in, 133, [260n.16]; criticism of, 72, 227, [283n.11]; democratization of, 124; and disenchantment, 126, [259n.14]; and facts, 113–18, 136, [258n.9]; fear of power of, 126; growth of, 123–24, 143; history of, 85; and humanism, 125–31, 141 (see also nature observations); hypothesis in, role of, 129; and idealism, 111, 119; Imagination in, 129–30; and inductivism, 119, 120, [258n.12]; interpretation in, 115; and kinship with nature, 128; and laws of nature, 128, 138; and meaning, 127, 140, 141; as meaningful, 131–39, 227–28, [283n.12]; methods of, 108, 119, 136, 144–45; normative standing of, 133, [260n.16]; objectivity in, as communal, 133; objectivity/truth in, 72, 85, [246n.22], [249n.11]; objectivity vs. subjectivity in, 105–6, 108–9, 112–13, 116–17, 130, [257n.7], [262n.1]; and organic vs. inorganic world, 109, 110, 128; and organism, 129; paradigms of, 132–33; and perspectivism, 136; and philosophy, 118–21, [258n.12], [260n.16]; philosophy of, 85; and poetry, 137, 141–42, 228, [262n.3], [283n.12]; positivist, 105–13, 120, 134, [256n.2]. (see also positivism); postmodern, 116; professionalization of, 121–25; progress/discovery in, 132–33, 136, [259n.15]; and reductionism, 125, 126–27; Romanticist critique of, 126–27, 140; and scientist as individual, 117; and search for truth, 127–28, 133; and sensationalism, 119; societies, 123–24; and unity in nature/society, 108–12, [256n.3], [257n.5]; values of, 130, 137–38; vitalism debate in, 109–11. See also facts; natural history/history writing; positivism; Walls, Laura Dassow
Science Wars, [260n.16]
“scientist,” use of, 59, [244n.12]
seed study, 146–49, [263n.7]
self: in action, 207, 212–13, [276n.11]; and autobiography, 41; and the elusive present, 27–28; and free action, 42–43; indeterminacy of, 212; as knower, 6; meaninglessness of, [279n.20]; and memory, 215; as a metaphysical construct, [279n.20]; and modernity, 157; moral character of, 6, 71–72; and moral character of agency, 42, 43; and morality, 18, 170–71, 194; personal identity, 205–6; primacy of identity of, 10, 207, 218; as reflexive, [278n.17]; and selfdefinition, 157, 170–71, 194; and self-determination, 6–7, 20, 42, 166, [276n.11]; splitting of, 93, 204–5, [276n.10]; in time, 39–44; unifying, transcendental, 28; unity of, 213. See also selfpositing I; self/world
selfawareness/selfreflection, in nature observations, 157–62
self-consciousness, 2, 3, 15, 93; elusiveness of, 210; and morality, 5–6, 166–67; and the selfpositing I, 203–4, 207, 218–19, [276nn.9–10], [277n.12]. selfpositing I, 166, 195–221; and autobiography, 215–16; and autonomy, 199–200, 208, 218, [279n.18]; and destiny, 19–20; Fichte's formulation of, 207–8; and Imagination, 197; and nature as within us, 202–3; and the other, 208, 209–10, 211–12, [277n.15], [279n.18]; and personal identity, 205–6; and philosophy of the subject, 198–203; and the problem of the self, 203–12, 213; psychological elusiveness of, 210–11; and relation, 199, 209–10; and the search for self, 212–21; self as
