transcendentalism

tran·scen·den·tal·ism  (trnsn-dntl-zm)

n.

1. A literary and philosophical movement, associated with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Margaret Fuller, asserting the existence of an ideal spiritual reality that transcends the empirical and scientific and is knowable through intuition.

2. The quality or state of being transcendental.

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transcen·dental·ist n.

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transcendentalism

Noun

any system of philosophy that seeks to discover the nature of reality by examining the processes of thought rather than the things thought about, or that emphasizes intuition as a means to knowledge

transcendentalist nadj

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transcendentalism

1. any philosophy based upon the doctrine that the principles of reality are to be discovered only through the analysis of the processes of thought, as Kantianism.
2. a philosophy emphasizing the intuitive and spiritual above the empirical, as the philosophy of Emerson. Cf. descendentalism. — transcendentalist, n. — transcendentalistic, adj.

See also: Philosophy

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

transcendentalism - any system of philosophy emphasizing the intuitive and spiritual above the empirical and material transcendental philosophy philosophy - the rational investigation of questions about existence and knowledge and ethics