In paragraph four of Divinity School Address, Emerson begins to describe natural laws and gives the example of how a child is, “learning the action of light, motion, gravity, muscular force; and in the game of human life, love, fear, justice, appetite, man, and God, interact” (Emerson, Divinity School Address, paragraph 4). Emerson then goes on to say that these learning experiences can not be written down or spoken about because they are experiences that only that child has experienced, others may have similar events that shape who they are today, but they are not the same. I think that Emerson is trying to say that our experiences will mold who we are and how we make moral decisions later down the road. In this paragraph, I also think that Emerson is trying to explain how man strives to be truthful and a moral human, than they are in line with God’s divine laws.
Emerson has an interesting writing style in my opinion because there are points in this essay where he uses whimsical, descriptive language and other parts where he is very blunt and straight to the point. In paragraph four he’s describing how our moral compass and religious affiliation will guide us to be more like God’s image of us. He talks a lot about the “sentiment of virtue” which I interpreted as how the world will reveal itself through life experiences.
Yes, I like this discussion of how children learn from experience, too. But keep in mind that Emerson does not see a clear line between humans and god(s) — they are both of the same essence. So morality means something different for him.