Transcendental and Anti-TranscendentalIn the history of American architecture and arts, the American Renaissance produced two types of philosophies, namely Transcendentalism which emphasized the human potential of goodness and exalted the natural world as a symbol or reflection of divine beauty, and anti-transcendentalism which, partly in reaction to the optimistic and mystical transcendentalist vision, turned their imagination to the dark side of the human spirit and the hidden evil they saw in lurking in and around humans. Transcendentalism was an important philosophical and literary movement that flourished during the first half of the 19th century. It was the belief that people could transcend or rise above a physical or material state. Transcendentalists viewed transcendentalism as a philosophy or way of life, not a religion. This philosophy contained aspects such as self-examination and the celebration of individualism. Realization is gained when communing with nature to find union with the Higher soul – A union between individual consciousness and collective consciousness. Within this collective consciousness, the individual is the center. The transcendentalist also accepts the concepts of nature as a living mystery. They also believed that all knowledge began with self-knowledge, meaning that if a person did not know themselves, they would not be able to extend that knowledge. The Transcendentalist was at the center of the American Renaissance. They believed in themes such as nonconformity, self-sufficiency, free thinking, trust and the importance of nature. The concept of transcendentalism is expressed in Nature, a book by Ralph Waldo Emerson, a major player in the transcendentalism movement. Na...... middle of paper ......ntradition, anti-transcendentalists believe that we should isolate ourselves if we commit some sin that we don't want people to know about, in the story of The Minister's Black Veil. The literatures of transcendentalism and anti-transcendentalism are very sensible and create an exaggeration about good versus evil. These philosophies shape the understanding of human capabilities. Work cited by Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Nature (extract). The American experience. Ed. Grant Wiggins. UpperSaddle River: Pearson Education, 2010. 366-368. Print.Stearns, Jason. K. Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great African War. New York: Public Affairs, 2012. Print.Poe, Edgar Allen. “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Making literature matter. Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009. 1205-209. Press.