Benjamin Franklin's two-hundred year old autobiography and Carol Gilligan's In a different voice both guide us towards a definition and understanding of our own individualism. Ben Franklin's use of the autobiographical style with the (supposed) intent of providing a moral guide book to his 43 year old son is an ingenious one. It allowed him to be as self-aggrandizing as he wanted to be. It also affords him the protection of the morally anointed. He is writing about himself not because he wants to of course, but at the behest of his friends and for the benefit of his son. Carol Gilligan on…
