Bradley P. Dean Ph.D. is the Director of the Media Center at the
Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods. At the Institute, Mr. Dean
is the onsite Thoreau scholar and the Media Center Director
at the Thoreau Institute in Lincoln, Massachusetts, less than half a mile
from Walden Pond. He is responsible for all computer and
telecommunications technologies at the Thoreau Institute, where he also
conducts Thoreau research and assists others in their studies of Thoreau.
Dr. Dean has served as secretary of the Thoreau Society, as a member
of the Thoreau Society's Board of Directors. He has taught at several major
universities as a
visiting Assistant Professor including East Carolina University, Rhode Island College and the University of Connecticut. Dean has presented papers at a number of conferences including Shooting at Beauty: Thoreau as Nature Writer, keynote address,
Thoreau as a Social Reformer, Thoreau’s World and Ours
program, Thoreau Institute.
Dr. Dean has edited two book-length manuscripts written by Thoreau
(Wild Fruits, published by W.W. Norton & Co. in 1999; and Faith in a
Seed, published by Island Press in 1993), and has published numerous
articles and monographs relating to Thoreau. Dean is currently working on a number of publications as co-editor and editor including Henry D. Thoreau, The Annotated Major Essays; The Indian Books of Henry David Thoreau, 1845-1860, projected three-volume set; The Notebooks of Henry David Thoreau, 1845-1860,
projected two-volume set.
Chat Transcript
Club Leader: Thank you for joining the chat. Mr. Dean - how are you today?
Bradley P. Dean: I'm very well, thank you.
Club Leader:
Thank you for joining us Mr. Dean. Tonight's topic How have the ideas of Thoreau and Emerson been invoked by people in the 20th century such as Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., even the Unabomber?
Let's start off with some background on both men. Can you tell us a little about how they became writers?
Bradley P. Dean: Emerson became a writer partly as a consequence of being a preacher. Thoreau became a writer largely as a consequence of knowing and admiring Emerson's writings.
Club Leader: What was the relationship of Emerson and Thoreau?
Bradley P. Dean: Emerson was Thoreau's mentor early on and stayed in his orbit for many years.
Club Leader: When did they meet? How did the mentorship start?
Bradley P. Dean: Thoreau first read Emerson while at Harvard University, and when Thoreau moved back home, to Concord, Emerson had recently moved there. Thoreau read NATURE, Emerson's great essay, published in 1836, very, very closely, and began to become a student of Emerson's.
Club Leader: How would you describe the ideas both men expressed in their works?
Bradley P. Dean: The first word that comes to mind is "weighty." Both are ponderous thinkers--but they are excellent writers, so many readers find that their lives have been considerably changed by their reading of Emerson's and Thoreau's works.
Club Leader: Let's take a questions from the Book Club. Steve Harris Asks: What relationship would you say Emerson had on the new thought movement on authors like Ernest Holsm, found or religious science, on emphasis on self reliance and personal responsibility.
Bradley P. Dean: I'm not familiar with the movement you speak of and so cannot really address the question.
Club Leader: Can you comment on how Emerson impacted other writers at that time?
Bradley P. Dean: Emerson became popular very quickly and was widely quoted and discussed--mostly because of his lecturing, which he was very successful with. Gradually he was quoted often, both in the US and overseas, where he had a large following.
D Parker Of Kent, OH asks: Perhaps Thoreau is more popular these days because we see him as a man of our times. However, do we distort him in doing so? In what ways is he a man of his time and _not_ of ours? Or is he the cliched man for all seasons?
Bradley P. Dean: Thoreau has become a victim of a great many stereotypes, I have found. He was certainly no hermit, for instance. But he speaks to use most readily, I think, because of the quality of his prose, which is extremely modern, as well as because of the acuity of his ideas. He said well what he thought, and what he thought is what many Americans think.
William A. Herbert of elmar, NY asks: Has anyone written directly on the intellectual path of Thoreau's argument regarding non-violent disobedience which influenced Tolstoy who then influenced Gandhi who then influenced Martin Luther King, Jr.?
Bradley P. Dean: It is a great misconception that Thoreau advocated non-violence. Read his essay on John Brown, for instance, in which he states that a Sharpes rifle was put to a good use (at Harper's Ferry). Much has been written, however, on the subject you refer to, some of it excellent, some not quite so good.
dwhite in benton, LA asks: did MLK ever invoke Thoreau's name in any of writings or speeches
Bradley P. Dean: Yes, he mentions Thoreau in "Letter from Birmingham Jail," and in many of his speeches he directly attributes some of his thinking on civil disobedience to Thoreau's essay.
ernieseckinger in Daphne, AL asks: Great show today Brad! You have worked, I know with HDT's later papers doing Wild Fruits. He moves more to the detailed observer and leaves behind most of his philosophical statements after say 1854. At least this is what I seem to gather from my reading. Will his journals from post 1854, now being published by Princeton, bear this out? Thanks...Ernie Seckinger
Bradley P. Dean: Thoreau's journals were published in 1906 and do seem to become increasingly scientific, but I think he remained a transcendentalist to the end and did not become buried by facts.
