Jeremy Keeshin

The Over Soul – Ralph Waldo Emerson

A few similar ideas to “Divinity School Address”

Thesis: The soul is an inherent part of every person, it is plain and true, and it is
superior to all things.

The soul has an inherent complexity.

The soul is too complex to be searched and solved (133).
Things are how they are; describing them in words does not suffice (141).
A description does not replace the actual event (141).

All human interaction boils down to the interaction of the soul (135).
When humans interact, they naturally judge one another’s character (143).
Words and knowledge from within are greater than words from without (143).
Things you have experienced are true (144).
The soul is plain and true (145).

A person belongs to their soul (135).

The Over-soul is true and contains all the souls of men (134).
Man is what his character is (134).
The actual person and the soul are not separate entities; they must be looked at
together (134).

The soul is above everything (139).

The soul is intangible and contains all things (135).
Youth and beauty are intertwined (136).
The soul is not restricted by time and place (137).
People of great importance transcend time and space (136).
The interaction of souls results in emotion (138).
The soul is accepting of the lowly and downtrodden (138).

The soul discerns and reveals truth (142).

The soul knows truth, and in turn humans all know truth (139).
Truth is a natural instinct of the soul (139).
Revelation is solving the questions of the soul (141).
Revelations reveal the strict workings of the soul (141).
Religion is a pathway to revelation (141).
Instituting faith by force is not as strong as purely from the soul (147). (Similar to
“Divinity School”.)
The soul is pure and innocent (148).