George Ripley (transcendentalist)

George Ripley ( born October 3, 1802 in Greenfield, Massachusetts, † July 4, 1880 in New York ) was an American writer, reformer and one of the leading exponents of transcendentalism of the founders of the social- utopian colony Brook Farm. After its failure, he turned to journalism and made ​​his name as editor encyclopaedias.

Youth

George Ripley was descended from one of the oldest settler families and mother's side was distantly related to Benjamin Franklin. The father Jerome Ripley was a merchant and respected member of the community. He belonged to the Unitarians and urged his son to become a priest. After attending Harvard College Ripley took up the study of theology at Harvard Divinity School, from which he graduated in 1826. In the same year he became a preacher of a Unitarian church in Boston. In 1827 he married Sophia Dana, whose family roots dating back also to the first settlers.

Theological work

Ripley was like Ralph Waldo Emerson to the young cosmopolitan church men who were particularly interested in the intellectual and literary movements in Europe. Of great influence on Ripley was the work of German religious philosopher Friedrich Schleiermacher, over which he 1836 - two years after his death - in the Unitarian newsletter The Christian Examiner wrote a lengthy article. Another contribution of Ripley in the next issue about the English Unitarian philosopher James Martineau triggered a factional dispute among the Unitarians of New England. After the great upheavals ( Copernican Revolution and Enlightenment), the equally brought all churches provide explanations, the question was now raised whether one can still believe in the biblical miracles. The dispute, which dragged on for several years, with the result that the liberal clergy distanced themselves from the church and shared with like-minded people formed a loose community that was described by outsiders as Transcendental Club. Emerson had already resigned from his ministry on grounds of principle in 1832. Ripley gave his last sermon on 28 March 1841.

Transcendental Club

The Formative located group of men and women of the younger generation rejected any tutelage from by institutions and ideologies and could rely to rely on the natural law principles of the American Declaration of Independence, which had been partially restricted in the later Constitution of the United States. The main representatives in addition to Ripley and Emerson were Amos Bronson Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, Theodore Parker, Frederic Henry Hedge, James Freeman Clarke, Orestes Brownson, Charles Anderson Dana, Margaret Fuller and Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, who represented the entire spectrum of reformist demands: production and observance of human rights, equality between men and women, rejection of slavery, a return to nature, parity appreciation of manual labor and intellectual labor, equal opportunities in school and work, rejection of dogma of any kind, the magazine of the movement the dial was in the first two edited by Margaret Fuller years. Then George Ripley took over the editorship. As a proponent of a practical testing of the Transcendentalist ideas he founded in 1841 the social- utopian Brook Farm settlement, which was six years and was also known as Ripley 's Farm of insiders because of the great personal commitment of Ripley.

Brook Farm

The idea for the foundation came to him through reading The Social Destiny of Man by Albert Brisbane, who wrote about the theories of the French Sozialutopisten Charles Fourier. He was supported by his wife and other transcendentalists. Among the first residents, Nathaniel Hawthorne, who recorded his time in the community in his novel Blithedale Romances belonged. Brook Farm was known nationally by publications in the press. A large part of this was Horace Greeley with his liberal New York Tribune newspaper, which he had founded a year earlier. He belonged to the circle of the transcendentalists and ensured the constant visitor interest and a modest donations. He watched the experiment with sympathy and attended Brook Farm frequently.

Brook Farm was from the beginning on a weak financial basis. The main burden was borne by Ripley, who brought his extensive library there. Educational qualifications were also not available in sufficient quantities. There were also problems in the coexistence of the group. The economic difficulties were increasing and also the proceeds from the sale of Ripley'schen library could not stop the decline. Near the end of a fire that destroyed several houses took place on the farm. With great losses, the experiment failed in 1847. George Ripley took thirteen years to pay off the debt.

Scripture Generic interaction

Even during the time as a preacher unfolded Ripley busy as a writer, translator and editor. In addition to its regular employees at the Unitarian periodical The Christian Examiner, he began to translate the works of the German idealist philosophers, which he then brought out from 1838 along with Frederick Henry Hedge in a 15 - volume edition. In 1839 he published his major work Discourses on the Philosophy of Religion. Ripley was also a founder of the social reformist journal, The Harbinger. After the disaster with the farm Horace Greeley enabled a new beginning for Ripley as a journalist. In 1849 he was a regular contributor to the Tribune. In addition to his duties there, he was together with his fellow editors Bayard Taylor from 1852, the Handbook of Literature and Fine Arts out. From 1857 to 1863 followed with the assistance of Charles A. Dana, the 16 -volume New American Cyclopaedia. Charles Dana was transcendentalist the first hour and a longtime member of the commune Brook Farm, which had also been brought from Horace Greeley to the Tribune.

Personal

The failure of Brook Farm Ripley met not only in immaterial and financially difficult, but also more personal. His wife Sophia had turned to Catholicism. After her death, Ripley married a second time. He could pay off the debt of Brook Farm and lead his later life as a highly respected member of the society through his successful work as an editor encyclopaedias.