NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Cabanatuan City
ISO 9001:2015 Certified
College of Arts and Sciences
Mathematics and Science Department

Module in

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY,
& SOCIETY
UNIT V.
THE GOOD LIFE

Danny O. Alfonso Cristo Mark D. Ancheta Roel S. Ang

Leonardo M. Aquino Bryan Joshua V. Bacani Joseph R. Del Carmen
Jaynelle G. Domingo Angel Joyce C. Fajardo Gian Carlo S. Gaetos
Alpha B. Gumayagay Jewell Ann P. Manabat Darwin U. Ong
Olympia O. Riogelon Julius Jay N. Rodriguez Janina C. Sercenia
Glenda R. Tandingan Diwata Y. Villaflor

This module is a property of the Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology
Overview

In this unit, you will learn about what different schools of thought and individuals consider as the
“good life” and its accompanying limitations and responsibilities. These will help you identify the ways of
how you can enjoy a good life through science and technology within the bounds of society’s moral
principles and ethical standards.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the unit, I am able to:

1. define what is the “good life”; and
2. examine shared concerns that make up the good life to come up with innovative, creative
solutions to contemporary issues guided by ethical standards

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Setting Up

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: ________________________

Course/Year/Section: ___________________________

Directions: Everyone has a different definition of what having a “Good Life” looks like. Have you considered
what a good life is like? To help you answer the following questions on the space provided.

1. What does living a “Good Life” mean to you? (When can you say that a person is actually living a
good life?)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Do you believe that you are living a good life right now? Why or why not?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. What role do you think science and technology plays in helping people achieve what they think is a
good life?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Lesson Proper

The Good Life

As you may have realized in the previous activity, the answer to the question, “What is a Good Life?”
varies among individuals. It can also vary among people from different places, cultures, and schools of
philosophy! The time or period during which a person lives will also affect how he or she defines a good
life. For example, do you think a person living in the 16th century England will have the same idea of a good
life as a person living in the Philippines during the present day? Of course, not!

Let us begin by discussing the three main ideas that address the good life: The Moral Life, The
Fulfilled Life, and The Life of Pleasure.

The Moral Life is a concept of the good life introduced by Socrates and Plato. Are you familiar with
these two philosophers? To give you a bit of a background, Socrates is a Greek philosopher who is also
considered as the father of western philosophy. Plato was his most famous student and apprentice (Ancient
History Encyclopedia, 2009)

According to them, a person who has a good life is someone who possesses and practices the most
important virtues. These virtues are courage, kindness, loyalty, and generosity. They believed being
virtuous is superior overall supposedly good things like pleasure, power, or wealth. The concept of the
Moral Life as a good life also believes that:
• Questioning, reflecting, and examining the nature of things is important in order to have a good life.
• Servitude to others is essential.
• To have a good life, one must have full control of his or her desires and passions with proper reason.

Aristotle, another famous philosopher that I’m sure you are familiar with, claims that a good life
is The Fulfilled Life. Aristotle is the student of Plato. Aristotle views the good life more comprehensively
and that it all boils down to man’s desire to be happy. He believes that someone has a good life if he or
she:

• is morally virtuous
• has a good health and long life
• leads a prosperous lifestyle
• has good friends
• respects other people
• has good luck or fortune, and
• is able to use his or her abilities, talents, and capacities.

According to this theory, we value things because they are a means to achieve other things. For
example, we value money because it allows us to buy our needs and wants. We value leisure because it
lets us rest and has time to pursue our interests. However, happiness is something we value in itself and
not because we get something else when we have it. In other words, the value of happiness is intrinsic
rather than instrumental (Westacott, 2020).

Last but not the least, another philosopher named Epicurus suggested the concept of The Life of
Pleasure. According to him, life is worth living because of pleasures. Pleasure can be defined as a mental
state that is enjoyable, positive, and worth seeking. This view that pleasure leads to a good life or that
pleasure is what makes life worth living, is known as hedonism (Westacott, 2020) There are many kinds
of pleasures in this world, some of which are wealth, fame, food, and sexual pleasures. Calling someone a
hedonist often has a negative connotation because it suggests that he or she is devoted to “lower”
pleasures like food, drinks, sex, and other sensual indulgences.

