Module # 4

Human Person Flourishing in

terms of Science and
Technology
Human Person Flourishing
 everyone else in this world, is
aiming to know what‗s ―good‖ for
your life
 helps you shape yourself to
become a purposeful, goal-
directed individual
 Finding your ultimate good not
only enhances your
understanding of yourself, but
the whole world as well
Human Person Flourishing
 must continuously search for
what is good to further realize the
goals in life.
 A human being naturally lives his
life to improve and excel as a
human being
 Aristotle: the desire to flourish is
a natural human inclination; the
actions that we perform have its
end ---to achieve the goal
Science, Technology and Human Flourishing

 Eudaimonia - to mean ‗good indwelling

spirit‗
 defines the peak of one‗s happiness or
the process of fulfilling or realizing one‗s
true nature
 human flourishing
 Aristotle‗s Nicomachean Ethics,
wherein he discussed that human
flourishing ascends as a result of
different components such as
phronesis, friendship, wealth and
power.
 Ancient Greek society : believe that
acquiring these components will surely
bring the seekers happiness, which in
effect allows them to participate in the
greater perception of what we call the
Good;
 The western conception is more likely
focused on the individual in contrast to
the eastern which is more community-
centric;
 Chinese Confucian system and the
Japanese Bushido where they
encourage the study of literature,
sciences and art, not entirely for one‗s
self but for a greater cause like
establishing a harmonious and well-
ordered society;
 the western conception: grasps
human flourishing as an ‗end‗ and
that humans aim for the ultimate good
or “eudaimonia‟ ;.
 As time goes by, the basics that makes up human
flourishing has changed.
 People found other ways to live more comfortably
explore different places and earn more money and vice
versa.
 because the needs and necessities of people are
changing from time to time, this brought them to develop
more refined machines to help them in their daily lives
and endeavors;
 led people to advances in different fields such as
education, health, and communications
 ―Man of the world is what humans today expected to
become – they are situated in a global neighborhood,
helping each other, together with the government and
different institutions to accomplish a common goal.
 Coordinating with one another has become the new
trend and competing became outmoded
 Human flourishing should be tackled not just in a single
idea but in a global perspective.
Science as Methods and Results

 Science has always been systematic in searching for

things. It roots from objectivity and uses logical
approach on discovering how things work in the
universe, one important aspect of scientific process
is that it only focuses on the natural world.
 The scientific method (search for the proponent) is a
series of steps followed by science investigators to
find answers for specific questions.
The steps of scientific methods
1. Observation on your surroundings will help you come
up with an idea
2. Question should be made after you observation.
3. Hypothesis comes next.
4. Experiment You should develop a procedure that states
very clearly how you plan to conduct an experiment.
5. Results include detailed observations and data
6. Conclusion
Science as Social Endeavor
 Philosophers: Paul Thagard,
Helen Longino, and David
Bloor, among others,
presented an alternative
distinction that explores the
social dimension of science
and technology
 The new idea of science and
technology aims to enable a
dimension which generally
benefits the society
Science as Social Endeavor
 these tribal people have their own
‗science‗ but since they remained
untouched for a long time, they do not
refer Asian science as their own
 shared knowledge and experiences that
will foster solidarity among these people
across the globe
 Science as social endeavor is to have
various problems solve, cater various
needs and sustain the development of
the society through the help of scientific
knowledge.
Science and Results
 For people who don‗t seem to know science, they‗ll just
completely rely on either superstitious beliefs or divine
providence
 Science is not entirely faultless, it doesn‗t get 100% accurate
all the time.
 Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical
Services Administration or PAGASA, often blamed for their
imprecise weather reports at times
 displays fallibility and limitations of their scope, for they can‗t
totally tell the exact weather condition for the following days,
as well as the occurrences of some natural disasters.
Science and its Limitations

 Science has generated the

knowledge that allows us to
discover, explore, invent,
innovate, perform and
answer vital questions about
nature, life and existence.
 Science might seem to be
endless, but it is not.
Science doesn't make moral judgments

 Is euthanasia the right thing to do?

