HUMAN FLOURISHING

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the lesson the students should be able to:

·       Identify the different conceptions of human flourishing;

·       Critic human flourishing vis-à-vis progress of science and technology to be able to define
for themselves the meaning of a good life.

1. INTRODUCTION
The progress of human civilization throughout the history mirrors the development of science
and technology. The human person, as both the bearer and beneficiary of science and
technology, flourishes and finds the meaning in the world that he/she builds. In the person’s
pursuit of the good life, he/she may unconsciously acquire, consume, or destroy what the world
has to offer. It is thus necessary to reflect on the things that truly matter. Science and
technology must be taken as a part of human life that merits reflective and – as the German
Philosopher Martin Heidegger says – meditative thinking. Science and technology, despite its
methodical and technical nature, gives meaning to the life of a person making his/her in the
world.

          To be able to appreciate the fruits of science and technology, they must be examined not
only for their function and instrumentality but also for their function as a whole. The various
gadgets, machines, appliances, and vehicles are all tools that make human lives easier because
they serve as means to an end. Their utility lies on providing people with a certain good,
convenience, or knowledge. Meanwhile, medical research employs the best scientific and
technological principles to come up with cure of diseases and ways to prevent illnesses to
ensure a good quality of life.

2. DISCUSSION
WHAT IS HAPPINESS?

 In Psychology, happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being which can be

defined by, among others, positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to
intense joy.
 To behaviorists, happiness is a cocktail of emotions. We experience when we do
something good or positive.
 To neurologists, happiness is the experience of a flood of hormones released in the brain
as a reward for behavior that prolongs survival.

IS HAPPINESS A DESTINY OR JOURNEY?

 The Hedonistic view of well-being is that happiness is the opposite of suffering; the

presence of happiness indicates the absence of pain.
  Hedonists believe that the purpose of life is to maximize happiness, which minimizes
misery.

IS HAPPINESS A DESTINY OR JOURNEY?

 Eudaimonia, a term that combines the Greek words for “good’ and “spirit” to describe the
ideology.
 Eudaimonia defines happiness as the pursuit of becoming a better person.
 Eudaimonists do this by challenging themselves intellectually or by engaging in activities
that make them spiritually richer people.

Eudaimonia

According to Aristotle, there is an end of all the actions that we perform  which we desire for
itself – 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 then toward which all actions aim. It is success as a human
being, the best life is one of the excellent human activity.

What is Human Flourishing?

·       Human Flourishing: Ability to live a good life

·       Rooted in Aristotelian ethics.

·       It values health intrinsically and applies universally to all human lives.

·       Human flourishing embraces our shared humanity and serves everyone’s interest. All
people should have the conditions for flourishing and realizing their ability to be healthy.

·       They can use their values, talents, and abilities in pursuit of their own goals and health.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

·       Human flourishing is important because it promotes the growth, development, and holistic
well-being of individuals and populations.

·       It serves as a moral basis for what it means to be a human being. If we desire individuals’
abilities to flourish, we will be better equipped to analyze and shape health policy and public
health. We can better achieve health equity worldwide.
·       Having a thorough understanding of the conditions that enable human flourishing will
promote safety and security in people’s lives. This includes health, economic, community,
financial, political, and more.

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

·       A flourishing person is living a good, fulfilling life, a life with a sense of purpose.

·       They can do what they want to do and be who they want to be. They have, and are
committed to building, good mental health, physical health, and social health in all areas of their
lives and those of their community members. This includes family, work, education,
community, politics, economics, and more.

·       A flourishing person can help their bodies thrive, their emotional needs met, the trust and
cooperation to function in social settings, and the ability to use their reason for individual and
collective ends.

HOW DO WE DO IT?

·       Human flourishing is supported at the individual and community levels. At the individual
level, we can develop our abilities to flourish by:

·       being committed to growing within, and developing, supportive and cultivating

environments that form our capabilities,

·       believing in ourselves and our abilities,

·       knowing about our health and how to be healthy, and

·       being self-motivated to achieve the goals that we and society value.

