Rewarding Virtue

In his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin presents a plan for moral perfection: a set of thirteen virtues for individuals to cultivate. These virtues are meant to aid in one's economic and political successes while contributing to the greater social good. Rewarding Virtue questions whether Franklin's premise-that living virtuously benefits the individual as well as the community-can be judged by historical experience. In this book each of Franklin's famous virtues (temperance, order, silence, etc.) are presented in such a way to determine if living by these maxims do result in enhanced wealth or reputation.