The Tension Between Immanence and Dualism in Coleridge and Emerson

Danielle Follett (1)

1 PRISMES - PRISMES - Langues, Textes, Arts et Cultures du Monde Anglophone - EA 4398

The Tension between Immanence and Dualism in Coleridge and Emerson This essay focuses upon a specific philosophical tension that is found in both Coleridge and Emerson, between a Neoplatonic immanentism bordering on monism, and a subject-centered, romantic, idealist dualism. On one hand, spirit infuses nature, and humanity and nature are fundamentally akin; on the other, an essential distinction exists between humanity and nature, and spirit and nature are split. Both views inform Coleridge's and Emerson's writings to differing degrees, and their co-presence creates a certain dissonance. Although the philosophical tension is similar in each author, the ways in which each expresses and responds to it are quite different. Equally interesting is the differing degree to which each author found this tension problematic. An increasingly clear, often painful awareness of the incompatibility between quasi-monist immanence and dualist Christian idealism drove Coleridge's development as a thinker, while Emerson's syncretism allowed both views to coexist without creating overly evident or disturbing clashes. Indeed, although Emerson was a great admirer and reader of Coleridge, he did not appear to appreciate the importance of this philosophical tension for the elder poet. Emerson seemed not to realize that Coleridge's adoption of Kantian idealism and trinitarian Christianity partially constituted a flight from the moral dangers

Mots clés: Ralph Waldo Emerson; Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Domaines: Littératures; Philosophie

Danielle Follett. The Tension Between Immanence and Dualism in Coleridge and Emerson. Routledge. Romanticism and Philosophy: Thinking with Literature, , pp.209-221, 2015, Romanticism and Philosophy: Thinking with Literature, 9781138805507. ⟨halshs-01421719⟩