Handout for GEC 007
(Science, Technology, and Society)
Lesson 1 – Human Flourishing
• The human person is both the bearer and
beneficiary of science and technology, and he
flourishes and finds meaning in the world he
builds.
Martin Heidegger – a German philosopher who was
a part of the Continental tradition of philosophy. He
focused on Ontology, or the study of ‘being,’ or
dasein in German.
The Essence of Technology
• Science and technology are responsible for
the ways of society is continuously being
modernized.
• The omnipresence of science and technology
must not eclipse the basic tenets of ethics and
morality.
• It should allow the human person to flourish
alongside scientific progress and
technological development.
Under Heidegger’s “The Question Concerning
Technology,” there are two definitions of
technology:
1. Instrumental – “Technology is a means to
an end.” Technology is not an end in itself,
but a means to an end. Technology is a tool
available to people that desire to make an
impact to society. All in all, technology is an
instrument aimed at getting things done.
2. Anthropological – “Technology is a human
activity.” To achieve an end, and to produce
and use a means to an end is, by itself, a
human activity. The production and
invention of technological equipment, tools,
machines, devices, etc., and the functions and
purpose these serve are what is defining
technology.
• Both definitions are correct but are lacking
since it does not tackle the essence of
technology. “Whenever there is an effect,
there is a causality.”
Prepared by: Mr. Justin Paul D. Gallano
Faculty Member – College of Arts, T.I.P. Manila
MIDTERM
The Four Causes:
• Martin Heidegger used the metaphor of a
silver chalice to present The Four Causes.
1. Causa Materialis – the matter/material
used to produce the object (the silver as
a raw material).
2. Causa Formalis – the
logos/form/shape the object assumes
upon creation (the shape of the chalice).
3. Causa Efficiens – the person, process,
or idea that brought upon the change
(the silversmith).
4. Causa Finalis – “Why the object was
made in the first place?” The final effect
of the object created (the chalice being
used for the sacrificial rite).
Technology as a Way of Revealing
• According to Heidegger, the “true” can only
be pursued through the “correct.” Simply put,
what is correct leads to what is true.
Technology is a way of revealing – a mode of
“bringing forth.”
Martin Heidegger’s Ancient Greek Concepts
(technology is a poiesis that reveals the truth):
1. Aletheia – unhiddenness, unclosedneds,
truth or disclosure.
2. Poiesis – bringing forth. The act of bringing
something out of concealment. By bringing
out of concealment, the truth of such thing is
revealed.
• For Heidegger, technology is a form of
Poeisis – a way of revealing that
unconceals aletheia or the truth.
3. Techne – root word of technology, meaning
skill, art, or craft. Encompasses knowledge
and understanding not only of the craft, but
also of other acts of the mind.
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Handout for GEC 007
(Science, Technology, and Society)
Does Modern Technology Bring Forth or
Challenge Forth?
• Under Heidegger’s concept of the Standing
Reserve, it becomes clear that technology is
not directly a poiesis, but as challenging forth
(it makes people think how to do things
faster, more effectively, and with less effort).
• Standing Reserve prompts people into
dominating and enframing the natural
resources of the planet.
Enframing as Modern Technology’s Way of
Revealing
In the way of enframing (a way of ordering nature to
better manipulate it), there are two ways of looking
at the world:
1. Calculative Thinking – humans desire to put
an order to nature to better understand and
control it.
2. Meditative Thinking – humans allow nature
to reveal itself to them without the use of force
or violence.
• Humans have the constant desire for security,
people put all of nature as a Standing
Reserve (Gestell) – always ready for
exploitation.
The Dangers of Technology
• The dangers lie on how people let themselves
be consumed by technology.
Lesson 2 – The Good Life
Eudaimonia – literally “good spirited,” a term
coined by Aristotle, based on his Nichomachean
Ethics, to describe the pinnacle happiness attainable
to humans. From the Greek words eu, meaning
“good” and daimon, meaning “spirit.”
Arete – excellence or virtue.
Happiness – the ultimate end of human action. It
comes from living a life of virtue (arete), a life of
excellence.
Prepared by: Mr. Justin Paul D. Gallano
Faculty Member – College of Arts, T.I.P. Manila
MIDTERM
Types of Virtue:
1. Intellectual – owes its birth and growth to
teaching (for which reason it requires
experience, education and time).
2. Moral – comes about as a result of habitual
practice. As example, moral virtues are
courage, patience, etc.
John Stuart Mill – “The Greatest Happiness
Principle” – based on Jeremy Bentham’s Felicific
Calculus. It posits that if an action benefits the
greatest number of people, it is deemed ethical. There
is no need to attain the happiness of everyone as
people have different sources of happiness.
Schools of Thought which Aim the Good and
Happy Life:
1. Materialism – only material things could
bring happiness. No need to posit immaterial
things (abstract ideas) as a source of purpose.
The Atomists like Democritus and Leucippus
proposed that the world is made up of and is
controlled by tiny, indivisible units called
atomos, or seeds.
2. Hedonism – the end goal of life is in
acquiring pleasure. Life is about obtaining
and indulging in pleasure as life is limited.
Their mantra is “eat, drink, and be merry –
for tomorrow we die.”
3. Stoicism – to generate happiness, one must
learn to distance himself and be apathetic
(came from the word apatheia, or
indifference). Happiness can only be attained
