CHAPTER II

SCIENCE,
TECHNOLOGY, AND
SOCIETY AND THE
HUMAN CONDITION
Lesson 1: Human flourishing

Lesson Objectives
At the end off lesson, the student should able to:
• Identify different conceptions of human flourishing
• Determine the development of the scientific method and
validity of science and
• Critical human flourishing vis-à-vis progress of science
and technology to be able to define for themselves the
meaning of a good life.
Introduction

Eudaimonia, literally “ good spirited,” is a term

coined by removed Greek philosopher aristotle
( 385-323BC) to describe the pinnacle of
happiness that is attainable by human. This
has often been translated into “human
flourishing” in literature, arguably likening
humans to flowers achieving their full bloom.
As discussed in the nicomachean ethics,
aristotle human flourishing arise as a result of
different components such as phronesis,
friendship, wealth, and power.
 As, time change, elements that comprise
human flourishing changed, which are subject
to the dynamic social history as written by
human.
 Our concept of human flourishing today
proves to be different from what aristotle
originally perceived then humans of today are
expected to become a “man of the world.” He
is supposed to situate himself in a global
neighborhood, working side by side among
institutions and the government to be able to
reach a common goal.
 Interestingly, there exists a discrepancy between
eastern and western conception regarding society
and human flourishing. It has been observed that
western civilization tends to be more focused on the
individual, while those from the east are more
community centric.
 Chinese and the japanese encourage studies of
literature, science, and art, not entirely for oneself but
in service of a greater cause. The Greek Aristotelian
view, on the other hand aims, for eudaimonia as the
ultimate good; there is no indication whatsoever that
Aristotle entailed it instrumental to achieve some
other goals.
 SCIENCE,
TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN
FLOURISHING
 Science and technology contributes a pool of
human knowledge and the uncovering the
secrets of the universe that gives us answers
to the questions and what we look forward to.
 One of the most prevalent theme of human’s
perpetual need is to locate himself in the world
by finding proof to trace evolutions.
 Every discoveries, innovations and success
will provide us something new to look forward
that having a particular role, which is uniquely
ours, elicits our ideas of self importance.
 Suffice to say that the end goals of both
science and technology and human flourishing
are related, in that the good life inherently
related to the truth.
 According to Heidegger’s statement-
“technology is human activity that we excel in
as a results of achieving science ” and goal of
both science and technology and human
flourishing.

 SCIENCE AS A METHOD AND RESULTS

 It present a general idea of how to do science.

 OBSERVE - and determine if there are factors involved.

 Through past knowledge of similar instance, formulate
hypothesis that could explain the said phenomenon.
 CONDUCT EXPERIMENT – by setting up dependent and
independent variables, and trying to see how independent
one’s affect dependent one’s
 GATHER AND ANALYZE – results throughout and upon
culmination of the experiment . Examine if the data gathered
are significance enough to conclude results.
 FORMULATE CONCLUSION AND PROVIDE
RECOMMENDATION – in case others would want to
broaden the study.
 VERIFICATION THEORY
 Earliest criterion that distinguished philosophy
and science.
 It gives premium to empiricism and only takes
into account of results which measurable and
experiments which repeatable.
 astrology, whose followers are able to employ
the verification method in ascertaining its
reliability. They will interpret events in line with
the said expectations.
 American philosopher thomas kuhn warned us
against the gap between the evidence and
theory.
 Example, suppose to instance that girl, lea has
a theory that her classmate lan likes her, Good,
she thought, like him too. But how do I know
that he like me?
 She began by observing him and his
interactions with her. Several gestures she
noted include his always exchanging
pleasantries with her sees her, and him going
out of his way greet her even riding a jeepney.
Thought these observations, she was then able
to continue that Ian does like her because, she
thought, why would anyone do something like
that for a person he does not like?
 As it turn out, however, Ian just generally happy to meet
people he knew. He had know lea since they were in first
year and regards her as a generally okay person.it is no
surprise then upon learning that Ian basically does this to
everyone, lea was crushed. She vowed to herself that she
would never assume again.
 FALSIFICATION THEORY

