Moving from Puritanism to Rationalism

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Moving from Puritanism to Rationalism

• Bye Bye, Age of Faith!

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Well, sort of

• The Puritan Legacy
• Incredible work ethic / self-reliance
• A belief that our purpose in America is
  sanctioned by God (the city on the hill ?
  manifest destiny)
• The need for moral justification for private,
  public, and governmental acts.
• A sense that we are morally superior especially
  if we have had material success on earth
• The Questing for Freedom - personal, political,
  economic, and social.

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Hello! RationalismThe Age of Reason
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The best way to be good is

• To use your logic and reason to improve your own
  and others lives
• Focus is on the PRESENT

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Tinkers and Thinkers

• New ideas had been arising in Europe and were
  challenging the faith of the Puritans.
• The Age of Reason began with philosophers and
  scientists of the 17th and 18th centuries who
  called themselves Rationalists.

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Home-grown Thinkers

• Home-grown practicality and an interest in
  scientific tinkering or experimenting . . .
  .thrived in American colonies.
• Early Colonists had to be thinkers and tinkers to
  survive they had to make do with what they had,
  and had to achieve results.

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If Im a Rationalist

• I BELIEVE
• Human beings can arrive at truth by using reason,
  rather than by relying on the authority of the
  past, on religious faith, or on intuition.
• Man is basically good, and capable of great
  things!

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I, the Rationalist, also believe

• Man is a tabula rasa, or blank slate humans can
  be PERFECTED through effort and the use of reason
• I can improve myself NOW and I can improve the
  world around me NOW. Rationalists focused on
  the PRESENT as opposed to the hereafter.

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Rationalism and Revolution

• Rationalists believed democracy was the BEST form
  of Government. (Down with Theocracy!)
• The American struggle for independence was
  justified by rationalist principles.
• The Declaration of Independence bases its
  arguments on rationalist assumptions about
  relations between people, God, and natural law.

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Puritanism vs. Rationalism

• Rationalism
• Sir Isaac Newton said God is a clockmaker.
• Gods special gift to humanity was reason the
  ability to think in an ordered, logical manner

• Puritanism
• God is actively and mysteriously involved in
  the workings of the universe.

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God is like a Clockmaker

• God is not ACTIVELY involved in my daily life.
  He set things in motion, but it is up to US to
  use our logic and reason to discover the truths
  about the world and human beings.

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DEISM

• God is accessible to ALL men at ALL times.
• The universe is orderly and good.
• Every individual is perfectible through the use
  of reason
• Gods objective was the happiness of his
  creatures.
• The best form of worship was to do good for
  others.

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Smallpox Plague

• Outbreak in 1721 was equivalent to our problem
  with AIDS today.
• Cotton Mather (natural science and medicine as
  well as minister) was accredited with pushing a
  non-traditionalmethod of inoculation as a cure.
• The method was highly criticized and debated
  (Mathers house was even bombed).
• Even though the treatment was controversial, it
  worked.

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The Smallpox Plague

• The controversy illustrates two interesting
  points about American life in the early 18th
  century
• Contradictory qualities of the American character
  existed side by side (Ex Cotton Mather,
  Puritanism vs. belief in scientific progress)
• A practical approach to social change
• and scientific research was necessary in America.

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The Self-made Man/Woman

• Rationalism built the archetype of the self-made
  man/woman
• Masterpiece of the Age of Reason Benjamin
  Franklins Autobiography (written as an
  autobiographical narrative) Its the original
  story of the American self-made man

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The self-made country?

• Pamphlets - Literature was intended to serve
  practical or political ends.
• Following the Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
  organizing and governing the new nation were . .
  . the most important

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This is Progress, man

• Rationalism came into its own in the 1750s
  Puritans were still around, but this was a
  movement away from those beliefs into a more
  secular and scientific view of the world.
• American thought had to be thought in action.
• Americans wanted to improve the public welfare
  by being willing to experiment, to try things
  out, no matter what the authorities might say.

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Franklins Autobiography

• 1. Describe Franklins style of writing, citing
  examples to support what you say. Contrast it to
  the Puritan style.
• What personal qualities does Franklin emphasize
  in his description of his Arrival in
  Philadelphia?
• What is Franklins plan for Arriving at Moral
  Perfection?
• Which of the virtues Franklin outlines do you
  believe your generation most needs to improve on?
  Explain your answer.

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Rationalism

• Its all about the LOGIC

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If Im a Rationalist

• I BELIEVE

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I also believe
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My focus and emphasis is on...

• The present time
• I can improve myself

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My attitudes about God are...

• Deist
• BUT
• God is not ACTIVELY involved in my daily life.
  He set things in motion, but it is up to ME to
  discover the truths about the world and human
  beings.