SELF LEARNING MODULE

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

MIDTERM

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

MODULE 1:
CHAPTER 2

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY AND THE HUMAN CONDITION

LESSON 1

The Human Flourishing in Terms of Science and Technology

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this lesson, the learner should be able to:

 define human flourishing;
 interview different people about human flourishing;
 differentiate western and eastern philosophy about human
flourishing;
 and cite the importance of Human flourishing.

"AlL the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They
have their exits and entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts...
-William Shakespeare

INTRODUCTION

Every living creature is meant to become what it is meant to be. The caterpillar is meant to
become a beautiful butterfly; a small seed into a full-grown herb, bush or tree; and a human baby into a
mature person, the person "who is fully alive, the glory of God" in the words of St. Irenaeus. (Corpuz,
2015).
As we grow and develop there are different factors that affect us, there
are different questions that need to be answered and there are steps and actions
that need to be undertaken. Flourishing is the highest good of human attempt to
achieve his/her goal. It is a success as a human being when he/she achieved it for
the betterment of his/her life. The best life is one of excellent human activity.
"Eudaimonia", literally "good spirited" is a term connected by renowned
Greek Philosopher Aristotle (385-323B.C.) to describe the peak of human's
happiness that can be attained. The big question is "How?". How Will you
achieve your flourishing?
 Aristotle's human flourishing arises as a
product of different factors such as phronesis,
friendship, wealth and power. The Ancient Greek
society believed that for the people to achieve the
true meaning of happiness these qualities should be
acquired, which in effect allow them to join in the
greater notion of what we call the Good.

For Aristotle, the good is what is good for

purposeful and goal-directed entities. He defines the
good proper to human beings as the activities in
which the life functions specific to human beings are most fully realized.

For Aristotle, the good of each species is finality existing to that species. A person's nature as a
human being provides him with guidance with respect to how he should live his life. A fundamental fact
of human nature is the existence of individual human beings each with his own rational mind and free
will.
The highest or most general good to which all individuals should aim is to live most fully a life
that is proper to man. The proper function of every person is to live happily, successfully, and well. This
is done through the active exercise of a person's distinctive capacity, rationality, as he/she engages in
activities to the degree appropriate to the person in the context of his/her own identity as a human being.
One's own life is the only life that a person must live. It follows that, for Aristotle, the "good"
is what is objectively good for a person. Aristotle's eudaimonia is formally egoistic in that a person's
normative reason for choosing actions stems from the idea that he/she must pursue his/her own good or
flourishing. Because self-interest is flourishing, the good in human conduct is connected to the self-
interest of the acting person. Good means "good for" the individual moral agent. Egoism is an integral
part of Aristotle's ethics.
In his ethical writings, Aristotle endorses egoism, rationality, and the value of life. He insisted
that the key idea in ethics is a human individual's own personal happiness and well-being. Each person is
responsible for his/her own character. According to Aristotle, each person has a natural obligation to
achieve, become, and make something of himself/herself by pursuing his/her true ends and goals in life.
Each person should be concerned with the "best that is within him/her" and with the most
accomplished and self-sufficient success and excellence.
People found means to live more comfortably, explore more places, develop more products, and
make more money, and then the cycle is just repeating to suffice their happiness. In the beginning, early
people relied on animals for their transportation; they relied on stones and spears to hunt food; they used
skin of animals to protect their skin and used it as clothes; they used stones to make fire and lastly; they
just lived in a cave as their shelter. As the time went by there was a big change in the way the people
lived before and the way the people live today. Development allowed them to make grander. and more
sophisticated machines to aid them in their endeavors that eventually led to space expirations, medicines
innovations and ventures of life after death.

