Final answer:
The former unitarian minister stressed the individual over society, intuition over feeling and was considered a pantheist.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement refers to the philosophy of the Transcendentalism movement, advanced by prominent thinkers during the 19th century in America, one of them likely being the unitarian minister mentioned. Transcendentalists valued individual perception and thought over society and structured norms, leading them to emphasize intuition over merely feeling or accepting what was common or traditional. They believed in the inherent goodness of people and nature and that society and its institutions—political parties, religions, and corporations—corrupted the human spirit.
The term 'pantheist' is used in this context to indicate the belief in an all-encompassing, immanent God. According to this belief, God isn't a separate entity; instead, the divine pervades everything in the universe, including human beings. Essentially, this belief emphasizes the intrinsic spirituality and interconnectedness of all things.
In some respects, the tenets of positivism, which state that only facts that can be scientifically verified or which are based on empirical evidence carry truth value, run counter to the tenets of Transcendentalism. However, both reflect an aversion to unthinking acceptance of societal or religious dogma.
Learn more about Transcendentalism