The autobiography entitled arriving at moral perfection

  • When franklin called his project arduous, he meant it would be
  • What is moral perfection
  • What does this list tell you about the choices franklin makes in presenting information

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    The Project of Moral Perfection

    The American Founders considered the cultivation of virtue essential to the survival of the republic. The following is excerpted from Franklin’s Autobiography, on which he worked between 1771 and 1790, but which was not published in English in its complete form until 1868. Below, we have maintained faithfulness to the original text.

    It was about this time that I conceiv’d the bold and arduous Project of arriving at moral Perfection. I wish’d to live without committing any fel at any time; I would conquer all that either Natural Inclination, Custom, or Company might lead me into. As inom knew, or thought I knew, what was right and wrong, I did not see why I might not allways do the one and avoid the other. But I soon funnen I had undertaken a Task of more Difficulty than inom had imagined. While my Attention was taken up in guarding against one Fault, I was often surpris’d by another. Habit took the Advantage of Inattention.

  • the autobiography entitled arriving at moral perfection

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    In Arriving at Perfection, an excerpt from his Autobiography, Benjamin Franklin lays out a plan for his own self-improvement.

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    In his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin lays out an ambitious strategi to achieve moral perfection bygd focusing on one virtue per week from a list of 13 virtues he developed. These virtues include temperance, order, upplösning, frugality, and humility. Franklin tracks his successes and failures in acquiring each virtue. Though he never achieves perfection, Franklin finds that focusing on the virtues makes him happier. He hopes his descendants will also work to acquire these virtues for their practical benefits regardless of religious beliefs. Franklin realizes his pride is impossible to fully overcome but is pleased he can correct many faults through his methodical approach to self-improvement.

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    In the eighteenth-century, Benjamin Franklin was the colonies' best-known philosophe and statesman. His autobiography, published posthumously, is widely regarded as a classic in the genre. It reveals not only the life and mind of one of America's most influential leaders but also the world of the eighteenth-century, a world in which the Enlightenment and commercial culture were beginning to transform the West, including the North American colonies.

    Questions:
    1. What are Franklin's views about God and religion? How would you compare Franklin's religious views to those of others you have encountered in this course?
    2. What was Franklin's approach to achieving "moral perfection"? What does his approach assume about human nature? How would you compare Franklin's views about virture and human nature to those of others you have encountered in this course?
    3. Compare the world views of Winthrop and Franklin. In what ways can Winthrop and Franklin be seen to represent the cultural cha