SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY

Reviewer

LESSON 1

Science

 The study of something.

Technology

 The usage of tools (application).

Society

 Community of people with a common goal.

STS CYCLE:

1. Social Values – needs of the society/problems that needs research

2. Scientific Research – finding a solution/problem
3. Technology Innovation – inventions that fulfill the society’s needs

Kuhn Cycle

 A simple cycle of progress described by Thomas Kuhn in 1962 in his

seminal work: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.

Punctuated Equilibrium

 A theory in evolutionary biology which proposes that most species will

exhibit a little net evolutionary change for most of their geological
history, remaining in an extended state called stasis.

Paradigm

 As defined by Thomas Kuhn is a “universally recognized scientific

achievements that, for a time, provide model problems and solutions
for a community of researchers”.

Steps of Kuhn Cycle:

0. Pre-science – The field has no workable paradigm to successfully

guide its work.
 1. Normal Science – The normal step, where the field has a
scientifically base model of understanding (a paradigm) that works.
2. Model Drift – The model of understanding starts to drift, due to
accumulation of anomalies, phenomenon, the model cannot explain.
3. Model Crisis – The model drift becomes so excessive, the model is
broken. It can no longer serve as a reliable guide to problem solving.
Attempts to patch the model up to make it work fail. The field is in
anguish.
4. Model Revolution – This begins when serious candidates for a new
model emerge. It’s a revolution because the new model is so radically
different from the old one.
5. Paradigm Change – A new paradigm emerges and the field
changes from the old to the new paradigm. Becomes the new Normal
Science and the Kuhn Cycle is complete.

HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS IN WHICH SOCIAL CONSIDERATION

CHANGED THE COURSE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Ancient Times

 Transportation
 Navigation
 Communication
 Record-keeping
 Food Production
 Weapons and Armors
 Discovery of cures to—if not the prevention of—illnesses

Sumerian Civilization

 Cuneiform
 Uruk City
 The Great Ziggurat of Ur
 Irrigation and Dikes
 Sailboats
 Wheel
 The Plow
 Roads

Babylonian’s Civilization
  Hanging Garden of Babylon

Egyptian Civilization

 Paper of Papyrus
 Hieroglyphics
 Wig
 Water Clock/Clepsydra
 Alarm Clock
 Plato’s Alarm Clock
 Water Mill

Roman Civilization

 Newspaper
 Bound books/Codex
 Roman Architecture

Chinese Civilization

 Silk
 Tea Production
 Great Wall of China
 Gunpowder

Medieval Ages

 Printing Press
 Microscope
 War Weapons

Modern Times

 Pasteurization (Louis Pasteur)

 Petroleum Refinery
 Telephone
 Calculator

History of Science and Technology in the Philippines

 Periods of intense growths

 Department of Science and Technology
 Numerous national scientists contributed
Pre-Spanish Era

 Medicinal and Therapeutic properties of plants and extracting

methods of medicine from herbs.
 Alphabet, number system, weighing and measuring system
and a calendar. Farming, shipbuilding, mining, and weaving.
 Banaue Rice Terraces

Spanish Colonial Era

 Formal education and foundation of scientific institution

 RELIGION, READING, WRITING, ARITHMETIC, AND MUSIC (4 R’S,
1 M) (subjects that were taught)
 University of Santo Tomas
 Galleon Trade
 Agriculture and Industrial development

American Period

 July 1, 1901 – The Philippines Commission established the Bureau of

Government Laboratories that was placed under the Department of
Interior.
 October 26, 1905 – The Bureau of Government was replaced by
Bureau of Science.
 December 8, 1933 – The National Research Council of the Philippines
was established.
 1946 – Bureau of Science to Institute of Science

Commonwealth Era

 1970’s – under Ferdinand Marcos’ presidency, importance to science

grew.
 1986 – during Corazon Aquino’s presidency, the National Science and
Technology was replaced by Department of Science and Technology.

Philippine Inventions

1. Salamander Amphibious Tricycle – addition of sidecar to

motorcycles to accommodate more passengers.
2. Salt Lamp – Aisa Mijeno. Lighting system that utilizes saltwater.
– Sustainable Alternative Lighting (SALT) Lamp
– 2 tbsp. salt and a glass of tap water
 3. Medical Incubator – Dr. Fe del Mundo. First Asian woman to be
admitted at Harvard University, a Filipino Pediatrician, devised a
medical incubator made of indigenous and cheap materials that does
not run through electricity.
4. Mosquito Ovicidal/Lavicidal Trap System (OL Trap) – 2010 by
Department of Science and Technology-Industrial Technology
Development Institute. This is made of natural ingredients that are
lethal to mosquitoes but safe to humans and the environment.
5. E-Jeepney – utilizes electricity instead of more expensive diesel.

