Illiberal Emerson

Emerson has long been considered a leading exponent of liberalism in U. S. culture. The common assumption has been that, for better or worse, his writings exemplify liberal values to a remarkably faithful degree. This essay challenges that assumption. It explores how Emerson's treatment of basic themes such as belief, tolerance, justice, and self-development does not merely differ from but is often incompatible with the views of classic liberals like Locke and Mill. By establishing the antiliberal bias in his thought, the essay further seeks to evade the twin extremes of sentimentalizing Emerson as a prophet of democratic idealism or of demonizing him as an agent of liberal ideology.