Abstract:Emerson advocates individualism in his “Self-Reliance,” which castigates all kinds of imitation and points out that independence and nonconformity are important virtues. He expresses the realistic significance of the individualism and announces the material meanings of individualism and the inspiration. In “Self-Reliance,” Emerson opposes God as the center of Puritanism, is against the reason and authority, and thinks that people can recognize the truth directly by intuition. He also puts forward that a person should have courage to keep their natural characteristics, trust the inner power and follow the principle to live by intuition. This paper aims at exploring the significance of Emerson’s idea of self-reliance with an analysis of individualism in his essay.

Key words: Emerson; self-reliance; transcendentalism

摘 要:爱默生在《论自助》中的个人主义思想，鞭挞了所有形式的模仿，认为独立和不随波逐流是一个人最重要的美德。他阐述了个人主义的现实意义，揭示了爱默生个人主义的具体内涵及其对现代人的启示。在《论自助》中，爱默生反对以神为中心的清教主义思想，反对理性和权威，认为人能够凭借直觉直接认识真理。他提出，个人必须有勇气保持自己的本色，并相信自己内在的力量，按照自己由直觉获得的原则生活。这篇论文的任务和目的就是通过对个人主义的深入剖析，使读者了解和借鉴爱默生的“自助”精神及其现实意义。

关键词：爱默生; 个人主义; 自助