·       At the community level, we must be surrounded and supported by, and contribute
collaboratively to, strong support systems, institutions, resources, norms, and security that will
help us all flourish.

HUMAN FLOURISHING

 From Nichomachean Ethics (philosophical inquiry into the nature of the good life for a human
being.)

Written by Aristotle’s son, Nichomachus.

Human flourishing arises as result of different components such as:

·       Phronesis – the habit of making the right decisions, and taking the right action in context,
and relentless pursuit of excellence for the common good.

·      Wealth

·       Friendship

·       Power

In Ancient Greek society, they believe that acquiring these will surely bring the seekers
happiness, which in effect allows them to partake in the greater notion of what we call the
Good.

As time changes, elements that comprise Human Flourishing changed.

People found means to live more comfortably, explore more places, develop more products, and
make more money.

Humans of today are expected to become “man of the world”.

Supposed to situate himself in a global neighborhood, working side-by-side among institutions

and the government to be able to reach a common goal.

 Competition as a means of survival has become a passé.

 Coordination is the new trend.

3. Eastern vs Western Philosophy

Have you ever wondered about the differences between Eastern and Western philosophies?
Apart from geographical locations, these two parts of the world have differences in their way of
life and the approach to life in general.  These ways of living are not only brought about by
topography and physical circumstances that play crucial factors in living, but also the school of
thought that governs the major societies in the Eastern and Western part of the globe.

Let us take a look first at what “philosophy” is in general and how it affects and makes
differences on Western and Eastern society.  Generally, “philosophy” is universally defined as
“the study of the wisdom or knowledge about the general problems, facts, and situations
connected with human existence, values, reasons, and general reality.”  It seeks reasons,
answers, and general explanations to life and its factors.  Thus, if we talk about philosophy, we
talk about a school of thoughts. And if we connect it with our topic, it differs and comes with
the realities, problems, and situations of certain people like, in this case, the East and the West.
Basically, Western philosophy is referred to as the school of thought from Greek
philosophy that influenced the greater part of  Western civilization.  In contrary, the Eastern
philosophy is based mainly in Asia, more specifically the Chinese philosophy.  Moreover,
Western philosophy takes its roots from Rome and Christianity, specifically Judeo-Christianity.
Eastern philosophy, on the other hand, is from Confucianism, Mahayana Buddhism, and

Taoism. Thus, is it safe to say that Eastern philosophy is classical Chinese, while Western

philosophy is more Latin in its roots.

The main differences between the school of thought or the philosophies of the East and West
are the West’s Individualism and the East’s Collectivism.  The Eastern philosophy is drawn
much more into groups or society or people’s actions and thoughts as one in order to find
meaning in life as they try to get rid of the false “me” concept and find meaning in discovering
the true “me” in relation to everything around them, or as part of a bigger scheme. In contrast,
the Western civilization is more individualistic, trying to find the meaning of life here and now
with self at the center as it is already given and part of the divine.

Let us take a deeper look into more of the aspects or problems or issues these two philosophies
try to make sense of. The main principle of the Eastern philosophy is unity.  This cosmological
unity is the main point in the journey of life as it goes towards the eternal realities.  Life is
round, and the recurrence with everything around it is important.  Ethics is based on behavior,
and dependence is from the inside to the outside.  In order to be liberated, the inner self must be
freed first in accordance to the world around it.

Western philosophy, on the other hand, is based on self-dedication to be of service to others. 

Life is service to God, money, community, and so on.  Due to its Christian influence, there has
to be a beginning and end to find meaning.  Linear as it seems, Western philosophy is logical,
scientific, and rational compared to the East’s concept of eternal and recurring.

Eastern philosophy also thrives on virtues. This would be explained with the selfless approach
to life.  Satisfaction with what one has is the key. Meanwhile, Western philosophy focuses on
ethics. As individuals, one must do what is supposed to be done without causing ill to others.
Success is based on how much one walks his path without hurting others.  Eastern philosophy is
also more about the spiritual while Western philosophy is more of a hands-on style.  The
difference is the “I” of the West, and the “We” of the East, as one focuses on finding truth and
meaning.

