Franklin is a Rationalist

Ben Franklin shows that he is a rationalist in his autobiography under the part of “Arriving at Moral Perfection.” He makes himself a list of thirteen virtues and sets himself a goal for self improvement. A puritan would just pray to God if he felt that he was sinning or if he was imperfect. A rationalist however, like Ben Franklin, would work on self improvement. Franklin decides to work as a scientist on improving his Moral Perfection. He decides to make a chart marking on the chart when he has made an error in his experiment. Because Franklin is using science and self improvement as oppose to praying to God for help and forgiveness, he is a rationalist.