Amos Bronson Alcott: A Case for Romantic Education

Authors

  • Jaime Costa Universidade do Minho, Portugal.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21814/rpe.23945

Keywords:

Education, Transcendentalism, Reform

Abstract

As one of its ideologues, Amos Bronson Alcott constitutes one of the most relevant figures of Transcendentalism or American Romanticism. Confronted with the radical changes of the times he was living in, Alcott will come up with his most daring proposals in the realm of education. The objective of this article is to place Alcott’s reformation drive within its philosophical context and to reveal his singular position. Self-awareness, in perspective with nature, constitutes an unavoidable previous step to any educational intent. It is from here that the most useful learning takes place, that which allows for establishing a relationship between the material world and the spiritual world. Alcott identifies the general laws of thought, as series of Maxims, that must at all times guide the instructor. Due to the divine nature of human beings, education will, in the end, be concerned with self-education.

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Author Biography

Jaime Costa, Universidade do Minho, Portugal.

Jaime Costa received his PhD. from the University of Salamanca, Spain. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Arts and Humanities at the University of Minho where he teaches American Literature and American Society and Culture. He is also member of the board of the MA program in English Language, Literature and Culture.

 

His work has covered a wide range of American topics including: Literature, history and the arts and is presently writing a book on American Literary History. His current research projects focus on the historical process of creation of an American identity through the arts.

 

He has recently edited the book Contra a Guerra by the American essayist and social critic Randolph Bourne.

References

Alcott, A. B., (1836). The Doctrine and Discipline of Human Culture. James Munroe and Co.

Alcott, A. B., (1938). In O. Shepard (Ed.), The Journals of Bronson Alcott. Little Brown and Company.

Coleridge, S. T., (1983). In J. Engell and W. Jackson Bate (Eds.), The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge.Princeton University Press.

Dahlstrand, F. C., (1982). Amos Bronson Alcott. Associated University Presses.

Emerson, R. W., (1984). Selected Essays. Penguin Books.

Myerson, J., (2000). Transcendentalism: A Reader. Oxford University Press.

Wordsworth, W., (1936). Wordsworth, Poetical Works. Oxford University Press.

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Published

2023-06-23

How to Cite

Costa, J. (2023). Amos Bronson Alcott: A Case for Romantic Education. Portuguese Journal of Education, 36(1), e23021. https://doi.org/10.21814/rpe.23945

Issue

Vol. 36 No. 1 (2023): january - june

Section

Artigos

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Jaime Costa

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