From the spiritual to the economic, Emerson s Self-Reliance details the various aspects of a man s ability to rely on himself for survival. This 19th century essay resolutely supports Emerson s life-long belief in individualism and encourages mankind to pass over practices like conformity and false consistency for following intuition and instincts instead. Rather than promoting ideas of anti-society, Emerson asserts self-reliance is a starting point for a more efficient society, and not an end goal.