The Metempsychotic Mind: Emerson and Consciousness

Abstract

Incorporating the language of metaphysics into the revolutions of science, particularly the new vastness of the geological record and theories of adaptation and evolution emerging in biology, Emerson repeatedly stresses how the structure of transmigration - the soul running through the historical series - can indicate the initial outlines of a greater, more evolved theory of human cognition and perception. According to Cavell, the quintessential Emersonian prototype for consciousness is a form of "aversive thinking," the individual turning away from, and toward, "the dominantly desired virtue of his society."