REVIEWER IN GEC MIDTERM

MODULE 6-12
Martin Heidegger, a German philosopher, problematized how a human person relates to technology.

1. Technology is a means to an end. (INSTRUMENTAL)

2. Technology is a human activity. (ANTHROPOLOGICAL)

Modern Technology as Challenging Forth

Heidegger claimed that ancient and modern technology are revealing. However, modern
technology is revealing not in the sense of bringing forth but rather challenging nature.

Modern Technology as Enframing

According to Martin Heidegger, modern technology is enframing. The term 'enframing'
derives from the word 'frame' which means putting something into a box. This metaphorical
term of Heidegger connotes that modern technology put nature into a box through scientific
knowledge.
Eudaimonia is a Greek word that means human flourishing or happiness. Eudaimonia as
ultimate good is the final end of our action.

Arete is one of the significant concepts of Aristotle in achieving a good life/Eudaimonia or

happiness. Arete is a Greek term that means 'excellence of any kind in terms of intellectual
and moral virtues.

Intellectual virtue is achieved through education and experience.

Jason Hickel, an anthropologist at the London School of Economics, criticized the failure of
the growth and development efforts of the UN to eradicate poverty several decades ago. He
conceptualized a nonconformist perspective toward growth and development.

H - human beings'
U - unequivocal
M - means
A - and privilege that
N - need to be
R- respected
I - in order to
G - gain success for humanity
T - today and tomorrow in relation to
S- Science and Technology

Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of
residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, and the like.
A human rights- approach to science, technology, and development sets the parameters for the
appraisal of how science, technology, and development promote human well-being.
Human rights are rights to sustainability, as Mukherjee put it. They may function as the
"golden mean," particularly by protecting the weak, poor, and vulnerable from deficiencies and
excesses of science and technology.

The following are the three important documents:

1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights -This document affirms everyone's right to
participate in and benefit from scientific advances, and be protected from scientific
misuse.
2. UNESCO Recommendation of the Status of Scientific Researchers- This document
that all advances in scientific and technological knowledge should solely be geared
toward the welfare of the global citizens, and calls upon member states to develop
necessary protocol policies to monitor and secure this objective.
3. UNESCO Declaration on the Use of Scientific Knowledge- This document states,
"Today, more than ever, science and its applications are indispensable for development.
William Nelson Joy, an American computer scientist of Sun Microsystems. In his article, Joy
warned against the rapid rise of new technologies. He explained that 21st-century technologies
are becoming very powerful that they can potentially bring about new classes of accidents,
threats, and abuses

Joy argued that robotics, genetic engineering, and nanotechnology (GNR) pose much
greater threats than technological developments that have come before.
Murphy's Law: " Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
Kaczynski argued further that over-reliance on antibiotics led to the great paradox of
emerging antibiotic-resistant strains of dangerous bacteria.
CRITICS OF JOY

John Seely and Paul Duguid (2001), in their article, A Response to Bill Joy and doom-and-
gloom Technofuturists, criticize Joy's failure to consider social factors and only deliberately
focused on one part of the larger picture. Others go as far as accusing Joy of being a neo-
Luddite, someone who rejects new technologies and shows technophobic leanings.