Benjamin Franklin unmasked : on the unity of his moral, religious, and political thought

Resource Information

The work Benjamin Franklin unmasked : on the unity of his moral, religious, and political thought represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in University of Missouri-St. Louis Libraries. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

Benjamin Franklin unmasked : on the unity of his moral, religious, and political thought

Title remainder

on the unity of his moral, religious, and political thought

Statement of responsibility

Jerry Weinberger

Creator

• Weinberger, Jerry, 1944-

Subject

• Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790 -- Religion
• United States -- Intellectual life -- 18th century
• Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790 -- Political and social views
• United States -- Politics and government -- 1783-1789
• United States -- Politics and government -- 1775-1783

Language

eng

Summary

• "Moral paragon, public servant, founding father; scoundrel, opportunist, womanizing phony: There are many Benjamin Franklins. Now, as we celebrate the tercentenary of Franklin's birth, Jerry Weinberger reveals the Franklin behind the many masks and shows that the real Franklin was far more remarkable than anyone has yet discovered."
• "Taking the Autobiography as the key to Franklin's thought, Weinberger argues that previous assessments have not yet probed to the bottom of Ben's famous irony and elusiveness. While others take the self-portrait as an elder statesman's relaxed and playful retrospection, Weinberger unveils it as the window to Franklin's deepest reflections on God, virtue, justice, equality, natural rights, love, the good life, the modern technological project, and the place and limits of reason in politics and human experience. Along the way, Weinberger explores Franklin's ribald humor, usually ignored or toned down by historians and critics, and shows it to be charming - and philosophic."
• "Following Franklin's rhetorical twists and turns, Weinberger discovers a serious thinker who was profoundly critical of religion, moral virtue, and political ideals and whose grasp of human folly constrained his hopes for enlightenment and political reform. This close and entertaining reading of Franklin portrays a scrupulous dialectical philosopher, humane and wise, but more provocative and disturbing than even the most hardboiled interpreters have taken him to be - a freethinking critic of Enlightenment freethinking, who played his moral and theological cards very close to the vest."
• "Written for general readers who want to delve more deeply into the mind of a great man and great American, Benjamin Franklin Unmasked shows us a massively powerful intellect lurking behind the leather-apron countenance."--Jacket

Member of

• American political thought

Biography type

contains biographical information

Cataloging source

DLC

Dewey number

973.3/092

Government publication

government publication of a state province territory dependency etc

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

index present

LC call number

E302.6.F8

LC item number

W545 2005

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography

Series statement

American political thought