Question

Benjamin Franklin believes that moral perfection, although difficult, is possible to achieve. What does this tell you about his character?

Answer 1

Answer:

Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers, and one of the biggest influencing minds before, during, and after the Independence, was born as a Puritan, upheld the beliefs and principles of Puritanism, but through his experiences, and life, he became an adherent of Deism, a belief that places God as the center of life, of creation, and the source of good, but outside of the sphere of nature, and humanity. As such, he was the source of moral values and ethics, of the goodness in man, but he was to be discovered through reason and logic, rather than through a personal experience with God. Later in life, Franklin returned to his earlier religious beliefs and the belief in unified religion and he was a firm believer in perfection, in man working on himself to become better, through his 13 principles. These principles, he believed, would lead him and others to this moral perfection. In essence, what this tells a learner is that Franklin was an idealist, who believed in a model of perfection, with a series of steps to follow that could lead to achieve such perfection.

Answer 2

He could be described as an idealist.