― 314 ―isolated entity vs. relation, 19; and self-consciousness, 203–4, 207, 218–19, [276nn.9–10], [277n.12]; and selfstriving, 209, [277n.14]; and selfsufficiency, 208, [277n.13]; and solipsism, 206–7, 208; and solitude, 19; and Thoreau's prayer of selfhood/moral agency, 197–98, [275n.3]; and transcendental apperception, 198–99; and unity of Reason, 207–8, [277n.12]. See also self; self-consciousnessself-responsibility, 42, 165–66, 171, 191, [274n.1]
selfstriving, 209, [277n.14]
selfsufficiency, 208, [277n.13]
self/world: and alienation, 14; integration of, 4, 116, 136, 203; metaphysical unity of, 82–83, 84–85; and nature as within us, 202–3; separateness of, 92. See also mindbody dualism
semiotics, 53–59, [244n.11]
Shanley, Lynden, [232n.2]
simplicity, as a value, 138
slavery, 189–91, 193, [274n.22]
“Slavery in Massachusetts” (Thoreau), 190–91, [274n.22]
Snow, C. P.: The Two Cultures,140
Socrates, 167; on truth, 3
solipsism, 206–7, 208
solitude: and despondent memories, 69–70; and egocentrism, 221–22; and inability to communicate, 174–75; insignificance of, 206; and misanthropy, [276n.10]; and mystical experience, 13, 38–39; and privacy, 13–14; and the self, 19, 164. See also solipsism
soul, 34, 95, [235n.6]
Spencer, Herbert, 130
Spinoza, Baruch, [257n.5], [276n.6]
spirituality: and morality, 169–71, 180–81, 184; of nature observations, 149–50, 152–53. See also mysticism; Thoreau, Henry David: mysticism/spiritualism of
Stack, George, [238n.14]
Stahl, George: True Theory of Medicine,110
Stoics, [252n.19]
stream of consciousness writing, 82
stream of experience, 37, [236n.7]
structuralism, [279n.18]
subject/object distinction: in history writing, 53, 59, 68, 71, 73, [243n.9]; in mystical states, 179; and natural history/history writing, 81, [247n.5], [248n.7], [249nn.10–11]; and nature as constructed, 20; and observation, 81–82; and positivism, 108–9, 117–18, 134; in science, 105–6, 108–9, 112–13, 116–17, 130, [257n.7], [262n.1]; and time, 28–29. See also Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von; objectivity; Polanyi, Michael
substance, primal, [257n.5]
“The Succession of Forest Trees” (Thoreau), 147–49
Taylor, Bob P., 188, [233n.5], [273n.20], [281n.23]
theology, 107, 119
Third Critique (Kant), 109, [275n.5]
Thoreau, Henry David: autobiography of, 10, 19; biographies of, 150; and Blake, 23; break with Emerson, 94–95, 98, 101, 223, [245n.17], [281n.1]; Carlyle's influence on, 52, [244n.15], [267n.15]; childhood memories of, 60–61, [245n.16]; Coleridge's influence on, 17, 88, 89–90, 91, [231n.1]; credos of, 24; and Darwin, 147–48, 150, [263n.7]; detractors/followers of, 9–10; development of ideas of, 10, 45, [240n.1]; as ecologist, 15, 150, 163, 173, 185, [233n.5], [264n.10]; educational role of nature observations, 147, [263n.6]; egocentrism vs. ecocentrism of, 219–21, [281n.23]; elitism/narcissism of, 191,
