Human Flourishing in

Science and Technology

Module IV
Introduction
        The progress in human civilization throughout
history represents the development of science and
technology. As the person flourishes and finds the
meaning of his existence in the midst the
technological advancement, he may consciously or
unconsciously acquire, consume, and destroy what
the world has to offer.

         Science and technology have been part of human

existence and may have brought positive and negative
impacts on human flourishing.  To understand and
appreciate the true nature of science and technology,
the German philosopher - Martin Heidegger-
encouraged us to examine not only the function and
instrumentality but also the greater impact on
humanity.
 Learning Outcomes
At the end of the lesson, the student should be able to:
          
1. discuss human flourishing to understand the philosophical ramifications
that are meaningful to the student and the society.
2. develop their own understanding of technology-based on Heidegger’s
conceptualization of technology
 3. examine modern technology and its role in human flourishing.
▪ What does flourishing mean?
▪ What is flourishing example?
▪ Would you like to know your state of flourishing?
Human Flourishing
according to Aristotle

• According to Aristotle, there is an end of all of

the actions that we perform which we desire for
itself. 
• This is what is known as eudaimonia, flourishing,
or happiness, which is desired for its own sake
with all other things being desired on its
account. 
• Eudaimonia is a property of one's life when
considered as a whole. Flourishing is the highest
good of human endeavors and that toward which
all actions aim. It is success as a human being.
The best life is one of excellent human activity. 
Human Flourishing in the
Christian Perspectives

• A flourishing life will be a life lived in

right relationship with God, with one’s
environment, with neighbors, and with
self.
• Human flourishing is understood as the
fulfillment of God’s good purposes for
human creatures and (following the
Reformed theologian Karl Barth) includes
the dimensions of relationship with God,
relationships with others, living a
physically embodied and integrated life,
and living out a particular vocation in a
particular place and time.
Humans as Creatures
“Creature” is a “Creature” is a
theological teleological
category category

“Creature” is a
normative or
evaluative as
well as
descriptive
category.
 Human Flourishing in the socio-
psychological perspective

• Human well-being or flourishing, however,

consists in a much broader range of states
and outcomes, certainly including mental and
physical health, but also encompassing
happiness and life satisfaction, meaning and
purpose, character and virtue, and close
social relationships.
• Regardless of the particulars of different
understandings, most would concur that
flourishing, however conceived, would, at the
very least, require doing or being well in the
following five broad domains of human life: (i)
happiness and life satisfaction; (ii) health, both
mental and physical; (iii) meaning and
purpose; (iv) character and virtue; and (v)
close social relationships. All are arguably at
least a part of what we mean by flourishing.
Social-psychological dimensions Five
aspects of human existence
1. happiness and life satisfaction - is the way in which people
show their emotions, feelings (moods) and how they feel
about their directions and options for the future.
2. mental and physical health - health is a combination
between complete physical, mental and social well-being.
The WHO states that “there is no health without mental
health.”
3. meaning and purpose - Your life purpose consists of the
central motivating aims of your life
4. character and virtue - one must not only know and desire
the good, one must also pursue it in both private and public
actions. Virtue is an aid in this; it is the act of good character.
5. close social relationships - focuses on the interaction
between two individuals, paying close attention to both
behavior and what goes in people's minds (emotions and
cognitions)
Martin Heidegger
• German philosopher of the 20th
century
• Work is perhaps most readily
associated with phenomenology and
existentialism
• Written eloquently about his thoughts
on technology
The Question Concerning Technology
To question causality, Heidegger starts from what “[f]or
centuries philosophy has taught” regarding the
traditional "four causes”.

1. the “causa materialis, the material, the matter out

of which" something is made;
2. the “causa formalis, the form, the shape into
which the material enters”
3. the “causa finalis, the end, in relation to which [the
thing] required is determined as to its form and
matter";
4. the "causa efficiens, which brings about the effect
that is the finished [thing]”.
The Question Concerning Technology
Poiesis (Bringing Forth)
● is the mode of revealing that
corresponds to ancient craft.
● human beings were one
important element among
other sin the productive
process.
Challenging-forth
● one sets upon the elements of a
situation both in the sense of
ordering and in a more rapacious
sense.
● humans control the productive
process
● Production in the mode of
Challenging-forth reveals objects that
have the status of standing-reserve
ENFRAMING
• Heidegger introduces the notion of standing-
reserve.
• Enframing means that way of revealing that holds
sway in the essence of modern technology and
that it is itself not technological.
• As he states, this threat "does not come in the first
instance from the potentially lethal machines and
apparatus of technology".  Rather, the threat is the
essence because "the rule of enframing threatens
man with the possibility that it could be denied to
him to enter into a more original revealing and
hence to experience the call of a more primal
truth".

Albert Borgmann, "Technology," A Companion to Heidegger Ed. Dreyfus and Wrathall (Blackwell

Publishing, 2005), 428.
Why is technology a mode of
revealing?
• Technology, according to Heidegger must be
understood as “a way of revealing”. “Revealing” is
one of the terms Heidegger developed himself in
order to make it possible to think what, according to
him, is not thought anymore.
• How can technology be ‘a way of revealing’?
“Reality” is not something absolute that human
beings can ever know once and for all; it is relative in
the most literal sense of the word – it exists only in
relations. Reality ‘in itself’, therefore, is inaccessible
for human beings. As soon as we perceive or try to
understand it, it is not ‘in itself’ anymore, but ‘reality
for us.’
Social Media
• Social Media platforms allow users to have
conversations, share information, and create
web content. There are many forms of social
media, including blogs, micro-blogs, wikis,
social networking sites, photo-sharing sites,
instant messaging, video-sharing sites,
podcasts, widgets, virtual worlds, and more. 
• A digital tool that allows users to quickly
create and share content with the public.
Social media encompasses a wide range of
websites and apps. Some, like Twitter,
specialize in sharing links and short written
messages. Others, like Instagram and TikTok,
are built to optimize the sharing of photos
and videos.
• Most influential technological applications
of this century.
Types of Social Media
1. Social Networks - specialize
in connecting and exchanging
thoughts, ideas, and content
with other users

2. Media Networks - media

networks specialize in
distributing content like
photographs and videos.

3. Discussion Networks - ideal

outlet for posts that can spark
in-depth discussion among
users.
❖ Meta Platforms, Inc., doing business as Meta
and formerly known as Facebook, Inc., is an
American multinational technology
conglomerate based in Menlo Park, California.
❖ allows users, who sign-up for free profiles, to
connect with friends, work colleagues or
people they don't know, online.
❖ Facebook is also the primary source of news
and a platform for e-commerce companies to
reach out to their potential consumers.
❖ the most used social media platform in the
Philippines
❖ There were 95 200 000 Facebook users in
Philippines in January 2022 or 84% of its
entire population.
❖ a video-focused social networking service
owned by Chinese company ByteDance Ltd. It
hosts a variety of short-form user videos, from
genres like pranks, stunts, tricks, jokes, dance,
and entertainment
❖ The platform saw the highest number of app
downloads in Q1 2020 during pandemic,
driving over 315 million downloads
worldwide.
❖ platform has seen a huge rise in usage since
the outbreak of Covid-19.
 Positive Aspects Negative Aspects
• promoted communication • Inadequacy about your life or
• great avenue to create supportive
communities that help people cope appearance.
and maneuver through different • Fear of missing out (FOMO)
situations in life,
• raise awareness on important • Isolation
issues. • Depression and anxiety
• outlet for your creativity and self-
expression • Cyberbullying
• Discover (with care) sources of • Self-absorption
valuable information and learning.