Human Flourishing

Lesson 1 For Midterms In

Science, Technology And Society
 A PUZZLING PROBLEM
• People want to be healthy but many consume
junk food.
• People want to be happy but many do things
that make themselves miserable.
• Most things that taste good are probably bad
for you.
• Most things that give you a thrill are probably
bad for you too.
 WHAT IS THE GOOD LIFE?
• People have different
ideas of what constitutes
the good life.
• Wrong pursuits may lead
to tragic consequences.
• Correct pursuits may lead
to flourishing.
• Therefore, be careful what
you dream for.
But for Aristotle for Him the Good Life
is Eudaimonia
• Eudaimonia – A life well lived.
Sometimes translated as “Human
Flourishing”
• - A life of Eudaimonia is a life of
striving. It’s a life of Pushing
Yourself to your limits, and Finding
Success. A Eudaimonistic life will
be full of the happiness that comes
from Achieving something really
difficult, rather that just having it
Handed to you.
 Nicomachean Ethics
 Is the name normally given to Aristotle's best-known work on ethics. The work,
which plays a pre-eminent role in defining Aristotelian ethics, consists of ten books,
originally separate scrolls, and is understood to be based on notes from his lectures
at the Lyceum.

 The title is often assumed to refer to his son Nicomachus, to whom the work was
dedicated or who may have edited it (although his young age makes this less
likely). Alternatively, the work may have been dedicated to his father, who was also
called Nicomachus.

 He discussed Nicomachean Ethics that it arises as a result of different

components:
-Phronesis -Wealth
-Friendship -Power
 Phronesis
• Practical Judgement (Phronesis). This is the judgment used
in deciding well upon overall actions, not specific acts of
making as in techne. While truth in techne would concern
making something needed for some higher
purpose, phronesis judges things according to the aim of
living well overall. This, unlike techne and episteme, is an
important virtue, which will require further discussion.
Aristotle associates this virtue with the political art.
Aristotle distinguishes skilled deliberation from knowledge,
because we do not need to deliberate about things we
already know. It is also distinct from being good at
guessing, or being good at learning, because true
consideration is always a type of inquiry and reasoning.
 Friendship
Aristotle says speculations (for example about whether love comes from attractions between like
things) are not germane to this discussion, and he divides aims of friendships or love into three types each giving
feelings of good will that go in two directions:
• Utility or usefulness
Friendships of utility are relationships formed without regard to the other person at all. With these
friendships are classed family ties of hospitality with foreigners, types of friendships Aristotle associates with
older people. Such friends are often not very interested in being together, and the relationships are easily broken
off when they cease to be useful
• Pleasure
At the next level, friendships of pleasure are based on fleeting emotions and are associated with
young people. However, while such friends do like to be together, such friendships also end easily whenever
people no longer enjoy the shared activity, or can no longer participate in it together.
• The pursuit of good
– Friendships based upon what is good are the perfect form of friendship, where both friends enjoy each
other's virtue. As long as both friends keep similarly virtuous characters, the relationship will endure
and be pleasant and useful and good for both parties, since the motive behind it is care for the friend
themselves, and not something else. Such relationships are rare, because good people are rare, and bad
people do not take pleasure in each other.
 Wealth
• This is a virtue we observe when we see how people act
with regards to giving money, and things whose worth is
thought of in terms of money.
• Because he is aiming at a spectacle, a person with this
virtue will not be focusing on doing things cheaply, which
would be petty, and he or she may well overspend. So as
with liberality, Aristotle sees a potential conflict between
some virtues, and being good with money.
• But he does say that magnificence requires spending
according to means, at least in the sense that poor man can
not be magnificent. The vices of paltriness and vulgar
chintziness "do not bring serious discredit, since they are
not injurious to others, nor are they excessively unseemly".
 Power/Political Power
• The grandest expression of ethical virtue requires great
political power, because it is the political leader who is in a
position to do the greatest amount of good for the
community. The person who chooses to lead a political life,
and who aims at the fullest expression of practical wisdom,
has a standard for deciding what level of resources he
needs: he should have friends, property, and honors in
sufficient quantities to allow his practical wisdom to
express itself without impediment. But if one chooses
instead the life of a philosopher, then one will look to a
different standard—the fullest expression of theoretical
wisdom—and one will need a smaller supply of these
resources.
 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
 Science as Methods and Results
• • Science stems from objectivity brought upon
by a rigid method
• • Claim to reason and empiricism
 Steps in Scientific Method
2. Determining 3. Formulate Hypothesis-
1.Observe 4. Conduct experiment
The Problem Reject null Hypothesis

