THE HUMAN PERSON FLOURISHING IN  4.

technological progress creates unpredictable

devastating effects
TERMS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

SELECTED VIEWS ON TECHNOLOGY

 ARISTOTELIANISM

This views technology as basically a means to an

end.

To Aristotle, technology is the organizing of

techniques in order to meet the demand that is being Technological optimism
posed by humans.
 This view is strongly supported by technologists
This may seem that technology is primarily and engineers and also by ordinary people who
concerned with the product. believe that technology can alleviate all the
difficulties and provide solutions for problems
that may come.

 The extreme version of this philosophy is

technocratism which holds technology as the
supreme authority on everything.

 Technology is beneficial in many ways but can

also be harmful in many ways.
Technological pessimism

 Jacques Ellul (1912-1994) French philosopher Existentialism

 Holds that technology is progressive and  The main concern of this view is the existence
beneficial in many ways, it is also doubtful in or the mode of being of someone or something
many ways. which is governed by the norm of authenticity.

 Technological optimism believes that This view basically investigate the meaning of existence
technology is the answer to all man’s problems. or being and is always faced with the selection must
make with which the existent will commit himself to.
 According to Ellul’s pessimistic arguments are:
Martin Heidegger, a philosopher is one of the most
 1. technological progress has a price known supporters of this philosophy.

 2. technological progress creates more

problems

 3. technological progress creates damaging

effects
  The problem begins when humans see it only as
a means to an end and disregard the fact that
there is a good technology and a bad
technology.

 Another problem Heidegger saw in the

instrumental definition of technology is that it
only invites man to a continual desire to master
it which unconsciously may be making
Martin Heidegger (1889-1996) on science and technology go out of hand.
technology
 Everything depends on our manipulating
 A well-known German philosopher examined technology in the proper manner as a means.
the two usual definitions of technology: means
to an end and a human activity, because he  In order that we may arrive at this, or at least
believed that this kind of confusing and there come close to it, we must seek the true by way
are questions to it that we easily overlook. of the correct.

 He called it the instrumental and

anthropological definition of technology or
Aristotle’s four causes
simply means by which the human ends are
realized.  Heidegger further studied Aristotle’s Four
Causes and illustrated it using a silver chalice
which he said owes its make up from the four
causes:

1. Causa Materialis or the Material Cause

The instrumental definition of technology (-silver)

 According to Heidegger, the instrumental 2. Causa Formalis or the Formal Cause

definition of technology encourages us to view (-form or shape)
technology from different periods of time as not
having fundamental differences. 3. Cuasa Finalis or the Final Cause

(-the purpose)
 He explained while technology is geared
towards meeting a human needs, still there is a 4. Causa Efficiens or the Efficient Cause
difference between older handicraft
technologies with modern technology. (-agent: silversmith)

 The four causes are all responsible for the

 As it is, “a saw mill on a secluded valley of the
bringing forth of the silver chalice.
Black Forest is a primitive means compared with
hydroelectric plant on the Rhine River”-  The bringing forth is termed as poesis and this is
Heidegger 1977 characterized by an external force.

 Heidegger also agued that “technology is by no  It is bringing something concealed to

means technological” and should not be seen as unconcealment which then makes technology
merely neutral as not only means to an end but also a mode of
revealing.
 (the silver chalice was brought forth by the  The electricity produced by the hydroelectric
silver, by its form, for its purpose, by plant set upon the Rhine River is being stored
silversmith.) for future use in the community

 External factors have caused for the silver

chalice to be brought forth.

 On the other hand, something that came

without any external force, like a flower
blooming in the field or a tree bearing its fruits
is termed physis.

HEIDEGGER’S TECHNOLOGY AS A WAY OF

REVEALING The essence of technology

 Heidegger believed that the genuine substance  The continuous revealing takes place as man
or the real essence of technology is found in allows himself to be an agent in the setting
enframing. upon of challenges to nature but Heidegger
(1977) argues that this is not mere human
 This is the continuous bringing forth into doing.
unconcealment that which is concealed. This is
a non-stop revealing.  Man is able to set upon which was already
unconcealed as he responds to the call of
 To further illustrate this, he gave some unconcealment but “ when man, investigating,
examples through contrasting ancient and observing, pursues nature as an area of his own
modern technology. conceiving, he has already been claimed by a
way of revealing that challenges him to
 1. he talked about the ancient windmill
approach nature as an object of research , until
 2. he talked about peasant planting seeds only even the object disappears into the
objectlessness of standing –reserve.
 3. He talked about wooden bridge that is built
to join riverbanks. Enframing