Summary:

1.     Western philosophy is mainly used in the Western parts of the world, such as in the
European countries, while the Eastern philosophy is prevalent in Asian countries.
2.     Western philosophy deals with Individualism while Eastern Philosophy is related to
Collectivism.

3.     Both philosophies center on virtues.

4.     Eastern philosophy takes more of a spiritual approach while Western philosophy is more
hands-on.

THE GOOD LIFE (PART 2)

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the discussion the students, should be able to:

·       Examine what is meant by a good life;

·       Identify how humans attempt to attain what is deemed to be a good life; and

·       Recognize possibilities available to human being to attain the good life.

1. INTRODUCTION

            In Ancient Greece, long before the word “science” has been coined, the need to
understand the world and reality was bound with the need to understand the self and the good
life. For Plato, the task of understanding the things in the world runs parallel with the job or
truly getting into what will make the soul flourish. In attempt to understand himself, too. It was
Aristotle who gave a distinction between theoretical and practical sciences. Among the
theoretical disciplines, Aristotle included logic, biology, physics, and metaphysics, among
others. Among the practical ones, Aristotle counted ethics and politics. Whereas “truth” is the
aim of theoretical sciences, The “good” is the end of goal of the practical ones.

          Every attempt to know is connected in some way to find the “good” or as said in the
previous lesson, the attainment of human flourishing. Rightly so, one must find the truth about
what the good is before on can even try to locate that which is good.

          In the previous lesson, we have seen how misplaced or erroneous idea of human
flourishing can turn tables for all of us, make the sciences work against us rather for us, and
draw a chasm between the search for truth and for the good. In this lesson, we endeavor to go
back a little and answer these questions: What does it really mean to live a god life? What
qualifies as a good existence? Granting this understanding, we are assumed to be in a better
position to reconcile our deepest existential needs as human beings and science as a tool of
maneuver around the world.
2. DISCUSSION
ARISTOTLE AND HOW WE ALL ASPIRE FOR A GOOD LIFE

            It is interesting to note that the first philosopher who approached the problem of reality
from “scientific” lens ass we know now, is also the first thinker who dabbles into the complex
problematization of the end goal of life: happiness. This man is none other than ARISTOTLE.

Plato, Aristotle’s teacher, and predecessor thought that things in this world are not real and are
only copies of the real in the world of forms, Aristotle puts everything back to the ground in
claiming that this world is the only reality we can all access. For Plato, change is so perplexing
that it can only make sense if there are two realities: world of forms and world of matter

In the world of matter, things are changing and impermanent. In the world of forms, the
entities are the only copies of ideal and the models, and the forms are the only real entities.
Things are red in this world because they participate in what it means to be red in the world of
forms.

Aristotle, for his part, disagreed with his teacher’s position and forwarded the idea that there is
no reality over and above what the senses can perceive. As such, it is only by observation of the
external world that one can truly understand what reality all is about. Change is a process that
is inherent in things. We, along with all other entities in the world, start as potentialities and
move toward actualities. The movement, of course, entails change. Consider a seed that
eventually germinates and grows into a plant. The seed that turned to become the plant
underwater change from the potential plant that is the seed to its full actuality, the plant.

According to Aristotle, every human person, aspires for an end. This end, we have learned from
the previous chapters, is happiness or human flourishing

No individual – young or old, fat, or skinny, male or female – resists happiness. We all want to
be happy. Aristotle claims that happiness is the be all and end all of everything that we do. We
may not realize it but the end goal of everything that we do is happiness. If you ask one person
why he is doing what he is doing, he may not readily say that it is happiness that motivates him.

When Aristotle claims that we want to be happy, he does not necessarily mean the everyday
happiness we obtain when we win a competition, or we eat our favorite dish in a restaurant.

