Arriving at Moral Perfection
Michael Basti
11/14/14
Per 5
Arriving at Moral Perfection
Benjamin Franklin excelled in the various tasks he had acquired throughout his years. He had become an author, an inventor, and a scientist. Benjamin once stated that “No one is perfect and no one will ever be”, which is inferring that no matter how hard you try, perfection is one step too far from reality. He wished to live a life without fault, thus he created a project for arriving at moral perfection. However, he found it much more difficult than he imagined. He proposed 13 different virtues he wanted to master for conducting the examination. Benjamin soon came to realize that arriving at moral perfection would be very challenging. Benjamin Franklin wanted to get in the habit of executing each virtue throughout his daily routine. However he wanted to master them one by one until he excelled in all thirteen. His plan was not flawless, however, because he would perfect one virtue but would slip on that first virtue
when he began to work on the next. One quote from page 70 of the english textbook stated “Temperance first, as it tends to procure that coolness and clearness of head which is so necessary where constant vigilance was to be kept up, and guard maintained against the unremitting attraction of ancient habits and the force of perpetual temptations.”
Although mastering each virtue seemed difficult, Franklin did see a drastic change in his flaws. "I enter’d upon the Execution of this Plan for
Self Examination, and continu’d it with occasional Intermissions for some time. I was surpriz’d to find myself so much fuller of Faults than I had imagined, but I had the Satisfaction of seeing them diminish." He examined himself to see the progress and found that he became a better person. However he never fully mastered all 13 virtues.
At the age of 22, Benjamin Franklin proposed a project of arriving at moral perfection. He sought out to live a life without fault,
11/14/14
Per 5
Arriving at Moral Perfection
Benjamin Franklin excelled in the various tasks he had acquired throughout his years. He had become an author, an inventor, and a scientist. Benjamin once stated that “No one is perfect and no one will ever be”, which is inferring that no matter how hard you try, perfection is one step too far from reality. He wished to live a life without fault, thus he created a project for arriving at moral perfection. However, he found it much more difficult than he imagined. He proposed 13 different virtues he wanted to master for conducting the examination. Benjamin soon came to realize that arriving at moral perfection would be very challenging. Benjamin Franklin wanted to get in the habit of executing each virtue throughout his daily routine. However he wanted to master them one by one until he excelled in all thirteen. His plan was not flawless, however, because he would perfect one virtue but would slip on that first virtue
when he began to work on the next. One quote from page 70 of the english textbook stated “Temperance first, as it tends to procure that coolness and clearness of head which is so necessary where constant vigilance was to be kept up, and guard maintained against the unremitting attraction of ancient habits and the force of perpetual temptations.”
Although mastering each virtue seemed difficult, Franklin did see a drastic change in his flaws. "I enter’d upon the Execution of this Plan for
Self Examination, and continu’d it with occasional Intermissions for some time. I was surpriz’d to find myself so much fuller of Faults than I had imagined, but I had the Satisfaction of seeing them diminish." He examined himself to see the progress and found that he became a better person. However he never fully mastered all 13 virtues.
At the age of 22, Benjamin Franklin proposed a project of arriving at moral perfection. He sought out to live a life without fault,