HUMAN

FLOURISHING
■ The Greek philosopher Aristotle (385 – 323 BC) coined the term “Eudaimonia” to
describe the pinnacle of happiness attainable by humans and has often been
translated into “human flourishing” in literature, like a flower achieving their full
bloom.
■ As discussed in the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle’s human flourishing arises as a
result of different components such as phronesis, wealth, friendship and power
■ In the Ancient Greek Society, they believe that acquiring these qualities will bring a
person happiness, which in effect allows them to participate in the greater notion of
what we call the “Good”
■ As time changes, the elements that comprises human flourishing changed.
■ People found means to live more comfortably, explore more places, develop more
products and make more money . Unlike in the beginning when people lived a much
simpler life
■ The development allowed them to make grander and more sophisticated machines
to aid them in their endeavors that eventually led them to space, innovations in
medicine
■ Our concept of human flourishing has today is very different from what Aristotle has
perceived.
■ We are expected to be “Man of the World”. We are supposed to situate ourselves in
the world, working together with the institutions and the government
■ Competition has become passe and cooperation has become the trend
■ There is a difference between the eastern and western conception about the society
and human flourishing
■ In western civilization is more focused on the individual. Human flourishing as an
end is more of their concern compared to the eastern civilization
■ The eastern civilization, in their view community takes the highest regard that for
them an individual should sacrifice himself for the sake of the society
– Very apparent in the Chinese Confucian system and Japanese Bushido, both of
which view the whole as greater than their components
– They encourage the study of different fields not just 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 that he entailed it instrumental to achieve other goals
– Perhaps, a person who has achieved this would want to serve the community
but it is brought upon by his values rather than the belief that the state is
greater than him and is only appropriate that he should recognize it as a higher
entity worth of his service
■ Due to globalization and, flourishing of borders people have access to different
cultures and only a few are able to maintain their original philosophies and beliefs
and that is why we should tackle human flourishing in a global perspective and as a
man of the world
Science, Technology and Human
Flourishing
■ Every discovery, innovation and success contributes to our pool of human
knowledge
■ Having a particular role, which is uniquely ours elicits our idea of self importance
and it is in this regard that human flourishing is deeply intertwined with goal setting
relevant to science and technology
■ 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
■ The end goal of both science and technology and human flourishing are both
related, in that the good is inherently related to the truth
Science as Methods and Results
■ Science’s reputation stems from the objectivity brought upon by the arbitrary, rigid
methodology whose very character absolves it from any accusations of prejudice.
■ Such infamy raised science in a pedestal untouchable to other institutions – it’s sole
claim to reason and empiricism
■ Scientific method: steps on determining what is science
– Observe:
– Determine the problem
– Formulate the hypothesis that could explain the phenomenon. Ideally the goal is to
reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis for the study “to
count as significant” ( can also be separated into additional steps such as “to
generate predictions or to “infer from past experiments”)
– Conduct experiment
– Gather and analyze
– Formulate conclusions and provide recommendations
■ The steps of scientific method introduced us to experimentation and empiricism –
two distinct feature that give science edge over the other schools of thought.
■ There has been objections on the scientific procedure
■ There has been a very fine line separating science and the so called pseudoscience
Verification Theory

■ Proposes that a discipline is science if it can be confirmed or interpreted in the

event of an alternative hypothesis being accepted
■ In that regard, the theory gives premium to empiricism and only takes into account
those results which are measurable and experiments which are repeatable
■ The Vienna Cirlce – group of scholars in the 20th century who believed that only
those which can be observed should be regarded as meaningful and those that are
not should be regarded as meaningless. They espoused the idea above.
■ It’s shortcomings, however, proved to be risky because theories or budding theories
that lack empirical results might be turned prematurely, causing slower innovation
and punishing ingenuity of newer novel thoughts
■ For example, some of the most celebrated discoveries in physics are usually theorized
without proper acknowledgement of their being
– Eintein’s theory of the existence of gravitational waves would be dismissed due to
lack of evidence almost a hundred years ago
■ It also fails to weed out bogus arguments that explain things coincidentally
– In Astrology, whose followers are able to employ the verification method in
ascertaining it’s reliability. The idea is that since one already has some sort of
expectation on what to find they will interpret events in line with said expectations
■ American philosopher Thomas Kuhn warned us against bridging the gap between
evidence and theory by attempting to interpret the former according to our own biases
Falsification Theory