LESSON 2: INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTIONS THAT DEFINED SOCIETY

 Pre-Socratic or Non-theological
 Period before Socrates (roughly 600-400 BCE)
 Period where paradigm shifts occurred

1. COPERNICAN
 Nicolaus Copernicus
 Day and night
 Circulation of Earth
 Geocentric Theory (Claudius Ptolemy) – planets revolve
around Earth and Earth was the center of the universe.
 Heliocentric Theory (Nicolaus Copernicus) – the center of
the universe is the Sun, and the planets, including Earth,
revolves around it.
 Geo (Earth) Helio (Sun) Centric (At the center)
 People who helped Copernicus to make people believe and
accept Heliocentric Theory:
1. Tyco Brahe
2. Johannes Kepler
3. Galileo Galilei

2. DARWINIAN
 Charles Darwin
 Origin of Species
 Human Evolution
 The Religious and the Faithful strongly refuted his theory.
  Philippines: Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus, and Homo
Sapiens

3. FRUEDIAN
 Sigmund Freud (Father of Psychoanalysis (study that
explains human behavior)
 Personality is product of three (3) conflicting elements:
1. ID – Instinct (Unconscious)
2. Ego – Reality (Conscious) (Rational Self)
3. Superego – Morality (Unconscious) (Angel Mind)

4. INFORMATION
 Began 20th Century
 A.K.A. Computer Age, Digital Age, New Media Age
 Five (5) different media ages:
1. Stone Age
2. Iron Age
3. The Middle Age
4. The Industrial Age
5. Electronic Age

5. MESO-AMERICAN
 Agricultural revolution
 They focused on food such as Maize, Beans, and Squash

6. ASIAN
 Freedom and independent nationhood

7. MIDDLE EAST
 Product of individual growth, nationalism, imperialism,
efforts to westernize and modernize Middle East,
declining the power of the Ottoman Empire.

8. AFRICAN
 Fight against colonialism and imperialism in Africa.
KAMLONG – an eggplant that’s shaped like a tomato.

LESSON 3: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN NATION BUILDING

Pre-colonial Period

 Early Filipino settlers

 Systems of farming and animal-raising were also
implemented
 Herbal medicines
 Transportation
 Banaue Rice Terraces

Colonial Period

 Construction of roads, bridges, and other large

infrastructures
 Spanish developed health and educational system that
was enjoyed by the Principilia Class (only the rich can
study)
 American colonization modernized almost all aspects of
life in the Philippines
 Bureau of Science

Post-colonial Period

 Ferdinand Marcos ushered in advancements of science

and technology, it was their priority.

The following was established during his presidency:

1. National Kidney and Transplant Institute

2. Philippine Heart Center
3. Lung Center of the Philippines
4. Trains - LRT 1
5. National Academy of Science and Technology (1956), now
Department of Science and Technology (from 1986)
FAMOUS FILIPINO IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE

1. Ramon Cabanos Barba – for his outstanding research on tissue in

Philippine mangoes.
2. Josefino Cacas Comiso – for his works on observing the
characteristics of Antarctica by using satellite images.
3. Jose Bejar Cruz – known internationally in the field of electrical
engineering.
4. Lourdes Jansuy Cruz –notable for her research on sea snail venom.
5. Fabian Millar Dayrit – for his research herbal medicine.
6. Rafael Dineros Guerrero III – for his research on tilapia culture.
7. Enrique MapuaOstrea Jr. – for inventing the meconium drugs
testing.
8. Lilian FormalejoPatena- for doing research on plant biotechnology.
9. Mari-JO Panganiban Ruiz – for being an outstanding educator and
graph theorist
10. Gregory Ligot Tangonan – for his research in the field of
communications technology.

LESSON 4: STS AND THE HUMAN CONDITION

UNIT 1: The Human Person Flourishing in Terms of Science and

Technology

THE HUMAN PERSON FLOURISHING IN TERMS OFSCIENCE AND

TECHNOLOGY

 Technology has always been defined as a means to an end and

being a human activity.
 Technology has well advanced since the middle of the 20 th
Century especially after the end of World War II. It is not
 unexpected for technology to involve question of knowledge
which lead to its formation as one of the branches of philosophy.
 Aristotle, was born 304 B.C. an ancient Greek philosophy
scientist and one of the most significant thinkers and who
contributed so much to science, technology, political theory, and
aesthetics world; followed that knowledge of the world begins by
looking and examining that which exists. To understand the
human person flourishing in terms of science and technology, it
is good to first examine technology in its essence.

