‘The body as the dwelling place of the holy spirit’

education of the body in the work of Benjamin Franklin (1732-1790)

Keywords: protestantism, education of the body, history of the body, health

Abstract

Benjamin Franklin was athinker who became an emblematic figure in North-American imagination. In this paper an unknown side of this author is presented: his contributions on the field of health and the education of the body. In a protestant society developing a capitalist mentality, Franklin was an intellectual who aligned practical advices on body care with North-American religious moral. The sources for this research are Benjamin Franklin’s writings that address prescriptions related to diet and physical exercises. The conclusion is that a protestant moral influenced Franklin’s perspective regarding health and the education of the body through utilitarianism and rationalism connected to asceticism as a lifestyle

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Author Biographies

Narayana Astra Van Amstel, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brasil

É graduado em Educação Física - UTFPR; Mestre em Educação Física UFPR; Doutorando em Sociologia - UFPR.

Evelise Amgarten Quitzau, Universidad de la Republica Uruguay, UDELAR, Paysandú, Uruguay

Mestre em Educação Física - UNICAMP; Doutora em Educação - UNICAMP - Professora da Universidade de la Republica - Uruguai.

Marcelo Moraes e Silva, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brasil

Mestre em Educação - UFPR; Doutor em Educação - UNICAMP - Professor do Departamento de Educação Física - UFPR - Professor dos Programas de Pós-Graduação em Educação (linha de pesquisa História e Historiografia da Educação) e em Educação Física (Linha de pesquisa - ASpectos socioculturais do esporte e do lazer)

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Published
2020-12-09
How to Cite
Amstel, N. A. V., Quitzau, E. A., & Moraes e Silva, M. (2020). ‘The body as the dwelling place of the holy spirit’. Revista Brasileira De História Da Educação, 21(1), e146. https://doi.org/10.4025/rbhe.v21.2021.e146
Section
Original research