6. Formulate Conclusion and

5. Gather and analyze
Provide recommendation
 1. Observation

Observation consists of receiving

knowledge of the outside world through our
senses, or recording information
using scientific tools and instruments. Any data
recorded during an experiment can be called
an observation.
 2. Determining The Problem

Identify and analyze a problem. Data

regarding the problem can be collected using a
variety of methods. One way we’re all
accustomed to is the classic: who, what, where,
when, how, and to what extent? The scientific
method works best when you have a problem
that can be measured or quantified in some way.
 3. Formulate Hypothesis- Reject null Hypothesis

A hypothesis is a statement that provides an

educated prediction or proposed solution. A good
format for a hypothesis would be, “If we do XX,
then YY will happen.” Remember, the
hypothesis should be measurable so it can help
you solve the business problem identified in step
one.
 4. Conduct experiment

This is when an activity is created to

confirm (or not confirm) the hypothesis. There
have been entire books written about conducting
experiments. We won’t be going into that kind of
depth today but it’s important to keep in mind a
few things when conducting your experiment:
 5. Gather and analyze

• Once the experiment is complete, the results can be

analyzed. The results should either confirm the
hypothesis as true or false. If by chance, the results
aren’t confirmed, this doesn’t mean the experiment was
a failure. In fact, it might give you additional insight to
form a new hypothesis. It reminds me of the
famous Thomas Edison quote, “I have not failed. I’ve
just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
 6.Formulate Conclusion and Provide
recommendation

Whatever the result, the outcomes from the

experiment should be communicated to the
organization. This will help stakeholders
understand which challenges have been resolved
and which need further investigation. It will
create buy-in for future experiments.
Stakeholders might also be in a position to help
develop a more focused hypothesis.
 Verification Theory
• Verificationism thus rejects as cognitively
"meaningless" statements specific to entire fields such
as metaphysics, theology, ethics and aesthetics. Such
statements may be meaningful in influencing emotions
or behavior, but not in terms of conveying truth value,
information or factual content.
• A discipline is science if it can be confirmed or
interpreted in the event of an alternative hypothesis
being accepted.
• Takes into account those results which are measurable
and experiments which are repeatable.
 Karl Popper
• He state that up-and-coming
theories of the time are not
testable and not falsifiable
• aim at the production of new,
falsifiable predictions –
• scientific practice is
characterized by its continual
effort to test theories against
experience and make revisions
based on the outcomes of these
tests
 Falsification Theory
• To counter this, Karl Popper (1902 - 1994) proposed
the concept of Falsificationism, whereby if no
cases where the “universal” claim is false can be found,
then the hypothesis is accepted as provisionally
true. A. J. Ayer
• As long as an ideology is not proven to be false and can
best explain a phenomenon over alternative theories,
we should accept the said ideology.
• • Allowed emergence of theories otherwise rejected by
the verification theory.
• • Encourages research in order to determine which
among the theories can stand the test of falsification.
 Millennium Development
Goals(MDGs)
The United Nations Millennium Development Goals are eight
goals that all 191 UN member states have agreed to try to achieve by
the year 2015. The United Nations Millennium Declaration, signed in
September 2000 commits world leaders to combat poverty, hunger,
disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination
against women. The MDGs are derived from this Declaration, and all
have specific targets and indicators.

The MDGs are inter-dependent; all the MDG influence health,

and health influences all the MDGs. For example, better health enables
children to learn and adults to earn. Gender equality is essential to the
achievement of better health. Reducing poverty, hunger and
environmental degradation positively influences, but also depends on,
better health.
The Eight Millennium Development
Goals are
 Sustainable Development Goals(SDG)
• Nearly all the countries in the world have promised to
improve the planet and the lives of its citizens by
2030.
• They’ve committed themselves to 17 life-changing
goals, outlined by the UN in 2015. These Global Goals,
also known as the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), include ending extreme poverty, giving people
better healthcare, and achieving equality for women.
• The aim is for all countries to work together to ensure
no one is left behind. You can read about the goals
below, and learn how Sightsavers is helping to achieve
them.
 The Seventeen
Sustainable
Development Goals
References
• https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-ethics/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicomachean_Ethics
• https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_verificationism.html
• https://www.sightsavers.org/policy-and-advocacy/global-
goals/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_4rVkbaZ5gIVVnZgCh09cw7pEAAYASAA
EgLbOfD_BwE
• https://workforceinstitute.org/scientific-method-isnt-just-
scientists/
• https://www.who.int/topics/millennium_development_goals/about
/en/
• https://www.slideshare.net/annaestardo/bspsts-
pt4?from_action=save
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrvtOWEXDIQ