Human Flourishing

According to Aristotle human flourishing requires a life with other people.

Flourishing is the highest good of human endeavors and that toward which all actions
aim.

Components:
phronesis, friendship, wealth and power

Qualities:
positive emotions, positive psychological functioning and positive social functioning

Phronesis
-The way to attain happiness

Eudaimonia
-Another word is happiness

Human Flourishing
-Also identify as Eudaimonia

Interpersonal
-Helping others

Intrapersonal
-All about self

Verification Theory
-Confirm and accepted

Falsification Theory
-Rejected and falsified

Civilization
Early People
-relied on simple machines to make hunting and gathering easier

Western Civilization
-tends to be more focused on the individual,

Eastern Civilization
-are more community-centric.

SCIENCE AS METHODS AND RESULTS

1. Observe – determined if there are unexplained occurrences

 2. Determine the Problem – identify factors involved
3. Formulate hypotheses – explain different phenomenon
4. Conduct Experiment – setting up dependent and independent variables trying to see
how they are affects one.
5. Gather and Analyze – examine the data gathered are significant enough to conclude
results.
6. Formulate conclusion and provide recommendation

Science is the product while Technology will be the process

THE GOOD LIFE

Aristotle
-first philosopher who approached the problem of reality from “scientific” lens as we know
now, is also the first thinker who dabbled into the complex problematization of the end goal
of life: happiness.

Plato and Aristotle

-embarked on a different approach in figuring out reality

Plato
-who though that things in this world are not real and are only copies of the real in the world
of forms

Plato
-recognized changed as a process and as a phenomenon that happen in the world.
-change is so perplexing that it can only make sense if there are two realities: the world of
forms and the world of matter.

John Stuart Mill

-declared the greatest Happiness Principle by saying that an action is right far as it maximizes
the attainment of happiness for the greatest number of people
-introduced the idea that "actions should aim to create the most happiness for the most
people."

Individual Vs. Collective Happiness

1. Prioritize individual happiness:

- Mill believed that the happiness of each individual should be prioritized.
2. Collective happiness:
- He also believed that the collective happiness of individuals should dictate the kind of
actions that should be endorsed.

Ethical Thinking
-The goal of ethical thinking is to guide us toward a good and happy life.
Every action that emanates from human person is function of purpose (telos) that the
person has.

world of matter
-things are changing and impermanent.

world of forms
-are the only real entities.

History has given birth to different schools of thought all of which aim for the good and
happy life
 MATERIALISM
 HEDONISM
 STOICISM
 THEISM
 HUMANISM

1. MATERIALISM
-The first materials where the atomist in Ancient Greece.
-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.

Democritus and his disciple

-the world including human beings, is made of matter.

Atomos
-simply comes together randomly to form the things in the world.

2. HEDONISM
- see the end goal of life in acquiring pleasure.
- pleasure has always been the priority of hedonists.
- led by Epicurus, this school of thought also does not buy any notion of afterlife just like the
materialists.

3. STOICISM
- led by Epicurus
- the stoics espoused the idea that to generate happiness, one must learn to distance oneself
and be apathetic.
-The original term, apatheia, precisely means to be indifferent.
- For the stoics, happiness can only be attained by a careful practice of apathy. We should, in
this worldview, adopt the fact that some things are not within our control.

4. THEISM
- Most people find the meaning of their using God as a fulcrum of their existence.
- how people base their life goals on beliefs that hinged on some form of supernatural reality
called heaven.
- The ultimate basis of happiness for theists is the communion with God.

5. HUMANISM
- For humanists, man is literally the captain of his own ship, humanists see themselves not
merely as stewards of the creation but as individuals who are in control of themselves and the
world outside them.

WHEN TECHNOLOGY AND HUMANITY CROSS

Techne - means art, skill and craft

Logos- word
Concepts like machines and tools were also attached to the word "technology"

Televisions
According to Kantar Media, in the Philippines, 92% of urban homes and 70% of rural homes
own at least one television set.

PAUL GOTTLIEB NIPKOW

- Successful in his attempt to send images through wires with the aid of a rotating metal disk
- Called the "Electric telescope"- 18 lines of resolution

ALAN ARCHIBALD
- New system of televisions by using the cathode ray tube in addition to the mechanical
scanner system

MOBILE PHONES
-The First call ever made on a cell phone, was from an engineer named Martin Cooper
calling a rival engineer to brag about his accomplishments. the mobile phone used by Martin
Cooper is Motorola DynaTac 8000x in 1983.