 Asserts that as long as an ideology is not proven to be

false and can be best explained a phenomenon over
alternative theories. The ideology is accepted.
 It does not promote ultimate adoption of one theory but
instead encourages research in order to determine which
the theories can stand the test of falsification. The story
of Ian and lea.
 There is no know rule as to the number of instance that
theory is rejected or falsified in order for its to be set
aside.
 As falsification method is more accepted.
 To illustrate , previous story is related:

Ian is generally everybody’s friend. He like to be around

people and generally aspires to become everybody’s
friend. However, there is this one girl, lea, who seemed
to not like him when he is around. Every time he waves
at her, she turn away, and when they are in the same
room, she avoids his glances. Through this, he
concluded that lea does not like him and does his best
to show her that he is not a threat. He began greeting
her whenever they pass by each other at the
corridor,even going so far as calling her attention when
they are able to talk to each other, he found out that lea
is just really shy and is not accustomed to people
 SCIENCE AS A SOCIAL ENDEAVOR
 Due to inconclusiveness of the methodologies previously cited,
a new school of thought on the proper demarcation criterion of
science emerged, several philosophers such as Paul Thagard.
Imre Lakatos,Longino, David Bloor, and Richard Rorty,
among others, presented an alternative demarcation that
explores the social dimension of science and effectively,
technology.
 SCIENCE AND RESULTS

 For the most part, people who do not understand science

are won over when the discipline is able to produce results
. Similar to when jesus performed miracles and garnered
followes, people are sold over the capacity of science to
do stuff they cannot fully comprehend. In this particular
argument, however science is not only discipline which is
able to produce results religion, luck, and human
randomness are some of its contemporaries in the filed
 Aristotle’s eudaimonic person is required to be
knowledgeable about science, among other things of equal
importance.
 They are supposed to process intellectual virtues that will
enable them to determine truth from falsehood or good
reasoning from poor reasoning.
 A true eudaimon recognizes that flourishing requires one to
excel in various dimensions, such as linguistic, kinetic,
artistic, and socio-civic.
 HOW MUCH IS TO MUCH

 In 2000, world leaders signed the millennium

development goals (MDG) the targets eight concerns,
one which states that they should be able to forge a
global partnership for development.
 Economics believe that growth is the primary
indicator of development as both go hand in hand,
and has put forth their resources in trying to achieve
such.
 Technology has been a primary instrument in
enabling them to pursue said goal, utilizing
resources, machineries, and labor.
 The same analogy applies to the capacity of nature
to accommodate us, which joseph hickel
contemplated on, suggesting that developed
countries should not push forth more growth but
instead adopt “de- development” policies or else,
everybody loses.
SUMMARY
 Human flourishing is defined as being “good spirited”
in the classical aristotelian notion. Humans generally
have a notion on what it means to flourish; albert in
the advent of science and technology, they chose to
hinge their ends alongside the latter’s results. While it
is true that science equips its knowers some details
about the world , its main claim to objectivity and
systematic methodology is at the very least flawed.
However, that does not stop institutions to favor those
who excel in said discipline. Finally, the economic
perception of enrichment, otherwise known as growth,
is heavily fueled by technology and should be
impeded. We have to rethink of our perception of a
good life apart form one presented in this regard.
ACTIVITY

1. Is our reverence of science

justified? Explain.
2. Were we successful so far in trying
to tie down technology with what
we conceive as human flourishing?
3. What do you think constitutes
human flourishing?
Lesson 2: TECHNOLOGY AS A
WAY OF REVEALING

