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Society II: What changed in the enlightenment?

Tue, Sep 20

Learning Goals - By the end of the session you will:

  1. Appreciate how enlightenment thinkers reconceived of society in light of their rejection of the older (Aristotelian) framework
  2. Recognize how Benjamin Franklin helped write those Enlightenment concepts into the national identity or "American values" that Americans were consciously working to cultivate at the time
  3. Further build on the schema we've been developing regarding what values a capitalist economy (and other free market systems) embody or should embody

Read This:

Access readings on the course's Perusall page.

  1. Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776) (excerpts)
  2. John Locke, "Chapter 5: Property," from Second Treatise on Government (1690) (excerpts)
  3. Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1791) and "The Way to Wealth" (1758) (excerpts)

Watch This:

For your consideration: How does the tone in this song compare to Franklin's in his Autobiography?