The mode of revealing in modern technology  Gathering of the setting-upon challenges to

bring the concealed to unconcealment.
 Unlock and Expose: It carries the idea that
nature will not reveal itself unless challenge is  Also shows the essence of modern technology.
set upon it.
 Basically putting in order whatever is presented
 -the hydroelectric plant causes the Rhine to to the man who sets upon the unconcealed but
produce hydraulic pressure which in turn causes it is a two-way relationship:
the turbines to work that eventually electricity
 -man cannot set himself upon unconcealment
is produced.
without unconcealment’s call and the
 Stock piles for future use: As technology is a unconcealed will not go into unconcealment
means to an end, it aims to meet future without the man responding to its call.
demands.
The danger of the nonstop revealing
  Revealing opens up a relationship between man
and the world but an opening up of something
means a closing down of something which CHAPTER 7
means as something is revealed, another is
concealed.- ( the rise of a cause-effect
understanding of reality closes off an
understanding of God as something mysterious
and holy)

 Another danger is when man falls into a Science and technology has changed human landscape.
misinterpretation of that which is presented to Man tends to show unlimited contentment-eager to
him. That is when he sees himself in the object seek better replacement for anything that performs the
before him rather than seeing the object itself. functions of man.
The society in the face of science and technology Robots, machines and other technologies are intended
to enhance human condition, or in the future, replace
 When one looks around him now, he will see
the human functions in the society.
that man tends to find his happiness in the
works of modern technology. Human being
 Heidegger argued that this can be prevented if  Biologists describe human as having the
man will not allow himself to be overwhelmed
attributes of living organisms-including plants
with the enframing that he was set upon, but and animals.
he pause for a while and reflect on the value of
what is presented anthropological. -This designates that human being is a complex matter
capable of performing life-sustaining processes. Human
being the highest form of these living organisms is said
to have characteristics which cannot be substantiated
through mere science.

Smith (2012) shared that; we can’t turn to science for

an answer because in the first place, science identified
human being from another creature.

-This intellect supports self-consciousness and

awareness sufficient for the achievement of human’s
function, discovery of truth, and development and
mankind.

What is the meaning of human-being?

 -According to Heidegger, it was originally the

fundamental question of philosophy, which was
pursued by the ancient Greek philosophers but
later on neglected, if not forgotten, in Western
philosophy.
BUT…  Human flourishing is defined as an endeavor to
achieve self-actualization and fulfillment within
-Heidegger is not convinced with the reason used to the context of a larger community of
justify such neglect the self-evidence, universality, and individuals. This also means access to the
indefinability of the concept of being. (Mabaquiao, n.d.) pleasant life, the engaged or good life and the
meaningful life.
-Furthermore, he argued that asking for the meaning of
the term “being” doesn’t suggest that the “inquirer” has  (Seligman, Steen, Park and Peterson, 2005),
no idea about it because in the first place, the meaning stated that human flourishing requires the
of “being” is associated with the concept of existence, development of attributes and social and
which means that the “inquirer” already has the idea on personal levels that exhibit character strengths
the term “however vague or incomplete”. The and virtues that are commonly agreed across
“inquirer” obviously refers to “man” as “being”, focuses different cultures.
to the “what” of human existence.

- This somehow justifies human being’s adaptability

to environmental changes and ability to manipulate
environment in the interest of survival.

Dasein

 Conversely, Heidegger used the term “dasein”

Aristotle’s viewpoint
which literally means “being there” focuses on
the “mode of existence” or the “who” of Aristotle’s teachings suggest that each man’s life has a
“Dasein”. The “modes of existence” is purpose and that the function of one’s life is to attain
fundamentally established by two things: that purpose.

1. Dasein exist in a world For Aristotle, happiness (earthly) is the highest desire
and ambition of all human beings.
2. Dasein has a self that it defines as it exist in such
world. (Mabaquiao, n.d) -And to achieve it, one must cultivate the highest
virtues within oneself. Aristotle believed that human
-Hence this support human being’s capacity to
beings have a natural desire and capacity to know and
decide on what is good or bad for them.
understand the truth, to pursue moral excellence, and
Understanding human flourishing to instantiate their ideals in the world through action.

