Science, Technology, and Society 100

Human Flourishing under the Human Condition

OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
1. Identify the different conceptions of Human Flourishing.
2. Determine the development of the scientific method and validity of science,
3. Critic human flourishing vis-à-vis progress of science and technology to be able to define for
themselves the meaning of a good life.
4. Examine what is meant by a good life;
5. Identify how humans attempt to attain what is deemed to be a good life;
6. Recognize possibilities available to human being to attain the good life.
WHAT IS HAPPINESS?
 In psychology, happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being which can be defined by,
among others, positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.
 To behaviorists, happiness is a cocktail of emotions we experience when we do something good
or positive.
 To neurologists, happiness is the experience of a flood of hormones released in the brain as a
reward for behavior that prolongs survival
 The hedonistic view of well-being is that happiness is the polar opposite of suffering, the
presence of happiness indicates the absence of pain. Because of this, hedonists believe that the
purpose of life is to maximize happiness, which minimizes misery.
 Eudaimonia, a term that combines the Greek words for "good" and "spirit" to describe the
ideology. Eudaimonia defines happiness as the pursuit of becoming a better person.
Eudaimonists do this by challenging themselves intellectually or by engaging in activities that
make them spiritually richer people.

EUDAIMONIA
 good spirited"
 coined by Greek philosopher Aristotle
 Describes the pinnacle of happiness that is attainable by humans.
 "human flourishing" – like flowers achieving their full bloom.
Nicomachean Ethics (the philosophical inquiry into the nature of the good life for a human
being.)
 Aristotle believed that human flourishing requires a life with other
people. Aristotle taught that people acquire virtues through practice and
that a set of concrete virtues could lead a person toward his natural
excellence and happiness.
 According to Aristotle, there is an end of all of the actions that we
perform which we desire for itself. This is what is known as eudaimonia,
flourishing, or happiness, which is desired for its own sake with all other
things being desired on its account. Eudaimonia is a property of one's
life when considered as a whole. Flourishing is the highest good of
human endeavors and that toward which all actions aim. It is success as a human being. The best
life is one of excellent human activity.

Human flourishing arises as a result of different components such as

o Phronesis (a type of wisdom or intelligence relevant to practical action.)
o Friendship
o Wealth
o Power
In ancient Greek society, they believe that acquiring these will surely bring the seekers happiness. which
in effect allows them to partake in the greater notion of what we call the Good Life.
 As time changes, elements that comprise human flourishing changed.
 People found means to live more comfortably, explore more places, develop more products, and
make more money.
 Humans of today are expected to become "man of the world."
 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.

Different Conceptions of Human flourishing

Eastern Western
Focus is the community More focused on the individual
Individual should sacrifice Human flourishing as an end
himself for the sake of the society.
Aristotelian view
Chinese Confucian system and
Aims for Eudaimonia as the
Japanese Bushido
ultimate good.
View the whole as greater than its
component. They encourage study of
literature, arts, and sciences, not
entirely for oneself but in service for a
greater cause.
o Perhaps a person who achieved such state would want to serve the community but that is brought
upon through deliberation based on his values rather than his belief that the state is greater than
him, thus is only appropriate that he should recognize it as a higher entity worthy of service.
o Nevertheless, such stereotypes cannot be said to be true given the current stance of globalization.

Science, Technology and Human Flourishing

In the previous chapters, contributions of science and technology have been laid down thoroughly.
Every discovery, innovation, and success contributes to our pool of human knowledge. Perhaps, one of
the most prevalent themes is human's perpetual need to locate himself in the world by finding proofs
to trace evolution. The business of uncovering the secrets of the universe answers the question of our
existence and provides us something to look forward to. Having a particular role, which is uniquely
ours, elicits our idea of self-importance. It is in this regard that human flourishing is deeply intertwined
with goal setting relevant to science and technology. In this case, the latter is relevant as a tool in
achieving the former or echoing Heidegger's statement, “technology is a human activity that we excel
in as a result of achieving science”. Suffice to say that the end goals of both science and technology and
human flourishing are related, in that the good is inherently related to the truth. The following are
concepts about science which ventures its claim on truth.

