ベンジャミン・フランクリンの「世俗主義」と「非世俗主義」 : アメリカにおける近代的文化思想の起源

概要

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Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) is a figure who lived in a transitional period from the Age of Absolutism to the Modern Times. He was an accomplished businessman, a politician, a journalist, a scientist, an educator, a philosopher, and a social activist and achieved distinguished results in various fields. The aim of this paper is to consider how American cultural thought has been formed through Franklin's activities in the 18th century. On the one hand, he advocated "the way to wealth," on the other hand he "preached" the importance of Puritan virtue. How were his "secularism" and "non-secularism," which were inherent to Franklin's thought, kept in order within himself? That is, were these two elements contradicted within himself, or were they paradoxically matched within himself? One comes to the following conclusion after considering Franklin's works : his ideal way of life as a "virtuous, free, good man" is implicitly consistent with the ideal of "the pursuit of happiness" in the Declaration of Independence. Franklin's real way of life, however, shows that "the pursuit of happiness" was intended not only for an individual like himself but for all men. Accordingly, his thought and activities were based upon these two elements which seemed to contradict each other but were paradoxically matched, which attests that Franklin was one of the first modern men in America.