 What universal rights should humans have? Should
other animals have rights?
 These are important questions that Science will not be
able to answer.
 Science helps us describe how the world is, but it cannot
make any judgments about whether that state of affairs
is right, wrong, good, or bad.
 ultimately individual people must make moral judgments.
Science doesn't make aesthetic judgments

 Science cannot tell us whether a painting is

beautiful or awful. Individuals make those
decisions for themselves based on their own
aesthetic preferences.
Science doesn't tell you how to use
scientific knowledge

 Science, for example, can tell you how to

recombine DNA in new ways, but it doesn't
specify whether you should use that knowledge
to correct a genetic disease.
 science helps us describe how the world is, and
then we have to decide how to use that
knowledge.
Science doesn't draw conclusions about
supernatural explanations

 Do gods exist? Do supernatural entities intervene

in human affairs?
 These questions may be important, but science
won't help you answer them.
 Questions that deal with supernatural
explanations are beyond the realm of what can
be studied by science.
 For such questions are matters of personal faith
and spirituality.
Science as Education
 In the Philippines, numerous science high schools can be found.
These schools offer aspiring students to secure a spot for a
competent and high - quality science and mathematics education
anchored on a specialized curriculum
 In STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)
offering schools, the prevalence of the said track is reflected in the
number of students taking up the course. It is no surprise if the
numbers favor the STEM track as the jobs that lies in it are the
most in demand in today‗s society.
 The students must have also thought that enrolling in this science
track will later place them in high-salary jobs and successful
career.
 Being proficient alone in science and technology would
be inadequate if one is in pursuit of human flourishing
 The eudaimonic person denoted by Aristotle is someone
who is knowledgeable not only about science but also
on other equally significant matters
 A true eudaimonic person is aware that in order for
someone to flourish, he must not focus on one facet
alone but also must excel in different aspects such as
aesthetics, humanities and linguistics.
The Modern Challenges of Human
Flourishing
 In 2015, heads of state gathered in New York to sign United
Nations‗ new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that
targets to eradicate poverty by the year 2030 by establishing
global partnership for development
 the primary goal to achieve ‗growth for all‗ might be putting
our planet at risk in the long run.
 Growth is the primary indicator of development as supposed
by economists
 Technology has been a significant tool in aiding them to
achieve such goal by making use of natural resources,
production of machineries and industry.
 What is missing here is that the world‗s bio-capacity to
sustain all these efforts that will lead to our ‗growth‗ is
limited
 Studies have shown that we‗re consuming the world‗s
resources rapidly
 Joseph Hickel, suggesting that instead of pushing poor
countries to catch up with the rich ones, the latter should
‗catch down‗.
 Developed countries should not push for more growth but
rather make policies where developing countries and the
nature can cope up, or else we‗ll suffer in the long run
 The rapid technological advancements leaves no room for
nature to cope up to the world‗s growing demand, which
may result in exploitation and permanent damages to
nature
 Today, we are experiencing the result of the said exploits
as the world experience climate change, which may hardly
affect the planet‗s flora and fauna
 We can‗t just ignore the laws of nature. If we do not act
soon, all of our efforts in combating poverty will be put in
vain and we might even put ourselves in the brink of
extinction.
Technology as a Way of Revealing

 The discoveries, success, and advancements in

science surely contribute to human‗s field of
knowledge.
 liking to search for the unknown in this universe
may lead us to uncover more about our existence
 It is in this matter that human flourishing is deeply
interlinked with goal setting relevant to science
and technology.
Technology as a Way of Revealing

 Martin Heidegger‗s statement, “technology is a human

activity that we excel in a result of achieving science”.
Meaning to say, the end goals of science, technology and
human flourishing are associated, wherein the good is
inherently related to the truth.
 In his essay ―The Question Concerning Technology, he
describes technology and its essence to human. He talked
about its effect to man and its environment. It is also
discussed on how man should properly manage technology
 he revealed that despite of the benefits that man can have
from technology, it can work against him and bring danger.
 The idea of coal mining and farm cultivation are
examples where man challenges resources; when man
challenges nature, he wants the maximum yield at
minimum expense
 The perception of man to resources is no longer of what
they really are; instead, sees them as ways to fulfill his
needs.
 Heidegger used Rhine River, European River, as an
example: people tend to not see it as a huge body of
water but instead a hydro-electric plant. Man does not
see its natural tendency but the power he could benefit
from it, and see it as a standing reserve.
 Humans always have the nature that ―nature should fit
with them, instead of perceiving ―humans fit with nature
 Humans constantly enframing everything around their
environment and they unconceal the standing reserve.
 As a result, man abuses the Earth‗s natural resources,
and continuously destroys it for his selfish aim
 Once man continuously enframe without care to the
environement, technology can work against him.
Heidegger states, ―Where enframing reigns, there is
danger in the highest sense therefore, trouble against
man and his environment could arise.
 According to Heidegger, escaping from the fate of
technology is impossible; however, questioning
technology can save humans from catastrophic events
that it could lead upon
 We must question how to use technology without hurting
the world around us
 We need to open up the possibility of relying on
technologies while not becoming enslaved to them and
seeing them as manifestations of an understanding of
being.
When technology and humanity cross