Our concept of human flourishing today proves to be different from what Aristotle originally
perceived. Humans of today are expected to become a "man of the world." The person today is
supposed to build himself/herself in a global neighborhood, working side by side among institutions and
different governments to be able to reach common goal. Competition as a means of survival has
become outdated; Cooperation and coordination among individuals are the new trend. There is a
difference between eastern and western ideas regarding society and human flourishing. The Western
Society where Aristotle is included tends to be more focused on the individual, while those from the East
are more community. centric. Individual flourishing as an end then is primarily more of a concern
for western civilization. Eastern civilization puts the community above the individual. Community is
given the highest regard and that the individual should sacrifice himself for the sake of society.
 LESSON 2 TECHNOLOGY AS A WAY OF REVEALING
LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this lesson, the learner should be able to:
 determine the steps of scientific method in solving problems;
 identify the importance of diversity and collaboration in the scientific community towards human
flourishing; and
 explain the concept of human conditions before and after science and technology.

The man of science: has learned to believe in justification, not by faith, but by verification -
Thomas Huxley

INTRODUCTION

Science is a voyage of exploration just to find out how things work and it's really interesting
because it is an ongoing and endless process. People tend to look for the betterment of their lives each and
everyday. The longer the people explore science, the more the people become curious that science itself
cannot answer its own questions. Where did we come from? , Are we alone in this universe? Can we ever
make humans better with science for their happiness?, Why does something exist rather than nothing?
Why are we here? These questions are yet to be answered scientifically.
It is in this regard that human flourishing is deeply intertwined with goal setting relevant to
science and technology. In this case, the end product is relevant as a tool in achieving the former
Technology is a human activity that we excel in as a result of achieving science. The goals of science and
technology and human flourishing fall on the same grounds which are the good and the truth. Science and
technology have changed the ways we live, work, and think. The well-being of individuals, nations, and
the Earth depends in part on techno-scientific discoveries and inventions.

WHY ARE DIVERSITY AND COLLABORATION IN THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY

IMPORTANT TOWARDS HUMAN FLOURISHING?

SCIENCE AS A SOCIAL ENDEAVOR

Here is an illustration of a Geeky Scientist isolated in the

windowless basement lab, strictly following the rules of
the Scientific Method, until he finished a great discovery.
In this picture science works even all the steps in the
scientific method not followed. The process of science is
flexible and may take many possible paths. Science is
done by unique individuals without following a certain
routine with motivation, ambition, and creativity. Many of
them are passionate about their work and many of them
are creative towards achieving their goals. Scientists do
spend time working alone in their own lab, field, or at the under CC BY-NC
computer but also in collaborating with other scientists to widen their perspective as a scientist. Most
scientific work also involves reviewing other scientists' articles for journals, teaching, mentoring graduate
students and younger scientists, speaking at conferences, and participating in scientific societies. The job
of a scientist involves lots more than disappearing into a windowless lab and running an endless series of
experiments. Scientists from such diverse backgrounds bring many points of view that have bearing on
scientific problems.
The following are the importance of diversity and collaboration in the
scientific community towards human flourishing.
1. COLLABORATION AND DIVERSITY BALANCE POSSIBLE
BIASES.
Scientist benefits from other scientists and practitioners with different sets of
beliefs, cultural backgrounds, and values to balance out the possible biases that
might happen if science were practiced by a small group of humanity.
Scientists should not be impartial but be objective in their assessments of
scientific issues. In those occasional cases in which personal biases sneak in,
they are kept in check by a diverse scientific community.
 2.DIVERSITY AND COLLABORATION
STIMULATE PROBLEM SOLVING.

Two heads are better than one. Science benefits

greatly from a community. Problems arise from
different sectors of society. A diverse community is
better able to generate new research methods,
explanations, and ideas, which can help science
over challenging obstacles and shed new light on
problems for the betterment of the society.

3. DIVERSITY AND COLLABORATION FACILITATE SPECIALIZATION. Scientists

have different strengths and different interests. Not only do people from different backgrounds choose to
investigate different questions, but they may have different approaches in the same question. They may
have different questions on a certain topic. They may have different respondents to validate their
hypothesis. They have different methods that are based on their interests.