1. Science as Method and Results

 Science stems from objectivity brought upon by a rigid method
 Claim to reason and empiricism
Steps in Scientific Method
In school, the scientific method is introduced in the earlier part of discussions. Even though the number
of steps varies, it presents a general idea how to do science:
1. Observe and determine if there are unexplained occurrences unfolding.
2. Determine the problem and identify factors involved.
3. Through past knowledge of similar instance, formulate hypothesis that could explain the said
phenomenon. Ideally, the goal is to reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis of
the study "to count as significant" (can also be separated into additional steps such as "to generate
prediction" or "to infer from past experiments").
4. Conduct experiment by setting up dependent and independent variables, and trying to see how
independent ones affect dependent ones.
5. Gather and analyze results throughout and upon culmination of the experiment. Examine if the data
gathered are significant enough to conclude results.
6. Formulate conclusion and provide recommendation in case others would want to broaden the study.
 Throughout the course of history, however, there exists heavy objections on the scientific
procedure; the line separating science and the so-called pseudoscience becomes more muddled.
 Pseudoscience - a proposition, a finding or a system of explanation that is presented as science
but that lacks the rigor essential to the scientific method.
Verification theory
 The earliest criterion that distinguishes philosophy and science is verification theory.
 The idea proposes that a discipline is science if it can be confirmed or interpreted in the event of
an alternative hypothesis being accepted.
 Gives premium to empiricism and only takes into account those results which are measurable
and experiments which are repeatable.

VIENNA CIRCLE
 the Vienna Circle of Logical Empiricism was a group of elite philosophers
and scientists drawn from the natural and social sciences, logic and
mathematics who met regularly from 1924 to 1936 at the University of
Vienna, chaired by Moritz Schlick.

RISKS POSED BY THE VIENNA CIRCLE

o several budding theories that lack empirical results might be shot down
prematurely, causing slower innovation and punishing ingenuity of newer,
novel thoughts.
o Celebrated discoveries in physics, for instance, are initially theorized
without proper acknowledgment of their being.
 Einstein's theory on the existence of gravitational waves would,
following this thought, be dismissed due to lack of evidence almost a
hundred years ago.
 Quantum mechanics would not have prospered if the scientific
society during the time of Edwin Schrödinger did not entertain his
outrageous thought that the cat in the box is both dead and alive,
which can only be determined once you look in the box yourself.

Thomas Kuhn, an American philosopher warned us against bridging the gap between evidence and
theory by attempting to interpret the former according to our own biases, that is, whether or not we
subscribe to the theory.

Falsification Theory
> As long as an ideology is not proven to be false and can best explain a phenomenon over
alternative theories, we should accept the said ideology.
> Allowed emergence of theories otherwise rejected by the verification theory.
> Encourages research in order to determine which among the theories can stand the test of
falsification
KARL POPPER
> aim at the production of new, falsifiable predictions
> scientific practice is characterized by its continual effort to test theories against experience and
make revisions based on the outcomes of these tests

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:
o Paul Thagard,
o Imre Lakatos,
o Helen Longino,
o David Bloor, and
o Richard Rorty,
among others, presented an alternative demarcation that explores the social dimension of
science and effectively, technology.
 Sciences cease to belong solely to gown wearing, bespectacled scientists at laboratories. The new
view perpetuates a dimension which generally benefits the society.

places in South America where many of the tribes remain uncontacted, do not regard western science
as their science. Whatever their science is, it can be ascertained that it is in no way inferior to that of
globalized peoples' science. Thus, it presents an alternative notion that goes beyond the boundaries of
cold, hard facts of science and instead projects it in a different light, such as a manifestation of shared
experience forging solidarity over communities.

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 followers,
people are sold over the capacity of science to do stuff they cannot fully comprehend. In this
particular argument, however, science is not the only discipline which is able to produce results-
religion, luck, and human randomness are some of its contemporaries in the field. For some
communities without access to science, they can turn to divination and superstition and still get
the same results Science is not entirely foolproof, such that it is correct 100% of the time.
Weather reports, for one, illustrate fallibility and limitations of their scope, as well as their
inability to predict disasters. The best that can be done during an upcoming disaster is to
reinforce materials to be more calamity proof and restore the area upon impact. It can be then
concluded that science does not monopolize the claim for definite results.

