David Franklin On Virtue Analysis

An even more important point Franklin makes regards his high view of virtue, of which he believes will not only better oneself, but the whole of society as well. Attributing it as a necessity to nearly every aspect of life, Franklin continually returns to this a multitude of times throughout the second and third parts of the autobiography, especially in regard to pursuing happiness. The endeavour towards virtue has made Franklin “a better and happier man” (127), and that it should be “every one’s interest to be virtuous who wish’d to be happy even in this world” (261). This emphasis on the importance of virtue is well placed; it is not an uncommon belief, and it is commonly attributed to directly define one’s character. For instance, as explained by Michael Lacewing of A Level Philosophy, Aristotle himself attributed virtue to “states of character”, meaning one’s “disposition” to certain “feelings accompanied by pleasure or pain”, and therefore “virtue of a character is a disposition to feel, desire and choose well” (Lacewing), and ultimately achieve happiness-- much like Franklin’s own goal.

Furthermore, author and researcher Bradley Doucet makes the claim how a good society embodies virtue, and that the citizens of the hypothetical “Good Society” would be “of great virtue”, always striving to sustain the “prosperous, peaceful, positive, passionate, private society” (Doucet). There is a powerful, striking resemblance to Franklin’s arguments here as