Journal #21: Emerson and Franklin

Emerson and Franklin were on very opposite ends of the literary spectrum. Emerson was one of the most important figures in Transcendentalism and believes firmly in the idea that man could overcome any hardships and come to his full potential by self-introspection and deep personal realization. Franklin on the other hand was a firm Rationalist. He believed in Science and technological progression with nature and self realization not having a role in his style. He believed in spirituality for personal achievement and by following a strict personal code would one reach their highest level of capability and achievement. This is somewhat similar to the views of Emerson in his ideas of the ability of man to achieve and other themes. These are the only two main similarities between the two authors because their two movements were on completely opposite ends of the spectrum and had many conflicting ideals and motifs. Despite the differences though the idea of self-realization through some form of self is a common theme shared by both men, albeit their methods were different. The key themes of Rationalism were the idea of thought and progress, with logical thinking having more value than other things. These conflicted greatly with the ideal of Transcendentalism and the very similar Romantic Movement. Those two movements came about as essentially foils to Rationalism and it's idea of Scientific progress. These conflicting ideals showed the differences between the two writers with some being very drastic form their views on science and technology from their few similarities in their ideas and opinions of self-realization and the will and ability of man through their own achievements. All in all the two men had extremely radical and different views on several aspects because of their literary groups and their upbringings, but despite this they had similar viewpoints on the capabilities of humans and the means through which self-realizations and achievement could be achieved. These are the main similarities and differences between Franklin and Emerson.