How did Transcendentalism emphasize intuition and individual reform?

Transcendentalism emphasized intuition by asserting that it transcended tuition, or traditional learning, as a way of knowing. The movement held that while knowledge could be gained through the senses, deeper truths were revealed through insight and intuition rather than logic or experience.12

Regarding reform, Transcendentalism insisted that change must begin with the individual rather than through groups or organizations. By celebrating the individual over the masses and spirit over matter, the movement encouraged followers to reject established social orders in favor of experimental schemes for living. This philosophy is exemplified by Henry David Thoreau, whose masterwork, Walden, documented his personal experiment in simple, deliberate living. Through such individual actions, Transcendentalists sought to address humanitarian causes and foster societal innovation from the ground up.134