People would be happier if they read the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson, said Dr. Richard A. Gilmore, professor of philosophy at Concordia College, who recently published the book “Emerson as Philosopher: Postmodernism and Beyond.”
Emerson, the American philosopher who led the Transcendentalist movement, definitely inspired many thinkers both during his lifetime — 1803 to 1882 — and long afterward, with his essays, lectures, and poetry on nonconformity, spirituality, beauty, and freedom.
“I read Emerson for fun. It’s pure joy for me,” said Gilmore, noting that his previous books have mainly been about philosophy in film. As such, “Emerson as Philosopher” is somewhat of a departure for him.
While he was well-known as a philosopher and intellectual during his lifetime, these days Emerson is rarely taught in philosophy classes but often can be found in literature courses, Gilmore explained, even though Emerson was a major influence on Friedrich Nietzsche.
In turn, Nietzsche’s ideas were broadly taken up into the philosophical conversation and influenced prominent philosophers such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. As such, Emersonian currents continued rippling — into the work of Martin Heidegger, Jacques Derrida, Slavoj Žižek, and in contemporary philosophical discourse beyond.
Gilmore’s text seeks to draw out and examine some of those Emersonian ideas and influences in other thinkers, whether the line between them and Emerson is direct or more obscure.
He wrote the book as if he were writing it for himself as an undergraduate and graduate student, explaining that while some philosophical texts seemed dry and boring at the time, Emerson wasn’t.
And it was the kind of multidisciplinary work that broke apart the established academic silos to bring curious thinkers together.
As he’d been through the writing process before, Gilmore knew what it would take to get the book published — consistently working on it every day, and sticking with it.
“It’s easy to come up with an idea, but it takes a lot of discipline to write,” he said. “It’s a long process.”
Once the manuscript was complete, then it had to be sent in for consideration for publication. The publishers sent it to be read by experts in the field, seeking comments and suggestions for changes to the text. The writer would then complete any edits or rewrites and send it back through the process again, potentially multiple times. After that came the final editing process, proofreading, and indexing.
“That’s the only way you get to a book, and I’m happy to do it,” Gilmore said.
Philosophy departments have become less common at higher education institutions, but Gilmore believes that philosophy is still important.
“I think we’re encountering the limits to what pure STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) teaching can do, or what technology can do. People have lost track of what it means to be a human being. Philosophy can offer a sense of meaning in people’s lives, where we can find the meanings of our lives,” Gilmore said. “It’s making people think, and learning to think for yourself. It’s conversation about ideas — and it’s a very human thing to enjoy talking about ideas.”
Emersonian ideas, specifically, have a way of connecting the way humans work as a part of nature that can provide a kind of orientation to how people can live their lives, Gilmore said.
“Emerson is a source of wisdom in how to do all this,” he added.
Gilmore also recently published “Hitchcock as Philosopher of the Erotic” (Routledge, 2024).
More Information
- Philosophy at Concordia College
- Dr. Richard A. Gilmore
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy