| Abstract |
This paper deals with Defoe's involvement with the movement of the Reformation of Manners at the turn of the eighteenth-century. It demonstrates that Defoe proposed solutions to the problems of alcoholism and swearing in the England of his age, on the basis of his view of the corruption of human nature. Furthermore, this paper argues that Defoe's ideas on how to correct corrupt passions are to manipulate other passions. These passions are so deeply rooted that they can never be removed. Instead of resorting to abstinence, Defoe proposes a practical solution of balancing passions with other passions. Thus, Defoe shows that even though self-love and pride are impossible to eradicate, it was viable for the social and political elites to design a proper mechanism for the public to satisfy their vanity and meanwhile unintentionally improve their behavior. He believed that the flaws of the English legal system were mainly attributable to officials in the upper ranks not leading by example. Defoe also condemned laws that were applied with unequal force, as when a magistrate would send a poor man to the stocks for immorality, but would never impose the same punishment on nobles and gentlemen. He argued that only when gentlemen and the clergy began to reform themselves could the corrupt manners of society be arrested. The paper shows that Defoe's approaches are derived from both his view of human nature and his ideas on how to correct corrupt passions by manipulating other passions. |
