How did transcendentalists impact religion?
In all of its incarnations, (from that of Kant to that of Ralph Waldo Emerson) the transcendentalist philosophical movement sought to supplant the dogma of religion with a morality based on intuition and reason. Even though some forms of this use the word “God” and “the universe” interchangeably, it is not properly a religion. Naturally, this movement did not impact traditional religion at all. Superstitious sheep are not persuaded by reason. Transcendentalists were harshly rebuked by the Catholic church, but had no real impact on its flock. This is because engaging in philosophical inquiry requires independent thought and a high level of literacy.
