Emerson resented nature as competition with human moral hopes

Evidence

Bluntly put, Emerson feared nature. He was not physically afraid. He resented its competition with those high hopes he entertained for man. Once, he apologized for taking this position. “I have no hostility to nature, but a child’s love to it. I expand and live in the warm day like corn and melons… I do not wish to fling stones at my beautiful mother, nor soil my gentle next. I only wish to indicate the true position of nature in regard to man, wherein to establish man, all right education tends.” — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 811

Categorization

• XREF: Emerson’s fear of nature ‘competing’ with man forecasts the tension environmental interpretation must manage: awe that diminishes human agency versus the sublime that humbles us productively. — connects to: Emerson ranked intellect and human moral figures above nature itself — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 810; Thoreau and Emerson split over whether concrete detail or ideal beauty deserved attention — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 800; Emerson honestly preferred contemplation over hands-on contact with nature — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 795 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Emerson honestly preferred contemplation over hands-on contact with nature #corroborates (0.85) — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 795
• Emerson could not understand attention without productive ambition #corroborates (0.80) — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 798
• Crusading moral idealism, denied other outlets, turned inward against external change #expands (0.75) — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 1782
• Respect for nature can rest on human self-interest in integrity, not intrinsic value #contradicts (0.70) — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice, 454