THE GOOD LIFE


In Ancient Greece, long before the word "science" has been coined, the need to understand
the world and reality was bound with the need to understand the self and the good life.
 For Plato, the task of understanding the things in the world runs parallel with the job of truly
getting into what will make the soul flourish,
 In an attempt to understand reality and the external world, man must seek to understand
himself, too.
 It was Aristotle who gave a definitive distinction between the theoretical and practical
sciences.
the "good" is the end
goal of the practical
Theoretical Sciences.
Sciences Practical Sciences

 Logic  Ethics
 Biology  Politics
 Physics "truth" is the aim of
 metaphysics the theoretical
sciences
 Every attempt to know is connected in some way in an attempt to find the "good" or as said
in the previous lesson, the attainment of human flourishing Rightly so, one must find the
truth about what the good is before one can even try to locate that which is good.

According to Westacott (2018), there are three ways by which we can understand the
meaning of good life. These are moral life, life of pleasure and fulfilled life.

A. MORAL LIFE
"Good life" - moral approval. They are good person, courageous, honest, trustworthy, kind,
selfless, generous, helpful, loyal, principled and so on.

o Socrates in Gorgias - argued it is better to suffer wrong than to do it, that a good
man who has his eyes gouged out and is tortured to death is more fortunate than a
corrupt person who has uses wealth and power dishonorably.

o Plato - the morally good person enjoys a sort of inner harmony whereas the wicked
person, no matter how rich and powerful he maybe or how may pleasures he
enjoys, is disharmonious, fundamentally at odds with himself and the world.

B. THE LIFE OF PLEASURE

Greek philosopher Epicurus - pleasure is enjoyable, its fun; is what makes life worth living.

Hedonism. People who are devoted to sex, food, drink and sensual indulgence Dominant in
western culture.

o Living the good life enjoying lots of recreational pleasures, good food, good wine,
scuba diving, etc. subjective experiences. A person is happy when they feel good
and have many " feel good experiences"

Epicure - someone who is appreciative of food and drink.

C. THE FULFILLED LIFE BY ARISTOTLE

1. Virtue morally virtuous

2. Health enjoy good health and reasonably long life.

3. Prosperity-comfortably off (Aristotle affluent enough so that they don't need to work
for a living doing something that they would not freely choose to do)

4. Friendship - good friends; innately social

5. Enjoy respect of others

6. Need good luck, common sense

7. Exercise their unique human abilities and capacities

SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHERS BELIEF
THOUGHT
Materialism Leucippus & Democritus Comfort, pleasure and wealth
are the only highest goals
Hedonism Epicurus Life is limited, one must indulge
itself with pleasures –Eat, drink
and be merry for tomorrow we
die
Stoicism Zeno of Citium Virtue happiness and
judgement should be based acts
Marcus Aurelius on behavior than words;
practical application
Theism Ultimate happiness is
communion with God. Find the
meaning of their lives by using
God as the creator of their
existence
Monotheism & polytheism
Humanism International Humanist Ethical Human beings have the right
Union and responsibility to give
meaning and shape their own
lives
-stewards of creation but as
individuals who have control
for themselves as well as the
world outside them

Meaningful Life

1. Well-being of Family especially children and grandchildren

2. Pursuing a particular kind of work with great dedication (scientific research, artistic creation,
scholarship)

3. Devote themselves to a cause - protecting environment

4. Immersion or engagement in a community, church and school

Finished life

Call no man happy until he's long dead because after death that is the only time that you will know how
he live.
Example: Jimmy Saville who was much admired but a serial sexual predator. A good life is one
that is enviable and admirable. GOOD MORAL LEAD US TO THE GOOD AND HAPPY LIFE.
THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF A GOOD LIFE

TRUE HAPPINESS IS FOUND BY LEADING A VIRTUOUS LIFE AND DOING WHAT IS WORTH
DOING.

FEELING GOOD IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR A GOOD LIFE.

Each person must realize his/her potentialities which would lead him/her to the greatest fulfillment.

REFERENCES:

Prieto,Niela G., Vega, Violeta A., Felife, Elizabeth F. & Meneses, Julius L. (2019) Science Technology
Society. Manila: Lorimar Publishing Inc.

Perez, J., (2019). "Good Life". Retrieved from

https://www.scribd.com/presentation/418894726/Chapter-6-The-Good-Life

Estardo, A., (2018). "Human Person flourishing in terms of Science and Technology" Retrieved from
https://www.slideshare.net/annaestardo/bspsts-pt4