Book 1, Nature, Addresses & Lectures : Chapter 4, The Reformer, The Conservative & the Transcendentalist Summary and Analysis

In Man the Reformer, Emerson writes about the division of labor again. He is addressing Mechanics' Apprentices in this semi-public lecture. Somehow, he couches a discourse on the division of labor along with Christianity and manual labor. What he does is acknowledge that manual labor has its virtues and can be one of man's greatest joys. At the same time, he carries on to express his agreement with the sentiment that the division of labor has improved efficiency within the society to an unprecedented level. The rewards of this are excellent. This essay is followed by Lecture on the Times - also delivered at a Bostonian Masonic Temple in 1841. Here, he shows his adeptness with principles. Time is divided into the...