Benjamin Franklin: a man of the Enlightenment

   For some reason (probably some cartoon), Benjamin Franklin has always been a cute old man with a kite in my imagination. In actuality, he was a thinker/arguer, clever businessman, individualist, loosely 'religious', somewhat vain man, and rescuer of drunken Dutchmen. Furthermore, he was a vegetarian before it was trendy. I find it fascinating that his approach to business and religion/morality still show up in American culture today. I was not, however, amused by the random capitalization. Yes, I understand that the grammar rules were different and not as developed; it was just super distracting.
   His childhood seemed kind of stinky, but maybe this was typical for people of this time. His father wanted to "tithe" Ben to the church. Between this, the proud, headstrong nature he seems to possess and the philosophy of the day, it doesn't really surprise me that Franklin avoids religion later in life. Franklin as tithe doesn't work out and he ends up apprenticing for his abusive brother and then takes off on his own at 17 (with a pretty great tale of explanation). 
   Within the context of his apprenticeship, Franklin begins to display his insight into people. He accurately evaluates the situation (he didn't have enough respect from his brother and company for the publication of his essays under his name) and finds a way around it to get what he wants. This reproduces throughout his business and philosophical life. In order to gain respect as a businessman, he realizes he needs to be hardworking in the public eye and avoid broadcasting his intelligence. To succeed in argument, he adapts the Socratic method of approaching debate as a questioning student, instead of beating people over the head with opinion. To gain support for his ideas, he realizes it is in his interest to set vanity aside and present the idea as a communal effort. Franklin seems to have an impressive grasp of how people "tick", which probably assisted him in his climb from poverty into self-made success.
   Bits of my Intro to Philosophy class kept showing up in Franklin's writing. He is certainly a man of the Enlightenment in his focus on human improvement through reason and morality based on human empathy. His entire "self-help program" is reasoned out and is centered on being a controlled, thinking person. His concern with living a life of morals and thought is certainly within the tradition of early philosophers as well. One of his problems with "organized religion" is that religion seems to want to make people into [insert denomination here] as opposed to good citizens in general (pg 283). Unfortunately, there is truth in this statement, even today. I don't think morality can be based on human empathy ( "That it was, therefore, every one's interest to be irtuous, who wish'd to be happy even in this world." pg. 291, 2nd paragraph). What happens when doing the "right" thing isn't actually best for you?  However, I think Franklin's concern is valid; true faith in Christ results in a changed lifestyle benefiting our fellow mankind.