WHAT IS HAPPINESS?

Psychology
 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.

Behaviorists
 a cocktail of emotions we experience when we do something good or
positive.

Neurologists
 the experience of a flood of hormones released in the brain as a reward
for behavior that prolongs survival.

Hedonistic View of Well-being

 the polar opposite of suffering, the presence of happiness indicates the
absence of pain. Because of this, hedonists believe that the purpose of
life is to maximize happiness, which minimizes misery.

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.

ARISTOTLE
  Aristotle believed that human flourishing requires a life with other
people. Aristotle taught that people acquire virtues through practice
and that a set of concrete virtues could lead a person toward his
natural excellence and happiness.
 According to Aristotle, there is an end of all of the actions that we
perform which we desire for it. 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.

EUDAIMONIA
 “good spirited”
 Coined by Aristotle
 Describes the pinnacle of happiness that is attainable by humans.
 “human flourishing”
 From Nicomachean Ethics (philosophical inquiry into the nature of the
good life for a human being.)

Human flourishing arises as a result of different components such

as:

 Phronesis
 Friendship
 Wealth
 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 him in a global neighborhood, working side by side
 among institutions and the government to be able to reach a common
goal.

PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN FLOURISHING

1. Dignity of the Human person – innate personal values or rights

which demands respect for all people, regardless of race, social class,
wealth etc.

2. Common Good – sacrificing self-interest to provide for the basic

human needs of everyone makes the whole community flourish.
3. Preferential Option for the Poor – when decisions are made by first
considering the poor.

4. Subsidarity – when all those affected by a decision are involved in

making it.

5. Universal Purpose of Goods – the Earth’s resources serve every

person’s needs, regardless of who “owns” them.

6. Stewardship of Creation – duty to care for the Earth as a (God-

given) gift is a personal responsibility for the common good.

7. Promotion of Peace – everyone has the duty to respect and

collaborate in personal relationships, and at national and global levels.

8. Participation – everyone has the right and the duty to take part in the
life of a society (economic, political, cultural, religious)

9. Global Solidarity – recognition that we are all interconnected, part of

one human family.

DIFFERENT CONCEPTIONS OF HUMAN FLOURISHING

Eastern

 Focus is community-centric
 Individual should sacrifice himself for the sake of society
 Chinese Confucian system
 Japanese Bushido
  Encourage studies of literature, sciences, and art for a greater cause

Western

 More focused on the individual

 Human flourishing as an end
 Aristotelian view
 Aims for eudaimonia as the ultimate good

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.
 Good is inherently related to the truth.

SELECTED VIEWS ON TECHNOLOGY

Technological Pessimism
 extremely supported by French philosopher Jacques Ellul (1912-1994).
 technology is progressive and beneficial in many ways, it is also
doubtful in many ways. It is said that technology is a means to an end
but this views, technology has become a way of life. Technique has
become a framework which human cannot escape. It has introduced
ways on how to make things easy. Ellul’s pessimistic arguments are:
(1)Technological progress has a price;
(2)technological progress creates more problems;
(3)technological progress creates damaging effects; and
(4) technological progress creates unpredictable
devastating effects.
Technological Optimism
 strongly supported by technologist and engineers and also by ordinary
people who believe that technology can alleviate all the difficulties and
provide solutions for problems that may come. It holds that even
though technological problems may arise, technology will still be the
solutions to it. The extreme version of this philosophy is technocratism
which holds technology as the supreme authority on everything.

Existentialism
 The main concern of this view is the existence or the mode of being of
someone or something which is governed by the norm of authenticity.
This view basically investigate the meaning of existence or being and
is always faced with the selection must make with which the existence
will commit himself to.
 Martin Heidegger, a philosopher who was briefly introduced in Unit 1, is
one of the most known supporters of this philosophy. He did not stop
defining what technology is but has dealt with its essence. To
Heidegger, the real essence of technology lies in enframing,
the gathering of the setting upon which challenges man to
bring the unconcealed to unconcealment and this is a
continuous revealing.

