DAILY WALKING with Henry David Thoreau 12-29-2014 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE UNIVERSE Thoreau embraced the subjectivity of perception that followed from mans central position. He accepted that the individuals vantage point in some sense defined the universe. If the individual enjoyed centrality in the cosmic view of things, however, Thoreau found him less fortunate in relation to human institutions. The author wrote in Walden of an important distinction between the civilized man and the savage . . . in making the life of a civilized people an institution, in which the life of the individual is to a great extent absorbed. Thoreau distrusted all threats to individuality. He perceived that the community intruded upon the individual and, similarly, that the individual guided by principle and high purpose threatened community complacency. He felt that the individuals first duty was to himself — to know and to cultivate himself and to seek knowledge of how he fit into the universal picture. Solid citizens of the community, however, saw things otherwise. Thoreau spent his life living up to his responsibilities as he understood them. The judgment of the community mattered little to him. Thoreau was aware that some of his townsmen had no idea why he moved to Walden Pond in 1845, but their opinion did not deflect him.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 16:27:32 +0000
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