― 315 ―198; Emerson's affinity with, 97–98; Emerson's criticism of, 174–75, 188, 223, [270n.9]; at Emerson's house, 23; Emerson's influence on, 17, 43, [250n.17], [252n.19], [256n.28]; empiricism of, [253n.22]; epistemology of, 1–3, 6, 16–17, 76–83; evolution in thought of, 11, [232n.2]; Fichte's influence on, 207, [276n.11]; Goethe's influence on, 17, 86, 87, 90, 155, [268n.17], [268n.18]; at Harvard, [231n.1]; Hegel's influence on, 88; heroic selfimage of, 18–19, 66, 185–94, [273n.19], [273n.20]; Humboldt's influence on, 17, 90–91; immediacy of experience, 37–38, 81–82; influence of, 214; interest in oriental literature, 77, [247n.2]; isolation/unsociability of, 222, 223–24, [281n.2], [282n.4]; Kant's influence on, 88, 152; leaves Walden Pond, 16, 23; meticulousness of, 1–2; misanthropy of, 13; modalities of thought of, 75–76; mysticism/spiritualism of, 15–16, 32–33, 38–39, [235n.6], [236n.7], [236nn.8–9], [237n.10], [282n.5]; name change of, 187, [273n.18]; as naturalist vs. scientist, 93–94, 100, 104–5, 113, 121–22, 131, 150–51, [250n.16], [258n.13]; on philosophers, 3; philosophical engagement, 4–5, [231n.1]; as poet, 155, 156–57; as poethistorian, 215; as poetscientist, 118, [258n.11]; politics of, 188–94, [273n.21], [274nn.22–23]; and positivism, 17, 20; as prophet, 187, [273n.19]; “Resistance to Civil Government,” 190, 193; Romanticism of, 7, 11, 17, 102–3; Romantic shift of, 11–12, 17, 87, 158, [240n.1], [245n.17]; Schelling's influence on, 88; as scientist, 18, 150, [264n.10], [265n.11]; seed study of, 105; self-consciousness of, 2–3, 15; selfmythology of, 20–21; “Slavery in Massachusetts,” 190–91, [274n.22]; “The Succession of Forest Trees,” 147–49; symbolism in work of, [255n.25]; on time, 12–13, 16; Transcendentalism of, 11, 17, 34, 93–94, 104–5, [250n.17], [251n.18], [256n.1]; Transcendentalism of vs. Emerson's idealism, 95–99, 100–101, 102, [252n.20], [255n.26], [256n.28]; and Walden Pond, 16, 23; “Walking,” 148, 158, 170, 177, 187, 217; Wild Fruits,146–47, [263n.6]; writing as an imperative for, 176–80, 182–85, [270n.10]. See also Journal; Walden; A WeekThoreau, John (Henry David's brother), [241n.3]
thought, organic unity of, 91
time, 23–44; arc metaphor for, 33; awareness of, 38, 40, [237n.12]; and change as in the present, 34; and change/responsibility, 42–43, [239n.15]; in Christian mythology, 54; as cyclic, 29–34, [235n.4], [235n.5], [238n.14], [239n.15]; divine, as eternal, 25, 32; elusiveness of, 37–38; enslavement to, 34–37, 38; and eternity, 35, 37, 38–39, 43–44, [239n.15]; as a function of mind, 27, 29, 40; future, 26, 43–44, [240n.16]; and history, 29, [235n.4]; living in the present, 23, 24–25, 30–31, 32, 35–36, 38, 40; and memory, 31–32, 40, 57; moral character of, 31, 35, 37–38, 42, [235n.6], [237n.13]; and natural history/history writing, 77–78; past/history, 25–26, [240n.16]; and presence, [237n.13]; as the present, 16, 25, 26–29, [235n.3], [239n.15]; self in, 39–44; and the soul, 34, [235n.6]; spatialization of, 31, 32; as stream of experience, 37, [236n.7]; subjectivity of, 34; and subject/object distinction, 28–29; suspension of, 77, [247n.2]; and trivialization of human life, 34; and union with nature, 34; wise use of, 31.