MARTIN HEIDEGGER ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

 Martin Heidegger (1889-1996), a well-known German philosopher,

examined the two usual definitions of technology; means to an end
and a human activity, because he believed that this kind of confusing
and there are question to it that we easily overlook. These two
definitions cannot be separated from each other. He called it the
instrumental and anthropological definition of technology or simply
means by which the human ends are realized. To Heidegger, this may
not be a false definition but it is a misleading one because this limits
our thinking.

THE INSTRUMENTAL DEFINITION OF TECHNOLOGY

 According to Heidegger, the instrumental definition of technology

encourages us to view technology from different periods of time as not
having fundamental differences.
  Heidegger also argued that “technology is by no means technological”
and should not be seen as merely neutral. 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 technology go out of hand.
Heidegger said,” Everything depends on our manipulating technology
in the proper manner as a means. We will, as we say, ‘get’ technology
‘spiritually in hand’. We will master it. The will to mastery becomes the
more urgent the more technology threatens to slip from human
control.”
 For Heidegger, this correct definition of technology is insufficient as it
does not bring out its real essence. He said, “In order that we may
arrive at this, or at least come close to it, we must seek the true by
way of the correct. We must ask: what is the instrumental itself? Within
what do such things as means and end belong? (1977,p.2) In
answering these question, Heidegger arrived at a discussion of
causality which to him in reality initially involves four ways that leads
for something to exist or to be “caused”.

ARISTOTLE’S FOUR CAUSES

1. Causa materialis or the material cause

 The material by which the silver chalice was made of silver.
2. Causa Formalis or the formal cause
 The form of the shape that gave the silver chalice its image.
3. Causa Finalis or the final cause
 The purpose or the primary use by which the silver chalice was made
for to be used during the Holy Communion as a vessel for the wine that
represent the blood of Christ
4. Causa Efficient or the Efficient Cause
 The agent that has caused for the silver chalice to come about: the
silversmith.

HEIDEGGER’S TECHNOLOGY AS A WAY OF REVEALING

 Enframing is a phenomenon in which our perspective is framed: we

only notice or care about or pay attention to what can be done quickly
or results in an efficient and further useable product (Cunning, 2015)
  This is the continuous bringing forth into unconcealment that which is
concealed. This is a non-stop revealing. Heidegger saw technology as a
way of revealing and continues to demand for something to be bought
out into the open. This bringing forth into the open is a two-way
relationship: the concealed is calling out for someone to set upon it
and bring it to unconcealment and the one who receives the call sets
upon and acts upon to unconceal the concealed.

THE MODE OF REVEALING IN MODERN TECHNOLOGY

 Unlock and expose. It carries the idea that nature wills not reveal it
unless challenge is set upon it. This is true with the hydroelectric plant
set upon the Rhine River which unlocked the electricity concealed in it.
 Stock piles for future use. As technology is a means to an end, it
aims to meet future demands; the electricity produced by the
hydroelectric plant set upon the Rhine River is being stored for future
use in the community. Modern technologies are now able to get more
from nature by challenging it. As Heidegger (1997) said, “Such
challenging happens in that energy concealed in nature in unblocked
is transformed, what is transformed is stored up, what is stored up is
distributed, and what is distributed is switched about ever a new”.

THE ESSENCE OF TECHNOLOGY

 The continuous revealing takes place as man allows himself to be an
agent in the setting upon of challenges to nature but Heidegger(1977)
argues that this is not more human doing. Man is able to set upon
which was already unconcealed as he responds to the call of
unconcealment but “when man, investigating, observing , pursues
nature as an area of his own conceiving, he has already been claimed
by a way of revealing that challenges him to approach nature as an
object of research, until even the object disappears into the
objectlessness of standing-reserve.

 This gathering of the setting-upon which challenges man to bring the

unconcealed to unconcealment is called enframing with which
according to Heidegger, also shows the essence of modern technology.
Enframing is basically putting in order whatever is presented to the
man who sets upon the unconcealed but it is a two-way relationship:
man cannot set himself upon unconcealment without unconcealment’s
call and the unconcealed will not going to unconcealment without the
 man responding to its call. This makes modern technology not a mere
human doing and with this Heidegger argued that the essence of
technology lies in enframing.

THE DANGER OF NON-STOP REVEALING

 As said earlier, the mode of revealing does not stop in modern
technology. It continually calls man to respond to what is presented to
him or to the demand for a better and efficient means to an end. With
this comes the continuous challenging forth for the unconcealed to be
unconcealed even more. Here lies the danger that Heidegger talked
about.
 Revealing opens up a relationship between man and the word but an
opening up of something means a closing down of something which
means as something is revealed, another is concealed. An example
given by Heidegger on this “the rise of a cause-effect understanding of
reality closes” off an understanding of God as something mysterious
and holy: God is reduced to “the god of the philosophers” (Cerbone,
2008).

