LESSON 3

THE GOOD 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.
THE MORAL
LIFE
One of the basic way in which we use the
word “good” is to express moral approval.

This moral conception of the good life has

had plenty of champions. Socrates and Plato
both gave absolute priority to being a virtuous
person over all other supposedly good things
such as pleasure, wealth, or power.
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.
Virtue: They must be morally virtuous.
Health: They should enjoy good health and a
reasonably long life.
Properity: They should be comfortably off.
Friendship: They must have good friends.
• They should enjoy the respect of others.
• They need good luck.
• They must exercise their unique human
abilities and capabilities.
THE MEANINGFUL
LIFE
A lot of research shows that people who
have children are not necessarily happier
than people who don’t have children. But
even though having a children may not make
people happier, it does seem to give them the
sense that their lives are more meaningful.
THE
FINISHED
LIFE
The Greeks had a saying:
“Call no man happy until he’s
dead.”
MATERIALISM
The first materialists were the atomists
in Ancient Greece. The atomist
philisophers thought that universe and
matter are only made up of atoms
“atomos” or seeds.

The founder of this theory was the

Greek philosopher Leucippus and his
disciple Democritus.
HEDONISM
Epicurus continued the theory of
materialism, which does not buy
any notion of afterlife.

The hedonists see the end goal of

life in attaining pleasure.
STOICISM
Stoicism is one of the schools of
thought in philosophy created for
those who live their lives in real
world.
It was founded in Athens by Zeno
of Citium.
THEISM
The ultimate basis of happiness
for theists is the communion with
God.
Theism is the belief that one or
more gods exist within the
universe.
HUMANISM
Humanism is another school of
thought that affirms that human
beings have the right and
responsibility to give meaning
and shape their own lives.
What is the ultimate goal
of a good life?
Aristotle thought that true
happiness is found by leading
virtuous life and doing what is
worth doing. He argued that
realizing human potential is the
ultimate human goal.
Boniwell (2008) emphasized that
feeling good is not good enough
for a good life. Each person must
realize his/her potentialities
which would lead him/her to the
greatest fulfillment.
 What is the role of
technology in achieving
good life?
According to Vergragt (2006)
 Technology could contribute
to a sustainable world,
technology will support and
enhance a “good life” for all
citizens
According to Slutz (2006)
 A good life requires
essentially basic human needs
are met and aspiration for
freedom, belonging, and self-
realization are fulfilled as
much as possible.
 LESSON 4
When technology and
humanity cross
TELEVISION
Television remains to be the
ultimate medium for
advertisement placements.
(Manila Times, 2014)
Paul Gottlieb Nipknow
a German student, in late 1800’s was
successful in his attempt to send images
through wires with the aid of rotating
metal disk.This invention was then called
the “electric telescope”that has 18 lines
resolution.
 In 1907, two invetors, Allan Archibald
Campbell-Swinston who was an English
scientist, and Boris Rosing who was a
Russian scientist, created a new system of
television by using a cathode ray tube in
addition to the mechanical scanner system.
This success story gave rise to two types of
television systems, namely, mechanical and
electronic television
MOBILE PHONES
It was claimed that mobile phones
are considered a must-have among
young Filipinos.
In 2010, global research agency
Synovate conducted a survey and
declared 67% product ownership in
the country.
On April 3, 1973
Martin Cooper, a senior engineer at
Motorola made the world’s first mobile
phone call.The mobile phone used by
Cooper weighed 1.1 kilograms and
measured 228.6x127x44.4 mm. This is
capable of a 30-minute talk time.
However, it took 10 hours to charge.
In 1983, Motorola made their first
commercial mobile phone
available to the public. It was
known as the Motorola DynaTac
8000x (Goodwin, 2016)
COMPUTER
S Charles Babbage, a nineteenth
century English Mathematician
professor, who designed the
analytical engine which was used as
the basic framework of the
computers even until the present
time.
 It was not long before people started
dreaming that they could bring their
devices to any place they wished. They
hoped that someday it would be
possible for these devices to be
portable.
The first true portable was released in
April 1981. It was called the Osborne 1
(Orfano, 2011)
 A typical household own at least
four of the following devices: a
mobile phone (89%), smartphone
(53%), tablet (14%), desktop (39%),
laptop or netbooks (37%), and a
smart TV (4%) – (Philstar, 2013)
ROBOTICS AND
HUMANITY
Another great product of the innovative
minds of the people is robot. Robots are
now widely used. The International
Federation of Robotics (IFR) and United
Nations Economic Commission for
Europe (UNECE) made it their task to
formulate working definition for service
robots.
 A preliminary extract of the
relevant definition is (IFR, 2012):
 A robot is actuated mechanism
programmable in two or more
axes with degree of autonomy,
moving within its environment, to
perform intended task.
 A service robot is a robot that
performs useful tasks for humans or
equipment excluding industrial
automation application.
 A personal robot or a service robot
for personal use is a service robot
used for noncommercial task,
usually by laypersons.
 Just like people, robots also have
their own set of rules and
characteristics that define what a
good robot is. These laws were
formulated by Isaac Asimov back in
the 1940s, when he was thinking of
the ethical consequences of robots.
These are the following:
Law One
A robot may not injure a human being
or, through inaction, allow a human
being to come to harm.
Law Two
A robot must obey the orders given by
human beings except where such orders
would conflict with the first law.
 Law Three
A robot must protect its own
existence as long as such protection
does not conflict with the first and
second law.