LESSON OBJECTIVES
 At the end of this lesson, the student be able to:
 Explain the concept of human condition before
science technology
 Identify the change that happened in human
condition after science and technology ;and
 Name ways on how technology aided in
revealing the truth about the human being.
 INTRODUCTION
 Comparing the lives of the people before and now will make
anyone realize the changes that happened in society not just
in terms of culture, language, or rights but more importantly,
changes in people’s way of life due to the existence of
science and technology.
 The term “generation gap” is attributed mainly to the changes
brought about by technology. Although the original idea is for
technology to help everyone, it cannot be denied that until
today, not everyone is comfortable in using the different kinds
of technologies. Mostly those who belong to the other
generation think these technologies are too complicated to
operate. They have been used to the simple living in the past
and these available technological devices, though very
appealing, are a difficult puzzle to them.
 THE HUMAN CONDITION BEFORE THE COMMON ERA
 People before the common era are gifted with
brains, more advance than other creatures. Human
are able to utilize abundant materials for their own
ease and comfort that they discover new things to
motivate their selves to do, and use the tools with a
purpose.
 Homo erectus have been using fire to cook, chipping
to produce a spark, and without realizing the laws of
friction and heat.
 People discover minerals and began forging metal
work just like their jewelries considered to be a
luxury for them such as bones of animals they hunt.
 Different tribes, different gods as people who lived in
the past know how to provide their needs by rituals
or ceremonies to their gods.
 THE HUMAN CONDITION IN THE COMMON ERA

 Humans were content of their relationship with

nature
 Earliest case of man- made extinction occurred over
12,000 years ago, possibly brought upon by hunting
and territorial disputes. The holocene extinction is an
ongoing extinction and is a result of human activity.
 Growing population, overhunting and overfishing are
endemic therefore it can cause extinction of
resources.
 The began to hunt, farm and practice things
with prospect of profit. Technology has been
instrument in all of these because in searching
for the good life, people were able to come up
with creations that would make life easier
comfortable and more enriching.
 Advancements in medicine, technology, health
and education ushered in humanity’s bet yet
and show no sign of stopping.
 NOTABLE COMPARISONS
 (in the usage of technology of the past and the
present eras)
 1. MORALITY RATE. Medical care for premature
infants allows them to survive and develop
normally, while proper ,maternal care ensures that
mothers can fully recover and remain empowered.
 2.AVERAGE LIFESPAN. Science is able to
prolong lives by enhancing living status and
discovering different remedies to most diseases.
 3.LITERACY RATE. Access to education provided
to more individuals generally creates a more
informed public that could determine a more just
society.
 4. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT. Determine the
value of the country goods and services produced
within the territory given a certain time period.
 THE ESSENCE OF TECHNOLOGY
 Humanity has indeed come along way from
our primitive ways, and has a general rule, we
are more “develop” than we were before. We
see ways and means from nature to utilize
and achieve growth a goal that we believe
would bring forth betterment.
 Martin Heidegger a philosopher argued that
the essence of technology, or purpose, and
being are different from each other. To
achieve man’s and second which constitutes
human activity.
 This is not good thing altogether though, for technology
revelation is but one of many ways to perceive the world
 However, a long as human are invested in the growth and
development, we cannot distance ourselves from this
perspective.
 This is the danger presented by too much reliance on
technology. As this present strong backing by the sciences
whose reverence is also brought upon by our deluded
enchantment with technology it will prove to be a
herculean task to distance ourselves from this perspective
and consider alternatives. After all it was science and
technology that gave us explanations which worked for us
and benefited us.
 It will be absurd to venture the dark and the unknown, but
it should be done in order for us to retrace our steps to be
able to achieve the Good.
 BACKTRACKING THE HUMAN CONDITION
 Technology’s initial promises proved to be true,
regardless of its ramification. All in all human
condition improved only if by improving we measure
the level of comfort, various scientific breakthroughs,
and improved lifestyle of those who had the luxury to
afford to do so.
 For starters, we begin with considering other
concepts, which corresponds to the Good, such
aristotle’s conception of human flourishing.
 A notable distinction on aristotle’s idea is his
subscription on evaluative concepts called virtues
and their role achieving the good life.
 SUMMARY
 Science and technology has been part of human activity
since the beginning of our species. It has aided us in
survival and helped us outsmart our adversaries,
provided us comfortable living, allowed us to explore the
world, and assisted us in discovering more about
ourselves and the truth. However, it also leads us to
paradox in which we are only able to see the world in the
lenses of technology innovations. In our pursuit of
growth, we had conveniently forgotten that technology
only present one approach in viewing the world. This
forgetfulness leads us to evaluate objects as
consumable or not transcending to other human beings,
determining their capacity to be productive. This is only
one conception of technology, as Heidegger also
proposed that technology is what human do.
 ACTIVITY

 1. What would happened to

humankind if technology did not
exit?
 2. Do you agree with martin
heidegger in his idea that
technology should only be seen as
one of the approaches in perceiving
truth?
LESSON 3: THE GOOD LIFE

 LESSON OBJECTIVES

At the end of the lesson, the students

should be able to:
 Examine what is meant by a good life;
 Identify how human attempt to attain what
is deemed to be a good life; and
 Recognize possibilities available to human
being to attain the good life.
INTRODUCTION
 In ancient Greece, before the world “ science” the
need to understand the world and reality was bound
with need to understand the self and the good life.
 For Plato task of understanding the things in the
world runs parallel with the job of truly getting into
what will make as soul flourish. ( Man must seek to
understand himself too.)
 According to Aristotle “ truth” is the aim of the
theoretical sciences, the “good” is the end goal of
the practical ones. ( One must find the truth about
what the good is before one can even try to locate
that which is good.)
 ARISTOTLE – The first philosopher who approached
the problem of reality form a scientific lens, also the
first thinker who dabbled into the complex
problematization of the end goal of life: HAPPINESS.
 He puts everything back to the ground in claiming
that this world is all there is to it and that this world is
the only reality we can all access.
 There is no reality over and above what the senses
can perceive. It is only by observation of the external
world that one can truly understand what reality is all
about.
 Change is a process that is inherent in things. It
starts as potentialities and move toward actualities.
The movement also entails change.
He extends the external world into the
province of a human person and
declares that even human beings are
potentialities who aspire for their
actuality. Every action that emanates
from a human person is a function of the
purpose (telos) that the person has.
Every human person aspires for an end
which we have learned, HAPPINES or
HUMAN FLOURISHING.
 PLATO
 He thought that things in this world are not
real and are only copies of the real in the
world of forms.
 Change is so perplexing that i can only make
sense if there are two realities: the world of
forms and the world of matter.
 He also claims that despite the reality of
change, things remain to be you despite all
the changes happened.
 He was convinced that reality is full of these
seemingly contrasting manifestation of
change and permanence.
 2 ASPECTS OF REALITY

WORLD OF
WORLD OF FORMS
MATTER

The entities are only

copies of the deal and
the models and the
forms are the only real Things are changing and
impermanent
entities.

Things are not red in

this world because they
participate in what it
means to be in the red
 HAPPINESS AS THE GOAL OF A GOOD LIFE
 In 18th century, JOHN STUART MILL declared the
greatest happiness principle by saying that an action
is right as far as it maximizes the attainment of
happiness for the greatest number of people.
 Mill said that individual happiness of each individual
should be prioritized and collectively dictates the kind
of action that should be endorsed. When an action
benefits the greatest number of people said action is
deemed ethical.
 Throughout the years, man has constantly struggled
with the external world in order to reach human
flourishing.
 History has given birth to different schools of thought
all of which aim for the good and happy life.
 MATERIALISM – the first materialism were the
Atomists in ancient Greece. DEMOCRITUS
AND LEUCIPPUS
 The world is made up of and is controlled by
the tiny indivisible units in the world called
Atomos or seeds.
 The world and also human beings is made up
of matter.
 Atomos comes together randomly to form the
things in the world.
 Matters is what makes us attain happiness.
HENDONISM
Hendonists: acquiring pleasure
Life is about obtaining and indulging
in pleasure because life is limited.
The mantra of this school of thought
is the famous, “eat, drink, and be
merry for tomorrow we die, Led by
epicurus,
They do not buy any notion of
afterlife just like the materialists.
 STOICISM – Another school of thought led by
Epicurus
 They espoused the idea that to generate
happiness, one must learn to distance oneself
and be apathetic. (Apatheia means to be
indifferent).
 Happiness can only be attained by a careful
practice of apathy.
 We should adopt the fact that some things are
not within our control. The sooner we realize
this , the happier we can become.
 THEISM
 Theists: The communion with God
 Most people find meaning of their lives using
God as a fulcrum of their existence.
 To witness how people base their life goals on
beliefs that hinged on some form of
supernatural reality called HEAVEN.
 The world where we are in is only just a
temporary reality where we have to maneuver
around while waiting for the ultimate return to
the hands of God.
 HUMANISM

 Humanists: The caption on his own ship

 The freedom of man to carve own destiny and to
legislate his own laws, free from shackles of a God
that monitors and controls.
 Scientists turned to technology in order to ease the
difficulty of life. They are ready to confront more
sophisticated attempts at altering the world for the
benefits of humanity and willing to tamper with time
and space in the name of technology.
 Technology allowed us to tinker with our sexuality.
Biologically male individuals can now undergo
medical operations if they so wish for sexual
reassignment.
Breast implants are now available and
can be done with relative convenience if
anyone wishes to have one.
Hormones may also be injected in order
to alter the sexual chemicals in the body.
Whether or not we agree with these
technological advancements, there are
all undertaken in the hopes of a good
life. The balance, however, between
Good life ethics and technology has to
be attained.
“ Aristotle is telling us that having one’s
heart in the right place is not good
enough: being a good person requires a
kind of practical intelligence as well as a
good disposition,”

 It is possible to master intellectual without

morel virtue?
 It is possible to master more virtue without
intellectual virtue?
SUMMARY
 Man is constantly in pursuit of the good life. Every person has
his perspective when it comes to what comprises the good life.
Throughout history, man has worked hard in pointing out what
amounts to a good, happy life. Some people like the classical
theorists though that happiness has to do with the insides of
human person. The soul, has to attain a certain balance in
order to have a good life, a life of flourishing. It was only until
the seventeenth century that happiness became a centerpiece
in the lives of people, even becoming a full-blown ethical
foundation in john stuart mill’s utilitarianism. The only question
forefront of man’s attempts as finding this happiness. The only
question at the end of the day is whether science is taking the
right path toward attaining what is really means to live a good
life.
ACTIVITY

What is the good life?

What is the relationship between the
good life and science?
Does technology always led us to the
good life? How and why?
 LESSON4: WHEN TECHNOLOGY AND
HUMANITY CROSS

 LESSON OBJECTS
 At the end of this lesson, students should be able
to:
 Know the different technological advancement in
society;
 Discuss the development of science and technology
in the Philippines;
 Discuss the effects of the interplay between
technology and humanity through the delimmas
they face.
  TECHNOLOGY

 Technology came from the Greek

 TECHNE – ART
 LOGOS- WORLD
 Discourse on arts BUCHANAN, 2010
 The first appeared in the seventeenth
century
 The role played by technology these days are very
crucial not only to a few but also to everyone. In one
way or another, each person in the society is directly
or indirectly affected by technology whether he will it
or not.
 DIRECT- it affect the life of people and changes the
way of their learning, thinking, and communication. It
plays a major role in society, and now it is very tough
to imagine the life without technology.
 INDIRECT- Because there is a limited amount of time,
other pursuits, such participating in physical
activities(like organized sport) are sacrificed when
time is spent online ( nie and hillygus 2002). These
issues have become even more urgent in light of
statistics that indicate rising rates of childhood obesity
 Most people survive their everyday lives with
great reliance to different technological
advancement already available to the mast.
Technology provide convenience, happiness,
pleasure, communication.
 TECHNOLOGY
 Necessity or want?
 Technology change at time files
 Technology may be highly useful, but when
used improperly , it could have negative
effects.
 For example having physical and
psychological issue.
 TELEVISION, MOBILE PHONE, COMPUTERS
AND HUMANITY
 At the current, almost all household owns at
least on tv, mobile phone, and computer. People
around the world uses these technologies to
accomplish different purpose but commonly for
pleasure or entertainment.
 According to KANTAR MEDIA in the Philippines
92% of urban homes and 70% of rural homes
own at least one television set.
 It is the reason why television remains to be the
ultimate medium for advertisement placement.
 Household with TV se reached 15.135M
 MOBILE PHONE
 Filipino loves mobile phone

