Include the important features of Rationalism in your notes (with notes on Puritans):
- People arrive at truth by using reason rather than by relying on the authority of the past, on religion, or on nonrational mental processes, such as intuition.
- God created the universe but does not interfere in its workings.
- The world operates according to God's rules, and through the use of reason, people can discover those rules.
- People are basically good and perfectible.
- Since God wants people to be happy, they worship God best by helping other people.
- Human history is marked by progress toward a more perfect existence.
Benjamin Franklin
- Read biographical introduction to Franklin (67).
- Read the excerpt from The Autobiography (70-73).
- Answer these questions:
- What was Franklin's condition in life when he arrived in Philadelphia?
- What does Franklin say must happen before people can depend on correct moral behavior?
- Why does Franklin place temperance first on his list?
- How many "courses" of his list of virtues does Franklin plan to go through in one year?
- What inferences can you make about Franklin's attitudes and beliefs, based on his plan to achieve moral perfection? If Franklin were alive today, what modern causes might he support? Explain.
- Franklin writes about "arriving at moral perfection" just as he had earlier written about his arrival in the city of Philadelphia. What does this similarity in his language reveal about Franklin's philosophical assumptions?
- Compare Robert Fulghum's list of things learned in kindergarten (p. 74) to Franklin's list of virtues. Which list do you think would be more useful to people today? In general, how does Franklin's scheme for moral perfection compare with the self-help books available today?
- How does this excerpt from Franklin's Autobiography demonstrate the characteristics of Rationalism?
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