Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Aesthetic Liberalism: Beauty and Political Action in the Age of Interest

• In Event: Theories of Liberalism: Challenges and Solutions

Brief Overview

This paper argues that Ralph Waldo Emerson offers a unique aesthetic solution to the problems of depoliticization and the economization of politics in liberal democracy. His Romantic critique of discursive reason is given special attention.

Author

• Jin Gon Park, Cornell University