 More than half of the Filipino population own at least

one mobile phone regardless of time.
 2010- global research agency symovate conducted
a survey and declared 67% product ownership of
mobile phone in the country .
 Mobile phone are considered a must have among
young Filipinos ABS- CBN news 2010
 The Ipsos media atlas Philippines nationwide urban
2011-2012 survey result that one in every three
filipino cannot live without a mobile phone. In other
world 30% of the Philippines urban nation wide said
that mobile phones are necessities in life
(Roa,2012)
 COMPUTER AND LAPTOP
 Also become of Filipino household

 Not possible for all Filipino Families to own at least

one computer or laptop
 Laptop and computer are expensive

 Most profits gained by computer and laptop

manufactures come from offices, businesses, or
schools where such devices have become part of
necessities
 2010 3.6 trillion was the estimated total value output
of all manufacturing establishment
 Growing numbers of internet user in Philippines

 Although there have been a problem regarding the

interent providers.
 ETHICAL
DILEMMA FACED BY THESE
TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENTS

 Most parents would argue that these devices

make their child lazy and unhealthy.
 This is because of the fact that people who are
fixated on these technological advancement start
and end their day by using such devices. They have
a great tendency to sit and chill all day long without
doing anything productive in their homes, thus
making them unhealthy because they do not just
skip meals sometimes but also lack exercise or any
body movements.
 MORAL DILEMMA
 People especially children who are not capable yet
to rationally deciding for themselves what is right or
wrong are freely exposed to different things on
television, mobile phone, laptop, or computer.
Because of a availability and essay access to the
internet, they can just easily search the web and go
to different websites without restrictions.
 These allows them to see, read or hear things that
are not suitable for their very young age. This
makes them very vulnerable to character and can
greatly affect the way they view the world and the
things around them.
 ETHICS OF RESPONSIBILITY
 The world “responsibility” in the sense of being
accountable for and accountable to is very
appropriate to the ethics of technology because
it makes each and every person in the scientific
technological development a proxy with
reference to one another. In other words , each
person must indicate the priorities, value,
norms, and principle that constitute the grounds
for one’s actions and define one’s contribution
to the scientific technological event. The ethics
of responsibility focuses on the positive rather
than the negative.
 ETHICAL DILEMMA
 Technology brings people together

 Some would argue that technology brings people

together, it can also be argued that this is not always
the case in the real world because it may bring them
virtually closer but not physically or personally. In
fact, there are people who are friends, for example,
only on social media but not in real life. This just
shows that there are things that technology claims to
do but in reality, does not. It is for these reasons why
there are people who call for the establishment of
ethics of technology. This subcategory of ethics will
in one way or another guide people on how
technology ought to be used in order to prevent
abuse and other unfortunate results.
ROBOTICS AND HUMANITY
 Robots are now widely used. For
example, there are the so called service
robots. These particular robots do
specific tasks but focus mainly in
assisting their master in their everyday
tasks. The international Federation of
Robots (IFR) and united nations
economics a working definition for
service robots. A preliminary extract of
the relevant definition is (IFR.2012).
 Germany was one of the first countries to develop
service robots. As part of the German Federal
Ministry of Education and Research’s “ Service
Innovation Lead Initiative,” it sponsored a
collaboration project called DESIRE ( Deutsche
Service Robotics Initiative Germany Service
Robotics Initiative) which was launched on October
1,2005.
 DESIRE has the following individual objectives
(DESIRE,2009).
 To achieve a technological edge toward attaining key
functions and components that are suited for
everyday use.
 To create a reference architecture for mobile
manipulation.