SCIENCE,

TECHNOLOGY
AND SOCIETY
(MIDTERM Lesson 1-5)
 LESSON
3
Diagnostics

Instructions: Before the number write whether you AGREE or DISAGREE with each statement
AGREE 1. The purpose of life is happiness.
AGREE 2. Happiness comes from pleasure, wealth, and recognition.
DISAGREE 3. Happiness means merely feeling good or joyful.
AGREE 4. Reason is an important element of human happiness.
DISAGREE 5. To achieve happiness, humans must pursue only extremely positive things.
AGREE 6. A life of happiness is a result of a balance between two extremes.
AGREE 7. A happy life is a virtuous life.
AGREE 8. Intellectual and moral virtues are the ingredients of happiness.
DISAGREE 9. It is not the role of science and technology to guide humans toward a virtuous life.
AGREE 10. Ethical standards must be imposed upon science and technology to avoid excesses and
deficiencies.

Exercise 1. Reading Comprehension Task

Instructions: Compare and contrast each pair of terms related to Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics as discussed
in this lesson.
1. Instrumental Good - Ultimate Good
Instrumental Good is a good in which you get to achieve something while Ultimate Good is a good itself.

2. Pleasure – Happiness
Pleasure is just an important human need and it cannot be the ultimate good, while Happiness is “living
well and doing well” therefore happiness is the ultimate good.

3. Virtue – Vice
A virtue is a generic pattern of action that is typically of some kind advantageous in terms of its outcome. A
vice is one that is always detrimental to the person or society at large.

4. Intellectual Virtue - Moral Virtue

Intellectual Virtue belongs to the rational self, while Moral Virtue belongs to the irrational but conscious
part of the soul. Another one is Intellectual virtue implies knowledge or wisdom as well as habit, while
Moral virtue are habits of deliberate choice for the realization of the good. They are the mean between two
extremes.

5. Science and Technology - The Good Life

Happy life is a good life. Aristotle claims that pleasure, power and fame do not bring happiness, as
experience confirms. He persuasively argues that life of virtue is the only properly human life, and that
because happiness is human good, only life of virtue can bring happiness. I don't see how science and
technology relate to happiness except in that they offer opportunities to minimize pain and misery that
detract from happiness, even though certain people show the potential to be happy in the midst of pain
and suffering.
Exercise 2. Documentary Analysis
Instructions: Watch the documentary film, That Sugar Film (2014), directed by Damon Garnenu. After
watching the film, discuss your ideas on how the overproduction and overconsumption of sugar-based
products potentially prevent humans from achieving eudaimonia. Is there indeed a need for industries to
regulate the production of sugar-based products and for consumers to reduce their consumption if they are to
journey toward the good life together? Write your reflection on a letter size bond paper.

Yeah, there might be a need, but businesses have an obligation to be profitable to shareholders, which takes
priority.

Sugar is subsidized by the government due to business lobbying, so there is no risk that the government
would take a hard stand against sugar. The government will advance platitudes like "reducing the
consumption of sweetened drinks," but that's as far as they go. Sugar is used to make goods more palatable to
customers and to activate brain endomorphs, which improve intake and profitability.

Since the industry and the government wouldn't do anything about sugar intake, it's indeed up to the
consumer to be more educated and to buy goods with less or no sugar. Only this will allow industry to rethink
the sugar content of their products.

Exercise 3. Case Study

Instructions: Within your family (4 members) conduct a simple on the case of sugar consumption. You may
either hold brief interviews or use survey questionnaires to gather data for your case study. Your data
gathering may focus on but is not limited to the following:
1. Extent of overconsumption of sugar.
2. Awareness of hidden sugar content on food items
3. Food items that contain hidden sugars.
4. Agreement or disagreement on the need to regulate the production and consumption of sugar
5. Awareness on the impact of the overconsumption of sugar-based products on the pursuit of human
happiness

After gathering data, analyze and present your data following the guidelines below. Overall, your case study
report should not be more than 10 pages.

Note: The Case Study file was already sent. My groupmates were Ralph Christian Yamzon, Sharmaine Petito,
Anna Rica Liscano, and Christine Junelle Sulit.
 Assignment 3. Field Study
Instructions: inspect the packaging of a food item that you regularly consume. Cut the part of the packaging
that shows the nutritional label and paste it on the space below. What sugar, disguised in an unfamiliar term,
is found on the label? Research on the definition and effects of the hidden sugar you found on the label.

Nutrition Facts of Yakult

GLUCOSE
Hidden Sugar Found on the Label

Description:

What is glucose?
You may know glucose by another name: blood sugar. Glucose is key to keeping the mechanisms of the
body in top working order. When our glucose levels are optimal, it often goes unnoticed. But when they stray from
recommended boundaries, you’ll notice the unhealthy effect it has on normal functioning.
So, what is glucose, exactly? It’s the simplest of the carbohydrates, making it a monosaccharide. This means
it has one sugar. It’s not alone. Other monosaccharides include fructose, galactose, and ribose.
Along with fat, glucose is one of the body’s preferred sources of fuel in the form of carbohydrates. People
get glucose from bread, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. You need food to create the energy that helps keep
you alive.
While glucose is important, like with so many things, it’s best in moderation. Glucose levels that are unhealthy
or out of control can have permanent and serious effects.

Reference:
Pointer, K. (2017). Everything You Need to Know About Glucose . Retrieved from
https://www.healthline.com/health/glucose