Transcendentalism is a hotly debated theory from the mid-1800s, championed by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Many people have questioned the value of Transcendentalism and, in this modern age, fewer and fewer seem to appreciate it. I am one of the few who finds some value in this old theory. Let me explain why. Transcendentalism itself describes the idea that people know more about the world than their senses tell them. Hence the word transcend, as their knowledge of the world “transcends” their senses. This, however, is not the limit of transcendentalism. Transcendentalists like Emerson believed that society poisons individuals and binds them, causing them not to be their true selves and not reach their full potential. Thoreau and Emerson believed that nature was the solution to this problem, as a walk in nature offered solitude and clean air, to purify a mind infected by society. These men believed that the best way to reach our full potential was to look within ourselves. In his work "Nature", Emerson preaches how a man can only be truly himself when he is alone. Society limits how much a man can show of himself, limits the limit a man can reach. A man must escape the clutches of society to truly think about himself and himself. Much of this is true. Society places so many expectations and so much influence on people. It doesn't allow them to be themselves. Society is a masquerade ball, which states that we can speak and dance freely, but no one has to show his true self, because the true self would never be accepted by society. Everyone must conform to the rules of the ball and anyone who behaves differently will be shunned. This ensures that you can only ever be part of...... middle of paper ......rson. A philosophy sometimes has to evolve to remain applicable to the times and lives of people, in order to mean something. This is why transcendentalism must be interpreted slightly differently than Thoreau and Emerson. The ideas have not changed, but the way those ideas are used and interpreted has changed. The world is not the same world it was in the time of these men. We need to apply Transcendentalism to today's world and our lives to give it some kind of meaning, otherwise all we will have are strange old white men babbling. However, if we look at the true meaning of what they say, we can construct a new definition, which still applies to our world. Transcendentalism is not an outdated philosophy, the interpretations simply are. The idea, the core values, these have not changed and we can build around these to create something valuable again.