The thesis entitled Benjamin Franklin: Development of Religious and Ethical Theories is a chronological survey of Franklin's attitudes toward both religion and ethics. Franklin's early attitudes toward religion are traced in Chapter One from youth through subsequent periods of re-evaluation, modification to the conservative Deism he embraced late in life. Franklin's participation in projects to revise, modernize, and modify scripture, prayers and church services is evaluated in the light of his growing religious refinement and sophistication. Considerable attention is paid to the recent scholarship in this area by Carl Van Doren, D. H. Lawrence and Herbert W. Schneider. Franklin's philosophy of utilitarian ethics is the subject of Chapter 'Two. The formulation of Franklin's ethical theory is described from his early four "fundamental virtues" to his ambitious "Art of Virtue," an attempt to achieve moral perfection. Scholarly criticism of Franklin's "Art of Virtue" is surveyed and evaluated, and explanations of apparent contradictions between religious beliefs and Franklin's practice of ethics are proposed.The third and final chapter deals with Franklin's utilitarian pragmatic system of ethics as evidenced in Poor Richard's Almanac, including the highly controversial tract "The Way toWealth." An attempt is made to interpret Franklin's attitudes with greater objectivity than the recent impulsive criticisms of D. H. Lawrence and Charles Angoff. The thesis ends with an analysis reconciling a number of Franklin positions often erroneously interpreted as either contradictory or "hypocritical," giving appropriate credit to Franklin for his development of a unified, practical and workable system of ethics based upon his unique interpretation of Deism.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/179748 |
| Date | January 1969 |
| Creators | Fibiger, Edward George |
| Contributors | Newcomb, Robert H. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | iii, 138 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
Page generated in 0.0017 seconds