THE HUMAN PERSON FLOURISHING IN TERMS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

● Technology has always been defined as a means to an end and being a human
activity.
● It has long filled the word. Everyday routines are marked with technological
advances that reflect what a society is good or known for. Technology has
advanced since the middle of the 20th.
● 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.
Human Flourishing
● an effort to achieve self-actualization and fulfillment within the context of a larger
community of individuals, each with the right to pursue his or her own such
efforts.

Flourishing
● a state where people experience positive emotions, positive psychological
functioning and positive social functioning, most of the time, “living” within an
optimal range of human functioning.

- Human Flourishing arises as a result of different components such as:

● Phronesis
● Friendship
● Wealth
● Power

PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN FLOURISHING

● Dignity of the Human person - innate personal values or rights which demands
respect for all people, regardless of race, social class, wealth etc.
● Common Good - sacrificing self-interest to provide for the basic human needs of
everyone makes the whole community flourish.
● Preferential Option for the Poor - when decisions are made by first considering
the poor.
● Subsidiarity - when all those affected by a decision are involved in making it.
● Universal Purpose of Goods - the Earth’s resources serve every person’s
needs, regardless of who “owns” them.
● Stewardship of creation - duty to care for the Earth as a (God-given) gift is a
personal responsibility for the common good.
 ● Promotion of Peace - everyone has the duty to respect and collaborate in
personal relationships, and at national and global levels.
● Participation - everyone has the right to take part in the life of a society
(economic, political, cultural, religious)
● Global Solidarity - recognition that we are all interconnected, part of one
human family.

Eastern vs Western conception regarding Society and Human Flourishing

EASTERN CONCEPTION
● Focus is community-centric
● Individual should sacrifice himself for the sake of society
● Chinese Confucian system
● Japanese Bushido
● Encourages studies of literature, sciences and art for a greater cause

WESTERN CONCEPTION
● More focused on the individual
● Human Flourishing as an end
● Aristotelian view
● Aims for eudaimonia as the ultimate goal

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND HUMAN FLOURISHING

● Every discovery, innovation, and success contributes to our pool of human
knowledge.
● Human’s perpetual need to locate himself in the world by finding proofs to trace
evolution.
● Elicits our idea of self-importance.
● Technology is a human activity we excel in as a result of achieving science.
(Heidegger)
● Good is inherently related to the truth.