Reflection Blog: Franklin's Virtues

Benjamin Franklin is a man that embodied the Enlightenment and the Rationalism period by being a Renaissance man of inventing, participating in politics and governance, being the first Postmaster General, and constantly learning. He embodied this period along with Deism by being a man of utter reason and logic. He not only enacted his logical principles in inventing, but he brought logic to all aspects of his life (Franklin). Deism is the philosophical belief that a god, it does not necessarily matter which one, created the universe and is letting everything unfold on its own (Deism).The way that Franklin represents this philosophy not by simply believing that one idea, but by also abiding by the principles of overcoming things with reason, not needing an established church, and replacing faith with logic (Deism).

Franklin was originally a Presbyterian, but he noticed that some of the ideas, morals, and beliefs were unintelligible to him (Franklin 144). This is exactly what a rational person would do. They would not just follow this religion because they were born into it, and blindly follow it. They would do as Franklin and try out several religions just to learn what they believe and find the best one (Franklin). Benjamin Franklin does not even follow typical norms when spends Sundays studying instead of going to church (Franklin). His basic ideas are to be a good person and use logic and common sense (Franklin). He actually uses logic and common sense together to make himself a better person. He fundamentally takes the scientific method and uses it to make himself more virtuous. He forms a plan and hypothesis about becoming a better person; he enacts it in an experiment where he tries to follow one virtue each week; he collects the data and learns from it; and he uses what he learned in the next test (Franklin). His approach to moral perfection was most definitely rational. Franklin said that everything good needed a plan or design, so he used this in making his thirteen virtues (Franklin 147). He got his original idea to do this from a quote that said to think of anything that is a virtue (Franklin 146). Franklin also seldom went to public worship (Franklin 145). He said that he went successively for awhile, but he began to dislike the ideas taught and stopped going (Franklin 146). This is exactly a Deist belief because they do not need an established church (Deism). They can learn and follow their beliefs on their own time instead of having to go to a place of worship (Deism). A very interesting thing about Benjamin Franklin is the way he handled money. He lived like an average person even though he was quite wealthy. He had cheap furniture, ate bread, drank milk, and had simple plates and utensils (Franklin 144). This seems more like common sense than anything. He is living off of what he needs as opposed to living extravagantly with things that are beyond necessities. Franklin followed the ideas taught in Deism by using reason and common sense all throughout his life.

"Deism." Philosophy - AllAboutPhilosophy.org. All About Philosophy. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. .

Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Henry Altemus. 1895. Print.