COMPUTERS AND LAPTOP

- Not possible for all Filipino families to own at least one laptop or computer
- Most profits gained by computers and laptop manufacturers come from offices, business or
schools.

CHARLES BABBAGE
- Was an English mathematician and inventor who is credited with having conceived the
first automatic digital computer.
- Released in June 1981 by the Osborne Computer Corporation, the Osborne 1 is
considered to be the first true portable, full featured computer.

ROLES PLAYED BY THESE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS

1. They lower transaction costs for group formation and action

2. They shift time
3. They facilitate easy communication

ROBOTICS AND HUMANITY

ROBOTS
- An actuated mechanism programmable into two or more axes with a degree of autonomy,
moving within its environments, to perform intended tasks
AUTONOMY
- ability to perform intended tasks based on current state and sensing without human
intervention.

TYPES OF ROBOTICS

1. SERVICE ROBOTS
- A robot that perform useful tasks for humans or equipment including industrial application
- A robot may be classified according to its intended application as an industrial robot or a
service robot.

2. PERSONALSERVICE ROBOTS
- Service robot for personal use
- Used for a noncommercial task, usually by laypersons.

3. PROFESSIONAL SERVICE ROBOTS

- Service robot for professional use
- Used for a commercial task, usually operated by a properly trained operator.

GEORGE DEVOL
- An American inventor known for developing Unimate, the first material handling robot
employed in industrial production work.

ISAAC ASIMOV
- Composed the three laws of robotics

TECHNOLOGY AS A WAY OF REVEALING

Martin Heidegger
-He was a German philosopher who was part of the continental tradition of philiosophy.
-A Philosopher who argued that is ESSENCE, or PURPOSE and BEING are different form
each other.
-Explains two widely embraced definitions of technology

-His philosophical works are often described as complicated, partly due to his of complex
compound German words such as:
1. Seinsvergessenheit (forgetfulness of being)
2. Bodenstandigkeit (Rootedness-in-Soil)
 3. Wesenverfassung (Essential Constitution)

THE HUMAN CONDITION BEFORE THE COMMON ERA

STONE AGE PERIOD

-The Homo sapiens began to sharpen stones to used in hunting.
-Homo Erectus had discovered fire. They have been used it for cooking through chipping
stones without realizing the laws of friction and heat.
-Primitive gods includes elephants and mammoths in their hunting grounds
-mountains gods to explain wind currents
-water gods for a good catch, and genetic good such as the sun
-The mammoth skin are used for their wooly coat
-The mammoths meat served as foods for the community

Venus
-Venus depicts a rudimentary carving of voluptuous woman out of ivory or stones
-Princess, Queen and other woman
-The initial roster of primitive gods includes objects they encounter through their day-to-day
lives thats why different tribes had different gods.

METAL AGE PERIOD

-Ancient people discovered minerals and began forging metal works.

The Human Condtioner In The Common Era

-Earliest case of man –made extinction occurred over 12,000 years ago bought by hunting
and territorial dispute.
The Holocene Extinction
-Also called the sixth extinction or more aptly.
-Anthropocene extinction, occurred as early as between 100,000 to 200, 000 years up to the
present
-It pertains to the ongoing extinction of several species both flora and fauna- due to human
activity

Overfishing
Overpopulation
Overhunting
Trade
-Due to the battle of resources, war between tribes exist but sooner negotiations and less
bloody method specifically TRADE take place.
-Humanity become more complex.
-The primary goal was not merely to survive, but to live the good life.
-Technology has been instrumental because were able to come up with creation that would
make life easier, more comfortable and enriching

NOTABLE COMPARISONS PAST AND NOW

Mortality Rate
-Due to technology, lesser women and children die during birth

Average Lifespan
-Science is able to prolong lives and the distribution of medicines is also made easier and
faster

Literacy Rate
-Access to education provide to more individuals generally creates a more informed public.

Gross Domestic Product

-Higher country income is brought upon by high productivity, often an indicator of presence
of technology

The Essence of Technology

Humanity was indeed come a long way from our primitive way, and it is said that we are
more “developed” than we were before. Modern Humans are reliant on technology in their
search for the good life.

1. Electricity
2. Rice Cooker
3. Washing Machine

In Retrospect, this view of technology proves to be goal-oriented as it assumes that it is

instrumental in achieving a goal in mind, that is a purposeful, deliberate craft humans steer in
order to archive greater good