Although Epicurus thinks these can give a person a good life, he also believes that a person should
not lose himself or herself to pleasures because:

1. This will reduce one’s pleasure in the long run

2. Pleasure from things like friendship and education are more important.
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 3. Everyone should live a virtuous life.

There are Three Aspects of Good Life, namely self-mastery, servitude to society, and
contemplation, and learning. The good life is said to be an integration of these aspects, disregarding the
hedonistic idea mentioned earlier.

Ethics and Ethical Standards

Now that you have a background on “What is a Good Life”, the next question is : “How should I
live?”.
The answer to this question is a matter of Ethics. Ethics is the system of moral principles,
meaning a standard for choosing between right and wrong. It is mainly concerned with what is good for
an individual, or yourself, and the society (BBC, 2014). It is the key in solving the following dilemmas:

a. How to live a good life

b. Knowing your rights and responsibilities
c. The language of right and wrong
d. Identifying what is good and what is bad

Since humans are set apart from other creatures because of the ability to reason out and the
capacity to observe rational thinking, this idea of right and wrong and living an ethical life is unique. Ethics
provides a foundation for answering complex questions and allowing humans to behave and act
according to moral principles.

For example, all of us encounter ethical dilemmas in our everyday lives. These are situations in
which a difficult choice or decision must be made between two or more alternatives, especially equally
undesirable ones. It is important that whatever we do or say is based on moral principles. Here are some
ethical dilemmas that you can think about:

1. Will you tell your parents or guardians about getting low or failing grades in some of your subjects?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Do you think it is okay to eat in fancy restaurants when some people have nothing to eat?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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3. If you find out that your friend’s partner is cheating, will you tell your friend about it even though you
know it will hurt him/her?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After trying to answer and think about these ethical dilemmas, consider what made you choose
your final decisions. Is it for the good of yourself and your loved ones, or is it based on the good and bad
standards set by the society around you? You are more likely to realize that it is often a combination of
both.

The Role of Ethics in Innovation

Question: Do you think Ethics is important in innovation? Why or why not?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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 Before we discuss the role of ethics in innovation, let us first understand what innovation is
(Callegaro, 2017).

1. Divergence
The goal of innovation is to change the status quo of the ways we have been used to it. It aims to
create and develop new concepts, ideas, and methods, therefore diverging from common. Through
this, different problems and issues can be solved using new and maybe even better approaches and
solutions.

2. Curiosity
Aristotle once said that our curiosity allows us to search for our intellectual virtues. Curiosity
urges us to examine things closely, probe, explore ideas, and ultimately gain new knowledge. In other
words, innovation begins with curiosity.

Intellectual virtues are excellent character strengths or personal traits considered to be morally
good for thinking and learning. These are often associated with knowledge and cognitive ability (King,
2014). Good thinking and learning also require traits like being intellectually honest, humble, careful,
and attentive. These are all intellectual virtues.

3. Multi-disciplinary
To come up with any innovative solution, you should be able to look at a problem from multiple
perspectives, or a multi-disciplinary approach must be applied. This provides us with a deeper
understanding of the problem and a more holistic idea about potential solutions. This can be made
possible through the collaboration of experts and people with diverse skills and backgrounds.

4. Resilience
Innovation is not a one-time task and is often a product of many trial and error experiments.
Innovators must be resilient, persistent, and determined to keep testing ideas and continue the
process despite many failed attempts and mistakes.

5. Effect to people
Innovators must also think about the effect or impact of their innovation to people. Of course, the
goal is to benefit all end-users since the people or the end-users are the ultimate judges if the
innovation is relevant, helpful, and useful to them.

