Six essays and one address outline Emerson's moral idealism and hint at later scepticism. In addition to title essay, this volume includes "History," "Friendship," "The Over-Soul," "The Poet" and "Experience," plus the Harvard Divinity School Address. Essayist, poet, and philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 1882) propounded a transcendental idealism emphasizing self-reliance, self-culture, and individual expression. The six essays and one address included in this volume, selected from Essays, First Series (1841) and Essays, Second Series (1844), offer a representative sampling of his views outlining that moral idealism as well as a hint of the later skepticism that colored his thought. In addition to the celebrated title essay, the others included here are "History," "Friendship," "The Over-Soul," "The Poet," and "Experience," plus the well-known and frequently read Harvard Divinity School Address.