in the careful practice of apathy. There are
things outside of our control (like other
peoples’ feelings) and the sooner we realize
this, the happier we become.
4. Theism – people find happiness if they use
God as the fulcrum of their lives (putting God
in the center of their lives). People base their
life goals on beliefs that is hinged on some
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Handout for GEC 007
(Science, Technology, and Society)
form of supernatural reality called Heaven.
The ultimate basis of happiness is the
communion with God.
5. Humanism – this espouses the freedom of
man to carve his own destiny and to legislate
his own laws, free from the shackles of God
that monitors and controls. Man is literally
the captain of his own ship.
Lesson 3 – Human Flourishing in Progress and
De-Development
“Forget ‘developing’ poor countries, it’s time to ‘de-
develop’ rich countries” by Jason Hickel:
• Growth and development for the past 70
years are not working. Since 1980, the global
economy has grown by 380%, but the
number of people living in poverty on less
than $5/day has increased by more than 1.1
billion. “Trickle-down economy” is
ineffective.
• Orthodox economists insist that all that is
needed is more growth. More progressive
types tell us that we need to shift some of the
yields of growth from the richer segments of
the population to the poorer ones. Neither are
adequate. People are overshooting the
planet’s biocapacity by more than 50% each
year (July 29, 2019 is the World’s Overshoot
Day, earliest in history). Overshoot refers to
the rate of consumption by humanity has
exceeded the Earth’s natural capacity to
regenerate.
• The planet has enough resources for each
person to consume 1.8 global hectares
annually (global hectares is a standardized
unit that measures resource use and
waste). United States and Canada consumes
about 8 hectares/person, Europeans consume
4.7 hectares/person.
• According Economist Peter Edward, instead
of pushing poorer countries to “catch up”
Prepared by: Mr. Justin Paul D. Gallano
Faculty Member – College of Arts, T.I.P. Manila
MIDTERM
with rich ones, we should be thinking of ways
to get rich countries to “catch down” to more
appropriate level of development.
USA Cuba
Life Expectancy 79 years 78 years
GDP per capita $53,000 $6,000
Global Hectare 8 hectares 1.9 hectares
consumption
• Cuba has achieved a relatively same
development as the USA (except GDP per
capita), therefore as Edward said, rich
countries should “catch down.”
Lesson 4 – When Technology and Humanity
Crosses
Technology – came from the Greek words techne
(art) and logos (words). Means a discourse on
(applied) arts. During the 17th Century, it shifted its
focus from the arts to concepts of machines and tools.
• Technology keeps on progressing due to not
only the changing times and environment, but
also to the ever-progressing mind of
mankind.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights –
proclaimed by the UN General Assembly on
December 10, 1948 as the global standard of
fundamental rights for human recognition and
protection. It has 30 Articles. (Article 4 – provides a
ban on slavery or servitude)
Types of Technology We Commonly Use Today:
1. Television
2. Mobile Phones
3. Laptops, Computers
Benefits of Using Technology:
1. Access to information
2. Tool for communication
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Handout for GEC 007
(Science, Technology, and Society)
Detriments of Using Technology:
1. Leads to an unhealthy lifestyle
2. Risks of disinformation (due to fake news)
Robots and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Robots – an actuated mechanism programmable in
two or more axes with a degree of autonomy, moving
within its environment, to perform intended tasks.
Types of Robots:
1. Service Robot – performs useful tasks for
humans or equipment.
2. Personal Service Robot – used for non-
commercial tasks by ordinary people like
automated wheelchairs.
3. Professional Service Robot – for
professional use or commercial tasks like
surgery robots.
Benefits of Using Robots:
1. Eases the workload of humans
2. Can perform repetitive tasks
MIDTERM
collectively called as GNR) are becoming too
powerful that they can potentially bring about
new classes of accidents, threats, and abuses.
• These dangers are even more pressing as it
does not require large facilities or even rare
raw materials – knowledge alone can be
harmful to humans.
• The GNR pose much greater threats than
previous technological development.
• Nanobots – the ability of nanobots to
replicate could quickly get out of control –
leading to a “gray goo.”
• Overdependence on machines – if
machines are given the capacity on their own
(sentiency), it will be impossible to predict
how they might behave in the future – the fate
of mankind would be at the mercy of
machines.
• Rapid increase of computer power –
computers will eventually become more
intelligent than humans.

Detriments of Using Robots: Murphy’s Law – “Anything that can go wrong,

1. Sentiency of robots – focus on Artificial will go wrong.”
Intelligence (What if robots will have
emotions)
2. Unemployment – robots will take the place of
humans in the labor force

Lesson 5 – Why the Future Does Not Need Us?

• Imagining a future without humans is
synonymous to the end of the world.
• A dystopian society void of human presence
is the subject of many works in literature and
film.
William Nelson Joy – an American computer
scientist and the chief scientist of Sun Microsystems.
• Wrote an article for Wired Magazine entitled
“Why the future does not need us?”
• 21st century technologies (genetic
engineering, nanotechnology, and robotics,
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Prepared by: Mr. Justin Paul D. Gallano
Faculty Member – College of Arts, T.I.P. Manila © 2020 | NOT FOR SALE