It has been discussed that human being is endowed -Furthermore, these actions are geared towards one’s
with innate abilities and characteristics that let him proper and desired end-flourishing, happiness or
sustain his function and to survive in the given eudemenia.
environment.  According to Aristotle, there is an end of all the
actions that we perform which we desire for
itself. Flourishing is the greatest good of human
endeavors and that toward which all actions
aim. The good is what is good for purposeful
and goal-directed entities. He presented the
various popular conceptions of the best life for
human beings;

 (1) A philosophical life,

  (2) A life of pleasure and  For Plato, Eudaimonia depends on virtue (arête)
which is depicted as the most crucial and the
 (3) A life of political activity. dominant constituent of euddaimonia.
WHAT IS EUDOMENIA?  Pyrrho, founder of Pyrrhonism, a school of
philosophical skepticism that places the
Etymologically speaking, eudemonia is consists of Greek
attainment of ataraxia (a state of equanimity) as
words “eu” which means “good” and “daemon” which
a way to achieve Eudaimonia. Pyrrhonist
means “spirit”.
practice is for the purpose of achieving epoch.
-meaning “the state of having good indwelling
spirit; a good genius”.

Eudaimonia (also known as Eudaemonism) is a Greek

word, which refers to state of having a good indwelling
spirit of being in a contented state of being healthy,
happy and prosperous.

In moral philosophy, eudaimonia is used to refer to the

right actions as those that result in the well-being of an Nietzche’s viewpoint
individual.
Friedrich Nietzche (1844-1900) was a German
EPICURUS’S VIEWPOINT philosopher and cultural critic who published
intensively in the 1870s and 1880s.
Epicurus (born 341 B.C) was a Greek philosopher who
contradicted the metaphysical philosophers. -He is known for his criticisms on psychological
analyses that resulted to opposing ideas on the people’s
-he believed that balance and temperature were received ideas.
created space for happiness.
As expected, Nietzche viewed happiness in a different
His view is not more of how happiness can be defined way. For him happiness is an “ideal state of laziness”.
but more on theory about the real source to experience
it. -Laziness for him is described as to not have any
worries or distress in life.

Flourishing

Philosophers’ views are the evidence of objective sense

of how it means to flourish.

-It accepts that man’s ultimate desire of living is to

flourish and to experience a life of well-being (life that
goes well for him).

 Socrates believed that virtues such as self- Flourishing can either be based on the state of mind (e.g
control, justice, courage, wisdom, piety and mental habit) or a kind of value (e.g insights, outlook).
related qualities of mind and soul are absolutely
crucial if a person is to lead a good and happy
life. Virtues guarantee a happy life Eudaimonia

CHAPTER 8
 “The good life is a PROCESS, HOW WE CAN DIFFERENTIATE THE TWO TERMS
THEN?
not a STATE OF BEING.
Taking the right action means correctly applying a norm,
It is a DIRECTION, not a DESTINATION”
premise, presupposition, rule, standard, or law. This
Carl Rogers, American - Psychologist 1902-1987 explains that the term “right” reasons are being used to
justify the principle and its application.
AN INTERESTING QUESTION POSTED BY MARK MANSON
 Right Action compels fulfilling duties and
“What do you do want out of life?” upholding rights.
-Duty
PROBABLY ANSWER IN THE SIMPLEST COMMON WAY
-Right
“I want to be happy and have a great family and
 Being good involves having the character and
a job I like”
personal qualities that were justified by reason
MARTIN (2012) as having moral worth.

“Happiness as loving one's life and valuing it in ways TRAER 2007

manifested by sufficient enjoyment and robust sense of
MORALS refer to an individual’s own principles
meaning.
regarding RIGHT and WRONG.
Achieving happiness and man's own desire and needs
commonly gives essence for living a good life. In Aristotelians view,

In particular, moral decency and goodness, “The understand ability of the good is based on the idea
authenticity, mental health, self-fulfilments, and of what is good for the specific entity under
meaningfulness describe it. consideration.”

DOTSON (2012) FOR ARISTOTLE

“Every human being aspires to live a good life. The good is what is good for purposeful, goal-directed
Conversely, man's idea of “good life” differs in many entities.
dimensions.”
He defines the good proper to human being as the
The Concept of being good activities in which the life functions specific to human
beings are most fully realized.
“GOOD”
Being good entails nurturing character and fostering
Is commonly used interchangeably with the term
relationship
“RIGHT”
Being good
TRAER (2007)
 Character
Explained that the adjectives good and right are related
 Relationship
in meaning, but are not synonyms.
IT ACKNOWLEDGES THE FACT THAT HUMAN BEING IS
It makes no sense to speak of a “right person” when we
ENDOWED WITH HIS OWN RATIONAL MIND AND FREE WILL.
mean a “good person; or the right action as a meaning
for good action. TIMBREZA (2008) as elucidated by GRIPALDO
(2013)
Explained that in natural ethician's view, “good is that THE FOUNDER OF PLANET OF SUCCESS defined the
which is suitable to and proper for human nature. term as:
Whenever it is not proper for human nature, it is bad
A (desirable) state that is primarily characterized by a
and must avoided”
high standard of living or the adherence to ethical and
ACTING RIGHTLY means doing the right thing based on moral laws. As such, the term can both be understood
the voice of conscience; otherwise, feeling of guilt, self- as the quest for wealth, material possessions or luxuries
reproach, and remorse will be felt. It follows that a and the quest to create a worthwhile, honest and
person, as a human being, has his own consciousness, meaningful existence.
of function, survival, and means of having the life he
MARTIN HEIDEGGER
envisioned.

Thus, considering the aspect of human being nature, An existentialist philosopher also has a different view on
the aspect of life. He dealt more on how we live an
the term “good” denotes a more objective meaning of
“a state or way of being.” “authentic life” rather dealing with the “good life”. For
Heidegger, living an authentic life means living with
deep acceptance on the facticity of “death” and
resulting to a “life lived according to what it has clearly
decided as its meaning and purpose”.

CAN TECHNOLOGY EVENTUALLY EXTINGUISH

HUMANITY?

The meaning of this term up to present times remains

vague.

Wise men of the past argued with nature and No one can deny that fact that SCIENCE and
prerequisites of the good life. TECHNOLOGY has a PROFOUND impact on how modern
man thinks and appreciates matter. It can be concretely
Similarly, questions such as “Is a meaningful life also a seen in the present conditions of man in the society.
happy one?” and “Is living with happiness The desire to feel satisfaction of research and
development through genetic engineering, cloning and
means living a good life?” are still part of the debates
the likes opened endless doors for skeptics.
even of the philosophers.
(TIMBREZA, 2013)
SOCRATES
On the other hand, man's varied ethical foundations
“The unexamined life is not worth living for”, the idea of
may also differentiate the idea of good life. Some may
worthwhile living should be filtered with experience and
define it through attaining pleasure (hedonism); others
vice versa.
may relate it to peace of mind through minimizing
ARISTOTLE desires and passions (stoicism) and some views are
based on professing moderate pleasure, which for
Further elucidated the idea of relating the essence of them, “anything that is taken in excess is bad”
happiness to achieving well-being and experiencing (epicureanism)
good life.
“What good life is?”
STEVE MUELLER (2016)
-HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY.
  By the use of technology, man is doing illegal
things

 New technology like mobile is generating bad

consequences to the children.

 By means of modern technology, terrorist use it

for destructive purpose.

 Many illnesses are created due to the

development of atomic energy and atom bomb.

 Modern technology like nuclear energy have

not only affected and other creatures.

 Natural beauty is decreasing due to the

development of modern technology.

WHEN TECHNOLOGY LIMITATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY TO HUMANITY

AND HUMANITY CROSS

 “It has become appallingly obvious that
technology has exceeded our humanity.” –
Albert Einstein

ADVANTAGE, DISADVANTAGE AND LIMITATIONS

OF TECHNOLOGY

 Technology has a profound on every aspect of

lives. The way we live, interact changes through FACTORS THAT DEFINED THE LIMITS OF TECHNOLOGY:
technology in the different fields of education,
medicine transportations, economy,  The law of physics
communications and politics.
 The law of software
ADVANTAGE OF TECHNOLOGY
 The challenge of algorithm

 The difficulty of distribution

 The problem of design

 The problem of functionality

 The importance of the organization

 The impact of economics

 The influence of politics

DISADVANTAGE OF TECHNOLOGY THE LAW OF PHYSICS

 Humans had misused the technology and used Through software a flexible medium. The
in damaging purpose Quantum and Thermodynamics effects that limits the
use of technology
THE LAW OF SOFTWARE AND ALGORITHMS More developers mean more complex
communication and hence more difficult coordination,
A software limitation: There are a given particularly if the team is geographically dispersed.
computation that we can’t do it, or we cant afford it and
sometimes we don’t know how to do it. With team of developers, the key management
challenge is always to maintain a unity and integrity of
- David Harel’s delightful book design.