What Aristotle means is human flourishing, a kind of contentment in knowing that one is
getting the best out of life. A kind of feeling that one has maxed out his potentials in the world,
that he has attained the crux of his humanity.
3. HAPPINESS AS THE GOAL OF A GOOD LIFE
In the eighteenth century, John Stuart Mill declared the Greatest Happiness Principle by saying
that an action is right as far as it maximizes the attainment of happiness for the greatest number
of people.

The ethical is, of course, meant to lead us to the good and happy life. Through ages, as has been
expounded in the previous discussions, man has constantly struggled with the external world to
reach human flourishing. History has given birth to different schools of thought, all of which
aim for the good and happy life.

MATERIALISM

Ø  The first materials were the atomists in Ancient Greece

Ø  Democritus and Leucippus led a school whose primary belief is that the world is made up
of and is controlled by the tiny indivisible units in the  world called atomos or seeds

Ø  For Democritus and his disciples, the world, including human beings, is made up of matter

Ø  In terms of human flourishing, matter is what makes us attain happiness. We see this work
with the most people who are clinging on to material wealth as the primary source of the
meaning of their existence.

HEDONISM

Ø  The hedonists, for their part, see the end goal of life in acquiring pleasure

Ø  Pleasure has always been the priority of hedonists

Ø  Life is about obtaining and indulging in pleasure because life is limited

Ø  The mantra of this school of thought is the famous, “Eat, drink, and be merry for
tomorrow we die.”

Ø  Led by Epicurus, this school of thought also does not buy any notion of afterlife just like the
materialists

STOICISM
Ø  Another school of thought led by Epicurus, the stoics espoused the idea that generate
happiness, one must learn to distance oneself and be apathetic.

Ø  The original tern, “apatheia”, precisely means to be indifferent

Ø  For stoics, happiness can only be attained by a careful practice of apathy.

Teacher’s insight: We should, in this worldview, adopt the fact that some things are not within
our control. The sooner we realize this, the happier we can become.

THEISM

Ø  Most people find the meaning of their lives using God as a fulcrum of their existence.

Ø  The Philippines, as a predominantly Catholic country, is witness to how people base their
life goals on beliefs that hinged on some form of supernatural reality called HEAVEN

Ø  The ultimate basis of happiness for theists is the communion with God

Ø  The world where we are in is only just a temporary reality where we must maneuver around
while waiting for the ultimate return to the hands of God

HUMANISM

Ø  For humanists, man is literally the captain of his own ship

Ø  Inspired by the enlightenment in seventeenth century, humanists see themselves not merely
as stewards of the creation but as individuals who are in control of themselves and the world
outside them.

Ø  Some people now are willing to tamper with time and space in the name of technology.

Ø  Social media is an example., has been so far from a remarkably effective way of employing
technology in purging time and space. Now, communication between two people wherever they
are, is not just possible but easy
Ø  The internet and smart phones made real time communication possible not just between two
people, but even with multiple people simultaneously

Teacher’s Insight: Technology allowed us to tinker with our sexuality. Biologically male

individuals can now undergo medical operation if they so wish for sexual reassignment. Breast
implants are now available and can be done with relative convenience if anyone wishes to have
one. Hormones may also be injected to alter the sexual chemicals in the body.

Whether or not we agree with these technological advancements, these are all undertaken in the
hopes of attaining the good life. The balance, however, between the good life, ethics, and
technology must be attained.

SUMMARY

Man is constantly in pursuit of the good life. Every person has his perspective when it comes to
what comprises the good life. Throughout the history, man has worked hard in pointing out
what amounts to a good, happy life. Some people like the classical theorists thought that
happiness has to do with the insides of the human person. The soul, as the seat of our humanity,
has been the focus of attention of this end goal. The soul must attain a certain balance to have a
good life, a life of flourishing. It was only until seventeenth century that happiness became a
centerpiece in the lives of people, even becoming a full-blown ethical foundation in John Stuart
Mill’s utilitarianism. At present, we see multitudes of schools of thought that all promise their
own key to finding happiness. Science and technology have been, for the most part, at the
forefront of man’s attempts at finding this happiness. The only question at the end of the day is
whether science is taking the right path toward attaining what it really means to live a good life.