Club Leader: Can you describe for us the transcendentalist movement?
Bradley P. Dean: Wow. Well, it was many, many things. But mostly I think it was a burst of idealism that the best writers manifest as a prophetic impulse--an attempt to see their own times as equally significant with other times.
Cormier of Northhampton, MA asks: I have always understood Walden as Thoreau's report about his attempt to make transcendentalism a practical mode of life. Can one go to Nature as directed by Emerson and recognize one's place in the eternal Over-soul therefore becoming self reliant?
Bradley P. Dean: Yes, one of the truisms one hears is that Thoreau is Emerson brought down to brass tacks. Thoreau was vitally concerned with the question "How to live?" and a great deal of WALDEN is concerned with answering that crucial question. But going to Nature a la Emerson to find God? I suppose one could say Thoreau attempted to do that.
GMiller77 in Richmond, VA asks: Was Thoreau in a way a creation of Emerson?
Bradley P. Dean: The early (pre-Walden era) Thoreau was very like Emerson, no question, but the post-Walden Thoreau was his own man, in my view.
Club Leader: Let's address current issues with the works of Emerson and Thoreau.
curb1 in McMinnville, OR asks: Was Thoreau constructive in his ideas of what government functions should be or was he just generally critical of government organizations. I have many friends in various environmental movements who are very critical of the government agencies, but do not have the alternative constructive measures, just criticism.
Bradley P. Dean: Thoreau surely believed that each person ought to govern himself or herself, but many people insist that most people are incapable of governing themselves--and therefore need a government to take care of them and this world. Who is right, I wonder?
dwhite in benton, LA asks: what do you believe Thoreau's reaction would be to the Florida election fiasco?
Bradley P. Dean: Thoreau attitude can be summarized, I think, by something he said in one of his essays: he would not go around the corner to see the world blow up! He simply would have disregarded the whole thing as unimportant, I believe.
TWD1 of Decauter, GA asks: In what circles would Thoreau move today? That thought came to mind when reading Walden Pond. Democrat, Libertarian, Green Party of None of the above?
Bradley P. Dean: Tough question. In my view, Thoreau's political ideas are best represented by libertarian thinkers--but he would have thought that a libertarian PARTY was a contradiction in terms, I think.
Hari in Buckingham, VA asks: What do you think Emerson and Thoreau would think of the civil disobedience we see these days surrounding the issue of global capitalism?
Bradley P. Dean: One sentence in "Civ. Disob." comes to mind--about Thoreau opting to live in this world be it good or bad and not giving a great deal of thought or care to changing the world outwardly, by mass action. He was individualist to his back teeth.
Suzanne B. Smith of Lansdowne, PA asks: What do you think that Thoreau Emerson would think of the way in which our country is going in terms of the environment,and politics?
Bradley P. Dean: They would both be astonished, I think, at the environmental degradation, the magnitude of it. They would also be horrified by the power and size of our largely centralized government. But this is only speculation on my part, based on the way things were in their times, as well as some of what they wrote.
barbaricyawp in Fort Collins, CO asks: The evolution of modern philosophical thought seems to be moving through existentialism. It is often asserted that this philosophical pathway lends itself to the transcendental era and toward classic pantheistic monism. In what ways do you think the writing of these men were a first foot hold in the pursuit of the individual if at all? Is to go too far to make the comparison?
Bradley P. Dean: Very tough question. There is no question that Thoreau and, more recently, Emerson are experiencing a resurgence--their works, of course. I think they are quintessentially American in their views, and we yearn for the clarity they offer on matters that are extremely important to each of us.
Member asks: Would Thoreau have approved of the notion of government programs for countless reasons including day care ?
Bradley P. Dean: No, I don't think he would have approved. HE lived in a time when government was in the far background and families and small communities were more important than agencies of the government.
Hari in Buckingham, VA asks: While we hear a bit in the media about Thoreau from time to time, this C-Span series is the first major media attention to Emerson I can recall seeing or hearing. Why do you think Emerson has been so totally ignored in recent times, given his huge influence in his own times?
Bradley P. Dean: Excellent question--and I have no answer, really. Emerson is a wonderful, wonderful writer who seems to me to have been relegated to the academy. But most thinkers nowadays suffer the same fate. Emerson is too great a writer and thinker to be discussed only in classrooms.
Club Leader: Can you further explain what you mean by American in their views? How is Thoreau and Emerson viewed outside the US? Did writers outside the US impact Emerson and Thoreau's ideas?
Bradley P. Dean: I worked for a decade with the Japanese, and I know many Europeans. All of them who have read Thoreau recognize that he embodies the most quintessentially American traits--going his own way (different drummer) being perhaps the most American of his traits.
Jack Davis in Lewistown, IL asks: Did Emerson lecture only in the large cities in the Midwest? What were they like?
Bradley P. Dean: Emerson lectured in many different venues, from small towns to large cities, but while touring he usually stopped in cities. His town lectures were mostly in the New England area.
dwhite in benton, LA asks: Was the Unabomber in influenced in any way by Thoreau?