THE IMPACT OF ECONOMICS

THE DIFFICULT OF DISTRIBUTION Technological Advancement cost money
A distribution system is one in which the failure According to Barry Boehm in his classic work on:
of a computer you didn’t even know existed can render
your computer unusable. Software Engineering Economics, based upon empirical
evidences, concludes that the performance of a project
- Leslie Lamport, American computer scientist can be predicted according to the equation:
THE PROBLEMS OF DESIGN
PERFORMANCE = (COMPLEXITY X PROCESS) X TEAM X
Web-centric system consist of ten thousands of
TOOLS
lines of customs code on top hundreds of thousands
lines of middleware code on top of several million lines PERFORMANCE – effort or time
of operating system code.
COMPLEXITY – volume of human- generated code
“Everything should not be multiplied unnecessarily”
PROCESS – maturity of process and notation

- William Occam TEAM – skill set, experience and motivation

Isaac Newton projected Occam”s works into physics by TOOLS – software tools automation
nothing. “We are admit no more causes of natural
things such are both true and sufficient to explain their THE INFLUENCE OF POLITICS
appearances”
 Investment in software development is the key
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but to success; the political organization can
not simplier.” - Albert Einstein influence its progress and limitation. Great
things could have provided if the politics
 THE PROBLEM OF FUNCTIONALITY influences are on a positive side.

Brooks writes: To consider the requirements HUMANITY

functionally, and non-functionally of a machine has a
limitation.  From the latin word “humanitas” which means
“human nature, kindness.”

 Humanity is the human race, which includes

everybody on earth.

 It’s also a word for the qualities that make us

human, such as the ability to love and have
IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATION compassion, be creative and not be a robot or
alien.
“None Person can ever understand such a
system completely” POLICIES AND TECHNOLOGICAL
– Booch (2003) ADVANCEMENT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
* U.S industry technological advancement frequently - On December 5, NASA launched the Orion spacecraft.
has been reinforced by congressional initiatives over Charles Bolden a NASA Administrator declared it as a
past 30 and more. “Day one Mars era”

-U.S Industrial Competitiveness and Technological - The Company of Mars one is preparing to launch a
Advancement article in 2012 robotic mission to Mars in 2018, with succeeding
humans in 2025.,
* Increase in economic growth in the contribution to
the creation of new goods, new services, new job and WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY
new capital because of the advances technology.
 wearable have the potential to teach us,
* Technology application can improve productivity and
quality of products.  protect our health, as well as violate our

CANADA, USA, NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA TO  Privacy in any amount ways.

EUROPE AND ASIA-PACIFIC

* Scientific developments and technological changes are

important drives of current economic performance.

* Some features of this transformation are the: Growing

STATE-SPONSORED HACKTIVISM
impact of information and communications
technologies; rapid application of new products and AND SOFT WAR
processes; a change to more knowledge-intensive
industries and services. -"Soft war" is a concept used to explain rights and
duties of is urgent even terrorists during armed
struggle.

-Soft war incorporates tactics other than armed forced

to achieve political ends.
PHILIPPINES
-Hacktivism or Cyber war could the tools of
 The technology market is facing crisis since the
economic environment of the developing soft war, through states in inter-states conflict,
countries are opposing technology based
institutions. as opposed to isolated individuals or groups.

- Research and Development and Technology in the ENHANCE PATHOGENS

Philippines
-October 17, 2014 the White House suspend a research
ETHICAL DILEMMAS that

 Science and technology as well as research and would enhance the pathogenicity of viruses.
development enjoy and must continue autto
enjoy onomy from the state and society. -Gain-of-function research is not detrimental; it is used
to provide
-Technology Permeates every aspects of human life
and activity. vital understanding to virus and how to treat them.

REAL-TIME SATELLITE SURVEILLANCE VIDEO NON-LETHAL WEAPONS

ASTRONAUT BIOTHICS Weapons that may not kill but can cause serious pain,
(of colonizing Mars) physical injuries and long term health costs.
- The colonization of Mars and plans for a long- term ROBOT SWARMS
space missions are already on going.
Harvard University researchers newly created group of
1000 robots.

No human intervention is required on these

"kilobots" beyond the original set of instructions and

works together to complete tasks.

ARTIFICIAL FORMS

 Research on artificial life forms is an range of

synthetic biology focused on custom building
life forms to address specific purposes.
Synthetic life allows scientists to study the
origins of life by building it rather than breaking
it down. Making artificial life forms has been
deemed "playing God".

RESILIENT SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS

 Resilient Social-Ecological Systems is what we

need to build. Tolerantly being pushed to an
extreme while maintaining their functionality
either by returning to the early state or by
operating a new state. Able to stand extreme
weather events or regain functionality quickly
afterwards is an example.

BRAIN-TO-BRAIN INTERFACES

 It's no Vulcan mind meld, but brain-to-brain

interfaces have been achieved, allowing for
direct communication from one brain to
another without speech. The interactions can
be between humans or between humans and
animals.