Ralph Waldo Emerson's 1841 essay begins with the assertion that man is, by nature, a seeker of knowledge about his place in the world, where humanity came from, and what its purpose is.
Emerson posits that the Over-Soul lies within every human being, and that all the parts of the Over-Soul within all men create the unity of humanity. Moreover, there are parts of the Over-Soul in everything that exists in nature:
We see the world piece by piece, as the sun, the moon, the animal, the tree; but the whole, of which these are the shining parts, is the soul.
He believes that answers to the questions man has are inevitably delusive and can never be put into truly meaningful words. Instead, the answers reveal themselves through intuition and experience, and the voice that offers sacred answers speaks from within. Consequently, Emerson believes that philosophers should be classed as either literary or sacred. The ones who speak from within, as Jesus did, are the ones who speak transcendently and are worth hearing.
And finally, Emerson believed that the voice can be found within every human, obviating the need for any kind of intermediary between man and Over-Soul.
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