The Political Philosophy of Benjamin Franklin by Lorraine Smith Pangle; Benjamin Franklin and the Politics of Improvement by Alan Houston

Abstract

From today's vantage point, Benjamin Franklin appears omnipresent in the American eighteenth century. A son of Massachusetts who can seem instrumental in almost everything central to the period, Franklin made himself pivotal—and wealthy—in the most dynamic and diverse province of British North America, helped to define its culture through bestselling almanacs, involved himself in imperial politics and bureaucracy, achieved scientific fame across the Atlantic, became a leading voice for American independence, and participated in designing constitutions for both Pennsylvania and the United States. And nearly alone among the founders, he had matured and made his fortune at the height of Walpole's decentralized and war-prone empire of "benign neglect" and lived to see the new national government begin its work. Until the two books reviewed here, however, none had directly approached the question of Franklin's political philosophy. Political philosophers Lorraine Smith Pangle and Alan Houston have taken on the challenge of reconstruction, and each perceives a coherent political philosophy behind Franklin's public life and writings. But they represent very different approaches and reach very different conclusions.