Emerson in his essay “Intellect” states that the ceaseless action of universal mind that mirrors man is actually his intuitive and instinctive consciousness.
Spiritual and intellectual advancement is permitted by the reflections that are yielded on the universal mind. What Emerson does is prefiguring of the downfall of the phenomenological movement in modern society by five decades.
Succinctly, he explains “The making a fact the subject of thought raises it”.
Here he means that one must be aware of the experience the rational mind comes across alongside allowing the flow of the instinctive river of consciousness unimpeded. When only for a few moments, we withdraw ourselves from the world and from the onrushing stream of events and stimulation; we are in a position where the truth is revelled.
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To state in Emerson’s words, “a certain wandering light appears and is the distinction, the principle we wanted.” Emerson states that while air and water are responsible for dissolving a few things, intellect dissolves gravity, laws, methods, fire and also the tiniest unnamed relations of nature.
Intellect thus is the cure for each and every thing according to Emerson. The abstract truth is the result of the combination of intellect and intellection. It is only with the help of intellect that a person is in a position to rationalize as to what is right and what is wrong. If intellect would have been absent in an individual’s mind, there would have been no difference between that individual and any other animal.
Only human beings possess intellectual power and it is this intellectual power that separates an individual from all other living beings that exist on planet Earth. Behind the success of any individual lies his deep intellectual power alongside his will-power.
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Will power without intellectual power is like a car without its engine. Human beings are blessed because they are actually intellectual beings. Intellect is possessed by all the individuals and proper application of intellect leads to phenomenal success.
Emerson states “The intellect pierces the form, overleaps the wall, detects intrinsic likeness between remote things and reduces all things into a few principles”.
In these lines, Emerson explains the deep meaning of intellect and how all the world actually exists because of the intellectual power. The sooner an individual realizes the value of intellect, the better. Proper reasoning is impossible without intellect.
God or the ultimate truth enters into the mind of an individual only through intellect. Intellect backed up by reasoning provides light into the darkness which has evolved into the minds of the individuals. Intellect helps in differentiating between good and bad. Once an individual understands the functioning of the intellect, he can easily mold the way he is living and achieve unimaginable success and power, the success and the power that was unknown to him or her before.