6. Shared responsibility
However, we must also remember that any innovation's success is a shared responsibility
between the innovator and the community. The innovator’s intention should be for the common good
and benefit of the community. Likewise, the community should make sure to use the innovation
responsibly.

What is the distinction between technology and innovation?

Innovation is a human-centered perspective and process. It is the formulation of new

concepts, ideas, and methods to provide solutions to problems.

Technology, on the other hand, can be a product of innovation. It is the application of scientific
knowledge for practical purposes. Therefore, technology is an essential part of innovative
development (Callegaro, A. 2017).

Economic gain and technological advancement should not be the sole consideration of
innovation. It should also be ethical. Innovation can affect people in many different ways and impact
many aspects of our lives, such as our health, communication, education, politics, and justice system.
Thus, innovation should be accomplished within the bounds of an ethical framework.

Innovations are considered ethical innovations if they possess the following characteristics
(Brown & Wyatt, 2010):

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 • Humanistic
Innovations should be human-centered. Meaning, it should be helpful, useful, and relevant to the
people for which it is intended.

• Participatory
The process of planning, designing, and creating innovations should be done with the people
and not just for the people.

• Sustainable
Innovations are only ever important and necessary if they could be sustained for a long
period of time considering political, social, economical, and environmental aspects.

So, how can we relate the Good Life, Ethics, and Innovation to each other?

To further understand the lesson, please read this UNEP report with the title, “Towards a Green
Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication”
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/126GER_synthesis_en.pdf

After reading the Online Article, discuss your answer to the following questions:

• How can we relate the green economy to sustainable development?

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• What are the main principles of the green economy?

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• In what ways can a green economy contribute to achieving a good life for people and the society?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Conclusion/ Summary

Living a good life is a part of human flourishing. Without focusing on self-pleasure (the
hedonistic approach), the good life is a combination of self-mastery, servitude to the society, and
contemplation and learning.

Ethics helps us answer the question, “How should I live?”. It is a system of moral principles for
considering what is good for oneself and society and other people.

Innovation is a human-centered perspective and process. It is the formulation of new

concepts, ideas, and methods to provide solutions to humanity’s problems. It also plays a role in
achieving a Good Life. However, to attain a good life though innovation, our decisions must be based
on ethical standards and moral principles.

References

Ancient History Encyclopedia (2009). Socrates. Retrieved from

https://www.ancient.eu/socrates/#:~:text=Socrates%20(469%2F470%2D399,356%2D323%20BCE)
on July 20, 2020
BBC (2014). Ethics - Introduction to ethics: Ethics: A general introduction. Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/intro_1.shtml on July 21, 2020.
Brown, T. & Wyatt, J (2010) DesignThinking for Social Innovation. Stanford Social Innovation Review
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Callegaro, A. (2017) Why Innovation and Technology Aren’t the same. -UNHCR Innovation.
King, N. (2014) What are intellectual virtues. The Table Bible University. Center for Christian thought
Westacott, E. (2020). What does it mean to live the good life? Retrieved from
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-the-good-life-4038226 on July 20, 2020

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Assessing Learning

Activity 14
Name: _____________________________________________ Date: ________________________
Course/Year/Section: ___________________________ Score: _______________________

Directions: To help understand the lesson, watch this documentary entitled, “That Sugar Film” (2015).
Write a reaction paper about the documentary film on the next page of this module. You can use an
extra sheet if you need to. You can submit your reaction paper in a handwritten or printed format. If
you will opt to submit a printed paper, use Font: Cambria, Font Size: 12, Line Spacing: 1.5 and Paper
size: 8.5 x 11” (short bond paper/ letter size).
Refer to the following guide questions:

1. What do you think is the purpose of the film?

2. Did you find the information offered up in the film to be shocking, or were you aware of the role sugar
plays in your life? Discuss.

3. Do you think you can survive a 30-day sugar-free diet? Why or why not?

4. How can you relate this film and sugar consumption to the concepts of the Good life that we have
discussed?

Grading Rubrics: