Open AccessCONCEPT OF SIMPLE LIFE BY H. D.THOREAU
Author(s) -
Kyrylo Ihoshev
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
lìteraturnij proces: metodologìâ, ìmena, tendencìï
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2412-2475
pISSN - 2311-2433
DOI - 10.28925/2412-2475.2019.1318
Subject(s) - simple (philosophy) , context (archaeology) , epistemology , value (mathematics) , transcendental number , the good life , sociology , aesthetics , philosophy , environmental ethics , computer science , history , archaeology , machine learning
In this study, the author examines the concept of “simple life” in the work “Walden; or Life in the Woods”by H. D. Thoreau in the context of transcendental philosophy. The article gives a brief overviewof R. Emerson’s works on transcendentalism (which were the foundations of Thoreau’s own philosophicaland aesthetic views) and the work of S. Alexander on the philosophy of “simple life” by H. Thoreau. It isdetermined that one of the main concepts of transcendentalism is “self-reliance”. As a result of the study,it was determined that H. Thoreau’s “simple life” is a practical realization of the “self-reliance” conceptand is based on the principles of the “economics of sufficiency”. These are the following principles: selfsufficiency,self-discipline (limiting our own material needs) and the abstinence from excessive (surplus)labor. According to H. Thoreau, people work overmuch because they do not recognize the true valueof things. Their toil is unending as they strive for ever greater luxuries which they do not need. Thoreauthought that his fellow-citizen accept the consumerist style of life not because they like it, but becausethey think that they don’t have a choice. In his book “Walden; Or Life in the Woods” he tried to showthem that the other way (in fact, as many ways as they would like) exists and it is possible for anyoneto pursue it with success.