The American Scholar

Emerson's argument in "The American Scholar" about American society still holds true today.



Emerson's arguement has similarities to modern American society. One reason his argument is viable is the mention of division of labor within our country. In the past, people were taught a variety of different skills. Today, people have been reduced to doing one, specialized job. Modern people want to feel whole doing these jobs, but the have lost sight of what is important. The statement "a priest becomes a form and an mechanic becomes a machine" says that these people do not neccesarily need to do other things, but lost the meaning of being a priest or mechanic. In this way many people have become overwhelmed by their jobs.

These people who have become their occupation have also become "mere thinkers" the total opposite of "the Man thinking. Emerson expresses how he disikes mere thinkers and how they get their ideas from the work of others. "Men thinking", however get their ideas from the world around them. It is true people today are like this, an example being those who plagerize essays or take credit for others ideas for money. True Men thinking, generate their own ideas, and take together knowledge of the world to use. Inventors and scientists are just two examples of people who use this knowledge.