In Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self-Reliance, he writes of “the over-soul” and the belief that mankind is united through very similar beliefs through the “over-soul”. Our instinctive actions in making moral choices are all part of this over-soul. This over-soul exists universally among men and is the basis of deriving the basic laws of government. The idea of the over-soul is evident in and greatly influences religion and faith. It is inherent in the morals of all men, therefore there is truth to the existence of the over-soul. Emerson writes of the over-soul: …that Unity, that Over-soul, within which every man’s par