 Robotics and AI (Artificial Intelligence)

 poses ethical dilemma
 “Humans, limited by slow biological evolution,
couldn‟t compete and would be superseded by
A.I.”—Stephen Hawking, 2014
 AI is our “biggest existential threat,” Elon Musk,
2014
 “I am in the camp that is concerned about super
intelligence, Bill Gates, 2015
 These comments have initiated a public awareness of
the potential future impact of AI technology on society
and that this impact should be considered by designers
of such technology to develop the best design future
intelligent system that will lead to positive technological
transitions on human and society.
 The technologies that surround us take many shapes
and have different levels of developmental progress and
impact on our lives.
Industrial robots

 these have existed for many

years and have made a huge
impact within manufacturing.
 They are mostly preprogrammed
by a human instructor and
consist of a robot arm with a
number of degrees of freedom
(Nof, 1999).
Service robots
 a robot which operates semi-
or fully autonomously to
perform useful tasks for
humans or equipment but
excluding industrial
automation applications (IFR,
2017).
 They are currently applied in
selected settings such as
internal transportation in
hospital, lawn mowing and
vacuum cleaning.
Artificial intelligence

 software that makes technology

able to adapt through learning
with the target of making
systems able to sense, reason,
and act in the best possible way
in recent years, been a large
increase in the deployment of
artificial intelligence in a number
of business domains including
for customer service and
decision support.
Ethical Societal Challenges Arising with
Artificial Intelligence and Robots

 Ethical perspectives of AI and robotics should be addressed

in at least two ways
 First, the engineers developing systems need to be aware of
possible ethical challenges that should be considered
including avoiding misuse and allowing for human inspection
of the functionality of the algorithms and systems
 Second, when moving toward advanced autonomous
systems, the systems should themselves be able to do
ethical decision making to reduce the risk of unwanted
behavior
The following are potential challenges from future
highly intelligent systems regarding jobs and
technology risks:

1. People may become unemployed because of

automation.
 Fewer jobs and working hours for employees
could tend to benefit small elite and not all
members of our society.
2. Losing human skills due to technological
excellence.
 With the introduction of robots, and information and
communication technology, the need for human
knowledge and skills is gradually decreased
 This lessens our need to train and utilize our cognitive
capabilities regarding memory, reasoning, decision
making etc., this eventually could have a major impact
on how we interact with the world around us.
Artificial intelligence can be used for destructive and
unwanted tasks.
 Surveillance cameras are useful for many purposes, but many
are skeptical of advanced tracking of people using artificial
intelligence
 It might become possible to track the movement and behavior
of a person moving in a range of interconnected surveillance
camera and position information from the user‗s smartphone
 Disclosures (e.g., by Edward Snowden in 2013) have shown
that governments can leverage technology in the fight against
crime and terror at the risk of the innocent being monitored.
4. Successful AI can lead to the extinction of
mankind?
 Almost any technology can be misused and
cause severe damage if it gets into the wrong
hands.
 It is important that systems have built in
mechanisms to prevent human errors and help to
predict risk of mechanical failure to the extent
possible.
Supplement
 Artificial Intelligence – refers to the simulation of human
intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like
humans and mimic their actions. The term may also be applied to
any machine that exhibits traits associated with a human mind
such as learning and problem-solving.
 Bushido – (Japanese: “The Way of the Warrior) the code of
conduct of the samurai, or bushi (warrior) class of premodern
Japan. The precepts of Bushido were made the basis of ethical
training for the whole society, with the emperor replacing the
feudal lord or daimyo as the focus of loyalty or sacrifice.
 Confucianism – or the Way of life was propagated by Confucius
in the 6th and 5th century BCE. It has become the substance of
learning, the source of values, and the social code of Chinese.
 Eudaimonia – in Greek philosophy, it means to achieve the
best condition possible for a human being, in every sense –
not only happiness, but also virtue, morality and a
meaningful life.
 Enframe – state of unconcealing or using/utilizing the
standing reserve, abusive and unguarded enframing may
lead to exploitation of the natural resources.
 Phronesis – the habit of making the right decisions and
taking the right actions in context, and relentless pursuit of
excellence for the common good
 PAGASA – (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and
Astronomical Services Administration) is the Philippines‗
national institution dedicated to provide flood and typhoon
warnings, public weather forecasts and advisories,
meteorological and astronomical, climatological, and other
special information and services primarily for the protection
of life and property and in support of economic productivity
and sustainable development.
 Robot – a machine resembling a human being and able to
replicate certain human movements and functions
automatically
 SDG – (Sustainable Development Goals) are the blueprint to
achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address
the global challenges including those related to poverty,
inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity, and
peace and justice.
 Standing reserve – are the resources nature gives to
manufacture to create or reveal technology.
 STEM – is an educational program developed to prepare primary
and secondary students for college and graduate study in the
fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. This
also aims to foster inquiring minds, logical reasoning and
collaboration skills.
―Happiness doesn't depend on what we have, but it does
depend on how we feel toward what we have‖