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Representative men: The antithesis and synthesis of Emersonian and Marxist understanding of history
Holíková, Patrícia ; Ženíšek, Jakub (advisor) ; Chalupský, Petr (referee)
This paper discusses the understanding of history in the philosophy of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Karl Marx as representatives of the idealistic and materialistic ways of this understanding. It will show that both approaches, in essence, have Hegel's dialectic as their first principle. Emerson, like Hegel, considered that the driving force of history is the World Soul (the World Reason), guiding and ensuring the development of mankind and the continuity of historical eras. Marx proposed a different, materialistic, but also dialectical interpretation of the course of history, treating society as a kind of integrity capable of self- development, explaining the change of formations in society by the fact that productive forces develop, violating the correspondence between themselves and the production relations, which implies the need to change these relations, and, behind them, others, "superstructure" relations, that is, the whole society. In frames of the research, their representations about the essence of life, the being of the individual and the social community and freedom are also considered. Emerson's concept of 'self-reliance' and Marx's concept of alienation, in particular, are discussed. The contrast and meeting points of these two philosophers' positions are analyzed. Similarities and...
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The Concept of Self-Definition: Emersonian Principles in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and Richard Wright's Native Son
Piňosová, Alžběta ; Robbins, David Lee (advisor) ; Ulmanová, Hana (referee)
The works of the nineteenth-century American thinker Ralph Waldo Emerson continue to be inspiring particularly due to their empowering effect on the individual. It is especially Emerson's concepts of the sovereignty of the individual, the importance of self-definition, the view of life as a transitory flow, and the relationship between freedom and fate which can be practically and usefully applied in the life of an individual. It is possible, then, to understand and evaluate Emerson's works through the practical effects of his concepts, in other words through the prism of pragmatism. Emerson's empowering philosophy can be of use especially to disempowered groups such as African Americans. The Emersonian themes which are to be found in the works of various African-American non-fiction writers such as W.E.B. Du Bois, James Baldwin, Martin Luther King Jr. and Cornel West testify to the relevance of Emerson for this minority group. In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and Richard Wright's Native Son, two African-American novels, Emersonian principles are shown to be of utmost importance for the positive development of the protagonists.
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