BENJAMIN FRANKLIN’S RELIGIOUS VIEWS MANIFESTED IN HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (hereafter referred to as Autobiography) by Benjamin Franklin is really recognized as an American spiritual book that highlights the struggle course of the American dream and shows meaningful moral truths. Within the work, Franklin’s unique experiences towards RELIGION and his deep reflections on it are surly “on display”. By a close reading of his Autobiography, this paper delves into and analyzes those religious statements contained in it, trying to help readers sort out Franklin’s complex religious complex. By paying special attention to certain narrative strategies used by Franklin, the present paper believes that Franklin’s religious, moral and ethical thoughts are full of contradictions and conflicts. However, Franklin’s organic absorption of puritanism, dialectical use of deism, and rational speculations of all religions enable him to form kind and tolerant religious ideas, and rational moral values, thus realizing the self-consummation of moral under religious philosophy.

Benjamin Franklin’s Imperfections

Chapter 1 analyzes The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin as an experimental text written across the revolutionary era and the development of Benjamin Franklin’s thought. Whereas Franklin is often seen as the archetypal rags-to-riches story that parallels American independence, reading the text across the diverse political circumstances that influenced each part reveals what for Franklin was the value of imperfection. Imperfections in the political subject or society do more than humble members or pave the way for a more perfect union: they motivate participants to collaborative efforts in improving themselves and their ties to one another. This chapter offers a new reading of Franklin on authority and shows how only through revision did his work become a claim of experience.

The lives of an American life - The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and the idea of personal identity

recorrendo aos campos da história dos impressos e da história da ciência - dois campos de importância indiscutível para entender Benjamin Franklin, o impressor da Filadélfia, e Benjamin Franklin, o famoso experimentador elétrico - este ensaio sugerirá que as memórias de Franklin são evidência de que ele pensou sobre si mesmo como encarnado em ações (como ele tinha se apresentado ao mundo, através de experimentos científicos) e como identificado em relação a outras pessoas, como ele tinha sido por muito tempo, como um colaborador em diversos projetos e como um correspondente. Isso é diferente do seu sentido desencarnado e individualista que a maioria das edições de sua autobiografia, como uma simples narrativa, lhe deram. Edições mais complexas e com diversos textos podem ser ao menos igualmente válidas, sobretudo para mostrar como ideias de identidade pessoal, nesse ponto da história, eram coletivas e encarnadas.