■ The current prevalent methodology in science

■ Asserts that as along as an ideology is not proven to be false and can best explain
an phenomenon over alternative theories, we should accept the said ideology
■ Due to it’s hospitable character, the shift to this theory allowed emergence of
theories otherwise rejected by verification theory
■ Encourages research in order to determine which among the theories can stand the
test of falsification
■ Karl Popper is the known proponent of this theory. He was notorious for stating that
up and coming theories of the time such as Marx’s Theory of Social History and
Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis are not testable and thus not falsifiable and
subsequently questioning their status as scientific
■ There is no known rules as to the number of instance that a theory is rejected or
falsified in order for it to be set aside
■ There is also no assurance that observable event or evidences are indeed
manifestations of a certain concept or theories
Science as a Social Endeavor

■ Because of the inconclusiveness of the previous methodologies, a new school of thought

has emerged on the proper demarcation criterion of science
■ Several philosophers such as Paul Thagard, Imre Lakatos, Helen Longino, David Bloor
and Richard Rorty, among others presented an alternative demarcation that explores the
social dimension of science and effectively
■ The new view perpetuates a dimension which generally benefits the society
– In the far off places of South America where many of the tribes remains
uncontacted do not regard wester science as their science and it does not mean
that their science is inferior to that of the modern people’s science
■ Through this kind of notion science goes beyond the boundaries of cold and hard facts
but rather it projects itself in a different light, such as manifestation of shared
experience forging solidarity over communities
Science and Results

■ People who do not believe in science are sold when it is able to produce results.
They are sold by the capacity of science to do things they cannot fully comprehend
■ Science is not the only discipline that can produce results – religion, luck, and
human randomness and for the most part during the ancient times people have
relied on religion and still get the same results
■ Science is not entirely foolproof such that it is correct 200% of the time
– Weather reports, illustrate fallibility and limitations of their scope as well as
their inability to predict disasters.
■ It can be then concluded that science does not monopolize the claim for definite
results
Science as Education

■ There is no specific or singular scientific method instead there is a variety of procedures

scientists can experiment to get results and call them science
■ Quantum mechanics appeared to gave debunked the idea of objectivity, believing
instead in the alternative idea called intersubjectivity and with objectivity is gone
science loses its number one credence
■ Nevertheless there still exist a repressing concept that comes about as a result of
unjustified irreverence of science – our preference of science inclined students those to
which are less adept
– There are distinct portions for science and mathematics in entrance exam
– The numerous science high school in the country
– The amount of students of enrolling in STEM
■ Accounting and business coming in close as a second
■ Students are preconditioned that being in the filed of science would land them a high
paying job and a lucrative career
■ If one is really in pursuit of human flourishing, it would make sense for them to
pursue it holistically
■ Mastering science and technology alone would be inadequate
■ Innovations are brought forth by the visionaries, not the prude legalists and several
notable figures in science even themselves as outsiders
■ Aristotle’s eudaimonic person is required to be knowledgeable about science,
among other things of equal importance
■ They are supposed to posses intellectual virtues that will enable them to determine
the truth from falsehood or good reasoning to poor reasoning
■ A true eudaimon recognizes that flourishing requires one to excel in various
dimensions such as linguistics, kinetic, artistic and socio civic
■ He understands that he should not focus on one aspect alone
■ In 2000, world leaders signed that Millennium Development Goals (MDG) that
targets eight concerns and one of them states that they should be able to forge a
global partnership for development
■ Inasmuch as the institutes imposing them to do so in good faith, the primary goal to
achieve growth for all might prove to be fatal in the long run
■ Economists believe that growth is the primary indicator of development. Technology
has been a primary instrument in enabling them to pursue said goal, utilizing
resources, machineries ad labor
■ But growth presents an illusionary notion of sustainability. The world’s resources can
only provide so much, it cannot be expected to stretch out for everybody’s
consumption for a long time
■ Joseph Hickel contemplated on, suggesting that developed countries should push
fort more growth but rather adopt “de-development” policies
■ The rapid pace of technological growth allows no room for nature to recuperate,
resulting in exploitation and irreversible damage to nature
■ We are now experiencing the repercussions of our won exploitation of the
environment.
■ Climate change and in turn would affect majority of the flora and fauna, half of the
latter extinct in less than a hundred years from now
■ If it continues in its currently alarming rate, we will definitely bring our own extinction
■ Reference:
– Serafica, Janice Patria J. et al (2017). Science, Technology and Society.
Philippines. Rex Bookstore Inc.