An Artist’s View and Commentary of "Self-Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson: What Self-Reliance Really Means and How One Achieves It

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Because I consider myself an individualist, I thought I’d write something about this essay based on the title alone. At first I wasn’t really sure what this essay would include in its discussion but I quickly got a sense of it from the first few paragraphs. And needless to say I was immediately disappointed. I know lots of people admire Emerson’s writings and work with the Abolitionist movement in the late nineteenth century, but this essay promised much and sadly didn’t deliver on its promise.

What “self-reliance” means to me is not in any way remotely related to what Emerson wrote about. His form of self-reliance is too dependent and too concerned with the feelings and opinions of others. Much of his description of the man or woman who lives by self-reliant action is made by way of comparison. Instead of declaring what his thoughts about the man or woman who is self-reliant are, he selects several examples of typical characters one finds in the society of his time and critiques them to show how they are not self-reliant. For example, rather than stating what self-reliance is, he says, “The virtue of most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.” Actually, non-conformity isn’t enough of a character trait that guarantees one a decent chance at self-reliance. Something more is required.

So this brings me to my chief disappointment, which is that “Self-Reliance” isn’t an essay demonstrating the importance, rarity, or qualities of the man or woman who is self-reliant. Unfortunately, neither is it a type of manifesto about how one attains self-reliance gradually by adopting certain new behaviors or embracing a new philosophy. It’s much less than that. Overall, it reads as a rant about the status quo of his time and locale. Underneath a thin philosophical exterior, Emerson is simply a man attempting a small-scale intellectual revolution in 19^th century American society.

But self-reliance means something and the main question that a description of self-reliance must address is on whom or on what is a person NOT reliant? Well, reliance is a type of dependency and to achieve self-reliance means that one is dependent for his or her own needs and wants on oneself and not others. Furthermore, reliance comes from the word “rely,” which refers to trustworthiness and possessing honor. Self-reliance applies to the life of an individual on a deserted island as much as to the individual in society. Therefore, to be self-reliant by providing for one’s self, more or less equates to one’s being – in thought and action – independent of others.

Even more frustrating for me was how much Emerson valued and alluded to so-called champions of self-reliance by referring to religious, biblical, and political figures – like Moses, Christ, Caesar, and Napoleon – alongside philosophers, thinkers, and scientist – like Newton, Shakespeare, and Socrates. The self-reliant man or woman doesn’t seek power over others, instead they seek their own ends in accomplishments of their own doing. But to his credit, now and then Emerson comes close to nailing down what in essence makes a man or woman self-reliant. When he says, “Man…but now and then wakes up, exercises his REASON, and finds himself a true prince.” This point is so important because it identifies the primary form in which self-reliance manifests which is in thought or in the way one uses the mind by exercising reason.

Also, toward the end of the essay Emerson begins to show his true colors as a mystic by assuming that a discussion on self-reliance must include a reference to “that source, at once the essence of genius, of virtue, and of life, which we call Spontaneity or Instinct…this primary wisdom – Intuition.” Strangely, as you read on you’ll notice you find no explanation for the connection he makes between self-reliance and Spontaneity, Instinct, or Intuition. However, earlier I mentioned that it’s the exercising of reason that defines self-reliance in thought and that in order to achieve independence in action one must first be independent in thought. To think in terms of Spontaneity, Instinct, or Intuition and to act on premises derived therefrom are activities that are totally opposed to Reason. Reason is to independence and self-reliance as Instinct is to herd mentality and tribalism. There is no connection between them, so Emerson’s linking of the two concepts – Reason and Instinct – is his own unique form of intellectual booby-trap.  

Another issue that concerned me about “Self-Reliance” is that he really didn’t state clearly for what reason one need be self-reliant and why that quality of character is desirable. I might be stating the obvious to many of you, but I’m going to state it anyway that the only reason why it’s important to be self-reliant is to achieve one’s own survival. Now while it’s impossible to guarantee something like one’s own survival, it is possible to say that one’s survival is more likely to occur if one relies on one’s own resources and one’s ability to acquire the goods and knowledge necessary for survival. Therefore, above all, the preservation of one’s own life is the reason for the importance of self-reliance in the life of any independent man or woman, self-preservation and nothing else.

This is why every person’s fundamental right is the right to life, the freedom to determine the course of one’s direction in life. But the point at which this right reaches its limit, is the point before it begins to violate another person’s right to choose the direction of their life. A free society must protect the rights of all people within its borders from those who would infringe upon this right to freedom of choice and the direction one chooses to live their life.

And for those of you who are wondering how it is possible to survive without other people, let me just say that cooperation is possible between independent men and women. The difference is in the fine distinction between a group that’s formed out of a moral obligation to treat all men as brothers versus joining forces on a voluntary basis and only to achieve goals where there is an alignment of interests. A group can be formed of independent men and women, however in the case of self-reliant individuals, the group is only as good as each member is willing to give it support. So when support wanes and an alignment of interests ceases to exist, the group dissolves.

In conclusion, what you get out of “Self-Reliance” is a grab-bag of philosophical concepts derived from various sources and pasted together to make semi-coherent arguments for self-reliance in character and action. As a whole, Emerson in “Self-Reliance” sets many conceptual booby-traps that without a strong philosophical foundation the beginning or average student of philosophy will not be able to make heads or tails. Originally, I had high hopes for Emerson’s essay and wished that it was a gem I overlooked in the past when I was first exposed to Transcendentalism through the works of Henry David Thoreau. But it failed to meet my expectations.


To get a PDF copy of “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson for FREE, click here.

To learn more about what qualities a truly Self-Reliant man or woman consists of, click here.

Marc

http://stereothesis.bandcamp.com/


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