THE SOCIETY IN THE FACE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

 When one looks around him now, he will see that man tends to find his
happiness in the works of modern technology. Smart phones, tablets,
laptops that come in different shapes and sizes with distinct features
seem to be the measure of man’s value. Social media has also affected
the life on many. Face to face social interactions are being lessened
and people keep working hard to update their gadgets. There seems to
be no contentment as every time a new product is released, man finds
another need that can only be answered by a new product. These new
products also tend to replace man in the society as the demand for
manual labor is becoming less and less because of the availability of
machineries.

 The human condition is not of without hope. Heidegger argued that

this can be prevented if man will not allow himself to be overwhelmed
 with the enframing that he was set upon, but he pause for a while and
reflect on the value of what is presented before him. A balance has to
be struck between technology being instrumental and anthropological.
One has to understand that technology does not only concern the
means but also the end as one proverb goes, “The end does not justify
the means” For Heidegger, the solution for this is that man would not
be controlling and manipulative of what he was set upon but to also
allow nature to reveal itself to him. With this, according to Heidegger,
man will have free relationship with technology.

UNIT 2: The Good Life

For Plato
 The task of understanding the things in the world runs parallel with the
job of truly getting into what will make the soul flourish. In an attempt
to understand reality and the external world, man must seek to
understand himself.

For Aristotle
 There is a definitive distinction between the theoretical and practical
sciences.
 Theoretical disciplines include logic, biology, physics, metaphysics, etc.
 Practical disciplines include ethics and politics.
 He stated that the “truth” is the aim of the theoretical sciences and the
“good” is the end goal of the practical ones.
 Every attempt to know is connected in some way in an attempt to find
the “good”.

Aristotle and How We All Aspire for a Good Life

Plato
 He thought that things in this world are not real and are only copies of
the real in the world of forms.
 For him, change is so perplexing that it can only make sense if there
are two realities:
1. World of Matter – things are changing and impermanent
2. World of Forms – entities are only copies of the ideal and the
models
  He recognized change as a process and as a phenomenon that
happens in the world and is constant.
 He also claims that despite the reality of change, thing remain and
they retain their ultimate “whatness”.
 He was convinced that reality is full of seemingly contrasting
manifestations of change and permanence.

Aristotle

 He is the first thinker who dabbed into the complex problematizing of

the end goal of life: happiness.
 He puts everything back to the ground in claiming that this world is all
there is to it and that this world is the only reality we can all access.
 He believes that change is a process that is inherent in things.
 He claims that happiness is the be all and end all of everything that we
do.

Happiness = 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 potential in the world, that
he has attained the crux of his humanity.

Happiness as the Goal of a Good Life

According to John Stuart Mill

 In the 18th century, Mill declared the Greatest Happiness principle by
saying that an action is right as far as it maximizes the attainment of
happiness for the greater number of people.
 Individual happiness of each individual should be prioritized and
collectively dictates the kind of action that should be endorsed.
Materialism
 Atomist in Ancient Greece were the first materialists.
 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.
 In terms of human flourishing, matter is what makes us attain
happiness.

Hedonism
 This school of thought led by Epicurus see the end goal in life in
acquiring pleasure.
 Life is about obtaining and indulging in pleasure because life is limited.
 Their mantra is “Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.”
 They do not believe in the notion of afterlife.

Stoicism
 Also led by Epicurus, it espoused the idea that to generate happiness,
one must learn to distance himself and be apathetic.
 For them, happiness can only be attained by a careful practice of
apathy.
 They adopt the fact that some things are not within their control.

Theism
 -They use God as a fulcrum of their existence.
 The ultimate basis of happiness for them is the communion with God.
 The world where we are in is only just a temporary reality where we
have to maneuver around while waiting for the ultimate return to the
hands of God.

Humanism
 They espouse the freedom of man to carve his own destiny and to
legislate his own laws, free from the shackles of a God that monitors
and controls.
 For them, man is literally the captain of his own ship.
 This is the spirit of most scientists who thought that the world is a
place and a space for freely unearthing the world for seeking ways on
how to improve the lives of its inhabitants.
Summary
 Throughout history, man has worked hard in pointing out what
amounts to a good, happy life.
 At present, we see multitudes of schools of thought that all promise
their key to finding happiness.
 Science and technology has been at the forefront of man’s attempt at
finding 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.