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Franklin and the Puritans
There were many different aspects to Benjamin Franklin's character and while many Americans like to concentrate on his more lurid, or worldly endeavors, his ethical beliefs were a very important part of his life. In fact, Franklin listed thirteen virtues in his autobiography which he found to be instrumental in becoming a moral and honorable person. It is interesting to note that Franklin's list of virtues bear remarkable similarities to Puritan beliefs and virtues. But while there are similarities between Benjamin Franklin's self-professed list of virtues and those of the Puritans, Franklin was not simply parroting Puritan thought, and there are also a great many differences between the two as well. An examination of the two codes of ethics will demonstrate that while Franklin's code may well be based on the Puritan code, he diverted from a strict religious-based ethical system to a more practical system grounded in the natural world and its natural laws. While the Puritans concentrated their efforts on the religious aspects of virtue, Franklin felt...
They believed that a person's basic nature was sinful, and that a person could only live a good life through strict regulation of their personal life. It was the religious duty of every Puritan to devote themselves to a virtuous life which included hard work and refrained from such vices as fornication, drunkenness, blasphemy, and gambling. For instance, one famous Puritan stated in one of his sermons that "the abuse of drink is from Satan…the drunkard is from the Devil." (Johnson, 2001, p.2) The emphasis of a Puritan's effort was to aid a person in becoming a moral and religious person, not to gain in the world. However, many non-Puritans also viewed these virtues as something to emulate, although not entirely for the same reason.
Throughout his life, Benjamin Franklin developed a system of ethical behavior that was based on thirteen virtues…
References
Franklin, Benjamin, and John Bigelow. (1909). The Autobiography of Benjamin
Franklin. New York: Collier & Son. Retrieved from Googlebooks.com.
Johnson, Thomas, and Perry Miller. (2001). The Puritans: A Sourcebook of their
Writings. Mineola, NY: Dover. Print.
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