Benjamin Franklin's System of Virtues

Benjamin Franklin received education as a Presbyterian (Franklin 81).  In accordance to his religious faith he believed in the “existence of the Deity; that he made the world, and governed it by his Providence” (Franklin 81).  Furthermore, he understood that the soul is immortal, that all crimes will be punished and virtue rewarded either in this life or the next (Franklin 81).  As a man of religious tolerance, Franklin held a level or respect for every religion, although some more than others (Franklin 81).  In order to maintain and strengthen his character, he created a system of virtues (Franklin 83).  This system of virtues and his dedication to them exemplifies his manner of thought as being that of a Rationalist. 

            During the Rationalist period, people began to focus less on religion and more on reasoning and advances.  The method of attaining virtues which Franklin created was not completely without religious influence, but it was however indistinguishable of any particular sect in which he added his own interpretations (Franklin 91).  The reasoning behind his virtues is that he was trying to gain knowledge and at the same time improve his intrinsic worth (Franklin 84).   By carrying through with his system of virtues, Franklin expected to arrive “at moral perfection . . . wished to live without committing any fault at any time” (Franklin 82).  To achieve his goal, he kept a book with the days of the week and thirteen virtues he deemed important to living a moral life, placing a black dot in the appropriate place for each time he would break one of the day’s virtues (Franklin 86).  These virtues include:  temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility (Franklin 84-85).  By trying to achieve perfection in his character through a well-thought-out system, Franklin is depicting rationalism.  A person who based his or her life on faith and had a good understanding of Scripture would have known that perfection as sinners is impossible.  A person should strive to be the best that he or she can be, but never in the process should perfection be expected.  As it is written in Romans 3:12, "There is no one righteous, not even one. . .” 

            Franklin even states in the excerpt from his journal that he “seldom attended any public worship” (Franklin 82).  He emphasized a time when he attended church for five consecutive Sundays (Franklin 82).  This in the time of the Enlightenment would have been only customary.  Once he made the decision to discontinue attending a preacher’s service because the sermon did not contain “the kind of good things that I expected from that text” (Franklin 82).  He even formed his own liturgy for private use (Franklin 82).  It seems as if Franklin would have a preference to view matters the way he wished to see them and if the world’s perception did not match his own then he would break away to practice his own understandings.  Justification for the amount of virtues he would concentrate on each day came from his reasoning that a gardener does not attempt to eradicate all of the bad herbs at once, but works on one bed at at a time (Franklin 87). 

            Finally, in his journal, Franklin asks in the morning, “What good shall I do this day?” (Franklin 88) and in the evening he asks himself, “What good have I done today?” (Franklin 88).  In asking these questions, he is concentrating on the level of righteousness in himself which seems rather egotistical.  A person should not decide for himself/herself what he/she shall do each day, but rather be enlightened to do so by the Holy Spirit.  Asking “What good shall I do” is putting the morality on man when the credit belongs to God since everything good comes from Him. 

            Franklin may have been raised with Christian beliefs, but his way of thinking is a better representative of the Rationalism era rather than the Enlightenment.  Unlike what was accepted during the Enlightenment, Franklin did not place a high importance on attending church and he left when he thought the sermon was not expanded enough.  Through the use of his own reasoning, he created a system by which he hoped to achieve moral perfection (Franklin 83).  All of these depict the qualities that a rationalist might possess. 

Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Paris: William Temple Franklin, 1791. Print.

"Romans 3:10 As It Is Written: "There Is No One Righteous, Not Even One;." Romans 3:10 As It Is Written: "There Is No One Righteous, Not Even One;. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2012. <http://bible.cc/romans/3-10.htm>.