― 316 ―See also Peck, Daniel; Thoreau, Henry David: on timeTorrey, Bradford, [267n.13]
transcendental apperception, 198–99
Transcendentalism: and abolitionist movement, [274n.22]; and Correspondence, 103, [252n.20]; definition/diversity of, 95, [251n.18]; and moralizing of nature, 99–100. See also under Thoreau, Henry David
“transcendental,” use of, 11, [232n.3]
Tree of Life, [263n.8]. See also On the Origin of Species
Treviranus, Gottfried Reinhold, [244n.13]
truth: as basis for morality, 127–28; as beauty, [261n.20]; scientific search for, 127–28, 133; Socrates on, 3
Tubman, Harriet, 23
Tuerk, Richard, 34, [235n.5]
Turner, J. M. W., 224–25
The Two Cultures (Snow), 140
Tyndall, John, 128, 129, 130
Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher, [241n.4]
Underground Railroad, 23
utilitarianism, [274n.1]
value, as “moral,” 5–6
Van Cromphout, Gustaaf, 157, [255n.25]
Van Doren, Mark, [252n.19]
Vico, Giambattista, 85
Vienna Circle, 132, 134
virtue: and the good life, 167–68, 171; life of, definition of, 215–16; as living deliberately, 19, 169; and morality, 19, 167–73, 197–98, [269n.4], [269n.5]; and narrative, 168–69, 171
vision, psychology/physiology of, 224
visions. See dreams; mysticism
vitalism, 109–11, 226
vitality, 88
von Frank, Albert J., 190, [274n.22]
Walden (Thoreau): on artist of Kouroo, 78, 155, [267n.16]; on biocentrism/humanitarianism, 219; “Conclusion,” 154, [232n.2]; emotionalism of, [249n.9]; on evening, 66–67; hero images in, 186; on humanity as one with nature, 148–49; “I long ago lost a hound” passage, 35; on individuality/independence, 7; on individuation in nature, 89–90; influence/popularity of, 9; on laws of nature, 138; loon description in, [247n.6]; on morality, 169, 171–72, 193, [269n.5]; on morning, 65–66, [246n.21]; on mystical state/time suspension, 77–78, [247n.1]; on nature as natural environment vs. natural self, 9; on past as present, 66; personhood as central in, 32–33; polarity in, 89; politics of, 188; “The Ponds,” [232n.2]; prephilosophical context of, 4–5; publication of, 10; on reality, 195; Romanticism of, [232n.2]; sandbank description in, 81, 87, 153, 154, 155, [247n.4]; on self-consciousness, 204, [276nn.9–10]; selfhood in, 218; selfmythology of, 20; on self-responsibility, 42; semiotic character of, 56–57; on situating humanity in nature, 131; on solitude, 14, 165; “Spring,” [232n.2]; and subject/object distinction, 81, [247n.6]; themes of, [232n.2]; on time, 25, 29, 34–39, 43; on unity of nature, 87; “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For,” 195; on why Thoreau left the woods, 12–13
Walden Pond, 60–61, 63–64, [245n.16]
“Walking” (Thoreau), 148, 158, 170, 177, 187, 217
Walls, Laura Dassow, 10, 90, 111, 150, [250n.16], [264n.10], [265n.11]
Weber, Max, 126, 127, [259n.14]
A Week (Thoreau): brothers' return/apple tree story, 68–69; coherence lacking in, 52; on consciousness, 33–34; Hannah Duston story in, 48, 49–52, [243n.8]; egocentrism
― 317 ―of, 33–34; Elisha tree story, 53–56; on Goethe, 155, [268n.17]; on history/memory, 46–47, [240n.2], [241n.3]; memory in, 64; on moralism, 102; on mysticism, 39, [236n.9]; on myth, 65; on nature observations, 18; on the poethistorian, 41; on poetry, 215; polarity in, 89; politics of, 188; the present in, 64, [246n.20]; on religion, 100; as a remembrance, 47, [240n.3]; on Saddleback Mountain climb, 67; on scientific history, 48; semiotic character of, 53–56; on stream of experience, [236n.7]; on time/history, 26, 29, 54, [235n.4]; on Transcendentalism, 98, [232n.2]Whewell, William, [244n.12], [258n.12]; The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences,118–20
White, Gilbert, 150
Whitman, Walt, 124, 125–26, 171
Whitney, Josiah, 122
wilderness: and Asian images, 62–63; Thoreau's early visions of, 60–61, [245n.16]; and the West, 187
Wild Fruits (Thoreau), 146–47, [263n.6]
wildness: and civilization, [255n.26]; vs. civilizing nature of writing, 4; and effacement of the human, 82–83 (see also self/world); and freedom, 12; and personalized experience of nature, 177–78; as primary unmediated, 202 “wild,” use of, 9, 11
will, [272n.16], [274n.1]
Williams, Bernard, 18
Wilson, Eric, [262n.1]
Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 107, 181, 182, 184, [271n.12], [271n.14], [279n.20], [282n.7]
Wordsworth, William, [281n.22]; The Prelude,215
writing, 82–83, 176–80, 182–85, [270n.10], [271n.13]
Yeo, Richard R., 19, 129
Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Zoologie,124–25
zoology, 123