Franklin as a Rationalist

Ben Franklin’s life was almost based on rationalist beliefs. There are many reasons that I find this to be true but I am only going to list a few with supporting details. As you start to read the biography you will see a section that he states about “moral perfection”. This in included a list of thirteen virtues that he thought would help him become a better person. Things that he listed were temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, and chastity, and humility. These things Franklin thought would make him a better person, and are big signs of rationalistic thinking. As opposed to the puritans belief that humans were created a certain way and that they would die that way.

Franklin also believed that his inventions would help man kind become a more perfect species. For example the invention of the bi-focal glasses, these specially designed glasses helped people see things three different ways. Franklin did not agree with the puritan’s belief that if your eyes were bad then that’s what God wanted. He believed that god gave man the intelligence to fix thing that were wrong. Another invention or theory that he had came by the way of electricity. While flying a kite in the middle of a thunder storm his kite was struck by lightning. Franklin found a way to make it possible that man could use this energy for themselves even though the puritans believed that things that came from nature were of God and man had no reason to even try and figure out the smallest detail of it. The last and final part that I think is the most important the ability for a government to run itself. He and his fellow rationalist help to form the country that we live in today known as The United States of America, and become one of the strongest in the world. . Even though they were living in a time were people said that God appoints who he wants to run countries and we should be submissive to that he still kept his own beliefs and made them a reality.