Dec 14, Sci 113

Science, Technology, and Society and
the Human Condition

The Good Life
Learning Objectives
1. Define the idea of good life;
2. Discuss Aristotle’s concept of
eudaimonia and arete
3. Examine contemporary issues and
come up with innovative and creative
solutions to contemporary issues guided
by ethical standards leading to good life.
• This section introduces concepts from
Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics and
examines issues in contemporary science
As such, the
and technology section
using also aims
the same
to answer
philosophical lens. the question,
“Arethe
• It tackles weimportant
living the Aristotelian
good life?
concepts of eudaimonia and arete, and
how these can be used to assess one’s
relationship and dealings with science
and technology.
• Aristotle is a towering figure in
ancient Greek philosophy, who made
important contributions to logic,
criticism, rhetoric, physics, biology,
psychology, mathematics, metaphysics,
ethics, and politics.
• He was a student of Plato for twenty
years but is famous for rejecting
Plato’s theory of forms.
• In his ethics, he holds that it is only by
becoming excellent that one could
achieve eudaimonia, a sort of happiness
or blessedness that constitutes the best
kind of human life.
Aristotle’s
Nichomachean Ethics
and the Good Life
To answer this question,
“Are we living the good life?
• First, what standard could be used

to define ‘the good life?’
• Second, how can the standard
serve as a guide toward living the
good life in the midst of scientific
progress and technological
advancement?
The Magician’s Twin: C.S. Lewis and the
Case against Scientism, C.S.
• Lewis posited that “science must
be guided by some ethical basis
that is not dictated by science
itself.”
One such ethical basis is Aristotle’s
Nichomachean Ethics.
• The fundamental basis of Aristotelian
ethics, consists of ten books. Originally,
they were lecture notes written on
scrolls when he taught at the Lyceum.
• It is widely believed that the lecture notes

were compiled by or were dedicated to one
of Aristotle’s sons, Nichomacus.
Alternatively, it is believed that the work was
dedicated to Aristotle’s father who was of the
same name
• The Nichomachean Ethics, abbreviated as NE or
sometimes EN based on the Latin version of the
name, is a treatise on the nature of moral life and
human happiness based on the unique essence of
human nature.
• The NE is particularly useful in defining what
the good life is.
Everyone has a definition of
what good is
Aristotle posited two types of good.
• Instrumental Good
• Intrinsic Good (Ultimate)
He made it clear that the ultimate good is
better than the instrumental good for the latter
is good as a means to achieving something
else or some other end while the former is
good in itself.
“Eudaimonia”
The Ultimate Good
What then is the ultimate good?
• PLEASURE
• WEALTH
• FAME AND HONOR
PLEASURE
• FOOD (pleasure), Yet, while pleasure is
an important human need, it can not be
the ultimate good.
• One may have been pleased with the
food they had for lunch, but he or she will
be hungry again or will want something
else after a while.
PLEASURE
• Second, pleasure does not
encompass all aspects of life. One
may be pleased with an opportunity to
travel but that may be not make him or
her feel good about leaving, say, his or
her studies or the relationship he or she
has been struggling with.
WEALTH
• Indeed, many, if not most, aim to be
financially stable, to be rich, or to be
able to afford a luxurious life.
• However, it is very common to hear
stories about who have become very
wealthy but remain, by and large,
unhappy with the lives they lead.
WEALTH
• In this sense, wealth is just an
intermediate good-that is, only
instrumental.
• It is not the ultimate good because it
is not self-sufficient and does not
stop one from aiming for some
other ‘greater’ good.
FAME AND HONOR
• Many people today seem to be
motivated by a desire to be known-to
be famous. Others strive for honor and
recognition. This is reflected by those
people who use social media to acquire
large virtual following on the internet
and wish to gain a foothold on the
benefits that fame brings.
FAME AND HONOR
• Many people act according to how
they think they will be admired and
appreciated by other people.
However, these cannot constitute the
ultimate good, simply because they
are based on the perception of
others.
Ultimate Good
“living well and doing well”
Combining root words, eudaimonia

means happiness or welfare.
Eudaimonia from the root

word eu meaning good, and
daimon, meaning spirit.
Eudaimonia
Uniquely Human?
Eudaimonia: Uniquely Human?
• It is achieved only through a
rationally directed life.
• Aristotle’s notion of a
tripartite soul
• Thus, on the nutritive degree, all
living things, i.e., plants, animals,
and humans, require nourishment and
have the ability to reproduce. On the
sensitive degree, only animals and
humans have the ability to move and
perceive. Finally, on the rational
degree, only humans are capable of
theoretical and practical functions.
• More importantly, only humans are
capable of a life guided by reason.
Because this is so, happiness, too
Arête and
Human Happiness
• Arête a Greek term, is defined as
“excellence of any kind” and can
also mean “moral virtue”. A virtue
is what makes one function well.
Aristotle suggested two types of
virtue: intellectual virtue and moral
virtue.
INTELLECTUAL VIRTUE
• or virtue of thought is achieved through
education, time, and experience.
• Key intellectual virtues are wisdom,
which guides ethical behavior, and
understanding, which is gained from
scientific endeavors and contemplation.
INTELLECTUAL VIRTUE
• Intellectual virtues are acquired
through self-taught knowledge and
skills as much as those knowledge
and skills taught and learned in
formal institutions.
MORAL VIRTUE
• or virtue of character is achieved through
habitual practice.
• It is by repeatedly being unselfish that
one develops the virtue of generosity.
• It is by repeatedly resisting and foregoing
every inviting opportunity that one
develop the virtue of temperance.
MORAL VIRTUE
• It is by repeatedly exhibiting the proper
action an emotional response in the face
of danger that one develops the virtue of
courage.
• moral virtue is like a skill. A skill is
acquired only through repeated
practice.
• Everyone is capable of learning how to play
the guitar because everyone has an innate
capacity for intellectual virtue, but not
everyone acquires it because only those who
devote time and practice develop the skill of
playing the instrument.
Both intellectual virtue and moral virtue should be in
accordance with reason to achieve eudaimonia. Indifference
with these virtues, for reasons that are only for one’s
convenience, pleasure, or satisfaction, leads human away
from eudaimonia.
What then is
the good life?
• Putting everything in perspective,
the good in life in the sense of
eudaimonia is the state of being
happy, healthy, and prosperous in
the one thinks, lives, and acts.
• In appraising the goodness of the next
medical procedure, the new social
media trend, the latest mobile device, or
the upcoming technology for food
safety, one must be guided by
Aristotelian virtues.
• Refusing science and technology
altogether to improve human life is
as problematic as allowing to entirely
dictate reason and action without any
regard for ethical and moral standards.

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Science, Technology, and Society and

the Human Condition

• First, what standard could be used

• It is widely believed that the lecture notes

Combining root words, eudaimonia

Eudaimonia from the root

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