Bradley P. Dean: AH, I knew this would come up! I have seen nothing to suggest that Kazinsky knew Thoreau, but there are some obvious similarities between the two men (beyond just the cabins). The big dissimilarity is in their foundational views: Thoreau stated emphatically that JOY is the condition of life; no such thing would have occurred to Kazinsky.
LedbettrJB in Langhorne, PA asks: In spite of their philosophical differences, would Thoreau have appreciated the lyrical beauty of Lanier's poetry?
Bradley P. Dean: No question. Thoreau was a great admirer or lyrical poetry and had aspirations early on to be a poet. Thoreau was an admirer of Whitman, for instance, when Whitman was regarded as something of a crank. The admiration seems to have grown out of an appreciation of Whitman's poetic view and the power of his verse.
mckeej1 in Williamsburg, VA asks: Can you discuss Thoreau's personal relationship with Theodore Parker?
Bradley P. Dean: The two men seem not to have been much more than relatively good friends. There are no letters between them extant, but they obviously traveled in the same circles and appreciated one another's ideas.
gary l. arnold of poplar bluff, MO asks: What did Thoreau mean in his paragraph in walden regarding the loss of his hound, horse and turtledove?
Bradley P. Dean: When asked this question, Thoreau stated something about the propriety of a fellow having his own secrets about his losses. There have been many, many articles written about this passage--none of them much more than stabs in the dark, in my view.
Club Leader: Dr. Dean, are there any works by Thoreau that you would like to share with us or point us to to review to get a better understanding of this message?
Bradley P. Dean: "Life without Principle" and "Walking"--the two lectures that Thoreau delivered most often and over the longest time and that represent very well his views on man (LwP) and nature (Wlkg). And, of course, WALDEN--always a great joy to read and contemplate.
LedbettrJB in Langhorne, PA asks: Do you think that Thoreau ever read the writings of John C. Calhoun?
Bradley P. Dean: Probably the only Calhoun he read was extracts in newspapers.
Andy Yost of Fort Collins, CO asks: In what ways has the transcendental writings of Thoreau and Emerson evolved into modern existentialism, what is common among the two? Is it safe to say they stand consistent together in their stand for individuality and freedom, especially with regard to government?
Bradley P. Dean: I'm no student of existentialism, but I would say that both men would have found it uncongenial because of the relative joylessness of it. I hope that is a fair characterization of a philosophical movement I know relatively little about!
LedbettrJB in Langhorne, PA asks: Did Thoreau read newspapers on Walden Pond?
Bradley P. Dean: I assume you mean did he read newspapers while living at Walden. Yes, I'm pretty sure he did.
Jamie Meredith of Greenville, OH Asks: As someone who has not studied Thoreau or Emerson, but only knows of them from brief encounters in school etc., how would a further study of their works broaden my understanding of human nature and life in general.
Bradley P. Dean: Wonderful question--that I could talk about for a few hours! Let me just speak of Thoreau. Read his first chapter of WALDEN for the invaluable wisdom it contains on how you might be able to improve the way in which you lead your life. Much of what he says is palpably true--and has transformed many, many readers' lives.
Club Leader: Can you tell us about your work at the Institute?
Bradley P. Dean: Basically, I take care of the technology--the Website, the e-mail server, the firewall. I also conduct research relating to Thoreau. I'm currently working on Thoreau's unpublished notebooks on Native Americans, some 2700 pages, mostly his reading notes.
anna barbara of Carlisle, MA asks: What plans does the institute have to develop programs for adults and children in the urban areas?
Club Leader: Remember - you can continue this discussion with other book club members in the Reading Room - click on The Young Nation folder.
Bradley P. Dean: Visit walden.org and click on Thoreau Institute--and then on Programs.
Dyann in Marathon Shores, FL asks: I HAVE JUST STARTED (AFTER THIS MORNINGS BROADCAST) READING THOREAU AND I'M FINDING THAT I HAVE TO READ AND REREAD TO DECIPHER THE MESSAGE. CERTAINLY STUDY GUIDES MUST BE AVAILABLE. IT IS UNDERSTANDABLE WHY FARMERS AND LABOURERS OF HIS DAY DID NOT APPRECIATE /PURCHASE HIS WORKS. I WILL PERSEVERE
Bradley P. Dean: Yes, persevere. Also, the Cliff Notes on Walden are quite good.
Club Leader: You can find resources on Thoreau and Emerson by visiting the Book Club Community Bookstore - you can find a link to order books online.
Satsuma, AL asks: Individual freedom ! From the US constitution, Emerson, Thoreau, even Ayn Rand. Do you feel we have greater freedom or less due to government and business practices today ?
Bradley P. Dean: We have more freedom and less freedom. The great thing about this country is that we can CHOOSE to be even freer than the vast majority of us actually are.
Club Leader: One last questions from Hari in Buckingham, VA asks: Would you consider it fair to characterize Emerson and/or as leader(s) of the counterculture of their times?
Bradley P. Dean: I would only add the qualifier--the "intellectual" counterculture of their times, yes.
Club Leader: Thank you so much for joining us today!
Bradley P. Dean: Thanks for this opportunity.
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