Integrity and the self
Self-Reliance
A restless argument for intellectual independence, firsthand perception, and resistance to borrowed conviction.
independenceconvictionnonconformity
Before reading
Why this essay
Emerson’s subject is not isolation so much as the source of judgment. He asks what happens when inherited language, social approval, or consistency begins to outrank present perception.
The essay is best read slowly and skeptically. Its declarations can be exhilarating, but its productive tension lies in deciding where independence becomes blindness to other people.
Carry with you
Two questions
- Which of your convictions have been tested firsthand, and which have merely been inherited?
- When does consistency preserve integrity, and when does it prevent revision?