Ralph Waldo Emerson outstanding as the best of Emerson's essays, which Bloom listed as "Self-Reliance", "Circles", "Experience", and "nearly all of "Conduct of Life"". In his belief that line lengths, rhythms, and phrases are determined by breath, Emerson's poetry foreshadowed the theories of Charles Olson. Collections Individual essays Poems Letters Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society, and he disseminated his thoughts
Against the Current: Essays in the History of Ideas published in 1973. In this essay, Berlin explains his theory of a Counter-Enlightenment. Berlin traces the ideology of figures such as Giambattista Vico, from their opposition to enlightenment ideals to the emergence of Romanticism and Existentialism. Against the Current: Essays in the History of Ideas Against the Current: Essays in the History of Ideas (1979) is a collection of essays by 20th century philosopher and historian Isaiah Berlin. The collection was edited by Henry Hardy, and featured an introduction by Roger Hausheer. The book collects previously published essays in which Berlin discusses the thoughts of 20th century ideologic dissenters who