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Philosopher

Thomas Carlyle

Metaphysics

Scottish essayist, historian and social critic (1795 to 1881), a founding figure of Victorian sage-writing. His Sartor Resartus (1836) treats social and religious institutions as time-bound clothes for an underlying spiritual reality, a transcendental idealism absorbed partly from Goethe and German thought. Ralph Waldo Emerson, his lifelong friend and correspondent from their 1833 meeting onward, arranged the first American edition of Sartor Resartus in 1836.

Facts
Birth Date
1795-12-04 2
Notable Publication
Sartor Resartus (1836) 2
Office Held
Lord Rector of the University of Edinburgh (1865 to 1868) 2
Death Date
1881-02-05 2
Tradition
Victorian sage-writing, shaped by German Idealism (Goethe, Fichte) 2
Classification
Nationality
Germany 1
Thomas Carlyle
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Connections

In Branch

Metaphysics, Branches of Philosophy

Sartor Resartus' clothes philosophy is a metaphysical claim about appearance and underlying spiritual reality.

Source Encyclopaedia Britannica

Influenced

Emerson and Carlyle met in 1833 and corresponded for the rest of Carlyle's life; Emerson personally arranged the first American edition of Sartor Resartus (1836).

Source Robert D. Richardson, Emerson: The Mind on Fire (1995)

Works Attributed

Sartor Resartus, Works
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Thomas Carlyle
WikipediaLead, opening sentence
Quote, Lead, opening sentence
Thomas Carlyle (4 December 1795-5 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher.
View the Source
2. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
  • entry: Thomas Carlyle
  • entry: Thomas Carlyle, Last years
  • In Category: Philosophers
  • In Branch: Metaphysics
View the Source
Robert D. Richardson, Emerson: The Mind on Fire (1995)
Influenced: Ralph Waldo Emerson, discussion of the Emerson-Carlyle correspondence and the 1836 Sartor Resartus edition
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