Emerson: American Transcendentalism and Aesthetic Revolution

This chapter focuses on the question of why I chooe Emerson as the key figure for conducting a comparative study with Chinese philosophy throughexamining the dimensions of nature, spirituality, and place. The main reason is that Emerson, as the founder of American transcendentalism, promotes the revolution of nature aesthetics. Nature and wilderness become the object of aesthetic appreciation. The aesthetic appreciation has a deep influence on the protection of the American wilderness.