4. DIVERSITY AND COLLABORATION ARE INSPIRATION AND MOTIVATION.

Interactions in society encourage innovation and development of ideas about new lines of evidence, new
applications, new questions, and alternate explanations about
a technology. Some people are driven by the thrill of
competition like the runners run faster, politicians’ campaign
harder, and students’ study more for college exams when BAJ
they know that they are competing against others. Scientists
are not exempted. Some scientists are motivated by the sense
of competition offered by the community. Likewise, the
community offers scientists the prospect of recognition from
the other well-known scientists. In science, achievement is
usually measured, not in terms of money or titles, but in terms
of respect and esteem from colleagues.

5. DIVERSITY AND COLLABORATION DIVIDE LABOR.

Science is too wide for an individual on his or her own to handle. Collaborations and division of labor are
increasingly important today, as our scientific understanding, techniques, and technologies expand. There
is simply more to know than ever before and as we learn more about the world, more research is
performed at the intersections of different fields.

LESSON 3: THE GOOD LIFE

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this lesson, the learner should be able to:
examine what is meant by a good life;
identify how humans attempt to attain what is deemed to be a good life; and
recognize possibilities available to human being to attain the good lite.

"Happiness depends on ourselves. - Aristotle

INTRODUCTION

Many philosophers have attempted unlocking the old philosophical question, "What is the good
life?" "How should one live well?" "What does it take to live fruitfully? In this module, these questions
will be answered as we understand all about achieving the good life, what every individual strives
throughout his or her life.

What is meant by a good life? According to

Westacott (2018), there are three ways by which we can
understand What is meant by "a good life" or "living well." These are the Moral Life, Life of Pleasure,
and Fulfilled Life.

What is the Good Life? The various meanings of "living well" By Emrys Westacott What is "the
good life?"

This is one of the oldest philosophical questions. It has been posed in different ways-How should one
live? What does it mean to "live well?"_ but these are really just the same question. After all, everyone
wants to live well, and no-one wants "the bad life.'

But the question isn't as simple as it sounds. Philosophers specialize in unpacking hidden complexities,
and the concept of the good life is one of those that needs quite a bit of unpacking. For what do phrases
like "the good life," or "living well," mean? They can be understood in at least three ways.

THE MORAL LIFE

One basic way in which we use the word "good" is to
express moral approval. So, when we say that someone is living
well or that they have lived a good life, we may simply mean that
they are a good person, someone who is courageous, honest,
trustworthy, kind, selfless, generous; helpful, loyal, principled,
and so on. They possess and practice many of the most important
virtues. And they don't spend all their time merely pursuing their
own pleasure; they devote a certain amount of time to activities
that benefit others, perhaps through their engagement with family
and friends, or through their work, or through various voluntary
activities.

THE LIFE OF PLEASURE

The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus was one

of the first to declare, bluntly, that what makes life
worth living is that we can experience pleasure.
Pleasure is enjoyable, it's fun,
it's......well....pleasant! The view that pleasure is
the good, or to put it another way, that pleasure is
what makes life worth living, is known as
hedonism. Now, the word "hedonist," when
applied to a person, has slightly negative
connotations. It suggests that they are devoted to
what some have called the "lower" pleasures such as sex, food, drink, and sensual indulgence in general .

THE FINISHED LIFE

The Greeks had a saying: Call no man happy until he's dead. There is wisdom in this. In fact, one might
want to amend it to: Call no man happy until he's long dead.

For sometimes a person can appear to live a fine life, and be

able to check all the boxes-virtue, prosperity, friendship, respect,
meaning, etc.-yet eventually be revealed as something other than
what we thought they were. A good example of this is Jimmy
Saville, the British TV personality who was much admired in his
lifetime but who, after he died, was exposed as a serial sexual
predator. Cases like this bring out the great advantage of an
objectivist rather than subjectivist. notion of what it means to live
well. Jimmy Saville may have enjoyed his life. But surely, we would
not want to say that he lived the good life. A truly good life is one
that is both enviable and admirable in all or most of the ways
outlined above.