Man, Muir and Emerson: The Ideas of Holy Environmentalism
Abstract: Muir and Emerson initiated the beginnings of highlighting transcendental beliefs and connecting the thoughts of God through nature. While each author seemingly employs differing approaches to establishing this idea of holy environmentalism, the themes and stylings remain largely coherent with one another through the belief in nature as the inventions of God and therefore a medium in which mankind is to gain knowledge.
On the surface, John Muir and Ralph Waldo Emerson seemingly have different approaches to environmentalism that differ in terms of man’s interconnection with nature. On one hand, Muir’s approach is very direct as seen within his workings in “God’s First Temples: How Shall We Preserve Our Forests?” where Muir chastises the beginnings of the industrializing American society and calls for direct action in preserving the world's forests from impending and inevitable industrialization. Contrastingly, Emerson highlights the integral relationship between the creations of nature as an extension of God in order to allow for man’s further acquisition of knowledge as seen in his work “Nature”. At first glance, Muir’s works seemingly are a disconnect from that of Emerson, however, one can begin to discern the Emersonian base of Muir’s writings through recurring themes of religion and environmentalism. The detailed accounts of John Muir unseemingly contain values of Emerson…show more content… Muir further differentiates in writing style from Emerson and concept as Muir’s writings take the perspective of describing nature vividly instead of focusing on man's relationship to nature. For instance, when Muir describes the forest and the winds he