A Most Awkward, Ridiculous Appearance By Benjamin Franklin

Morality has often been thought of as limited due to the fundamental rights and wrongs everyone has known since kindergarten, however there is an overabundance of approaches to elucidate this skill. For instance, in the autobiography A Most Awkward, Ridiculous Appearance by Benjamin Franklin, he provides a brief story on his arrival to Philadelphia and then explains how he conducts his thirteen moral virtues that he plans to accomplish. Franklin’s approach with this piece can be related to a prescription, such as applying one moral a day until the recipient can successfully add on another. This process would continue on until all thirteen morals have been mastered. To me this method seems arduous and extremely extensive because there is no clear way to justify if the virtue has been completed successfully. …show more content…
Likewise, in Franklin’s autobiography, rule nine states that one should avoid extremes and to take everything in moderation. How do I justify what moderation is to me; is it different from the person seated adjacent to me? It is nearly impossible to consistently judge another’s morals because the concept is fluid, intangible. What is “moral” in one society may be “immoral” in another. This makes the tactic redundant in my opinion, nevertheless the story is still effective because it is virtually demonstrates how the audience can come to their own conclusions regarding morality. The story correspondingly interconnects with the other two excerpts: All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum and Poor Richard’s Almanac by Ben