MODULE 5.

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, SOCIETY AND HUMAN CONDITION

 
THE HUMAN PERSON FLOURISHING IN TERMS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
The progress of human civilizations throughout history mirrors the development of science and
technology. The human person, as both the bearer and beneficiary of science and technology,
flourishes and finds meaning in the world that he/she builds. In a person’s pursuit of the good life,
he/she  may unconsciously acquire, consume, or destroy what the world has to offer. It is thus
necessary to reflect on things that truly matter. Science and technology must be taken as part of
human life that merits reflective and as the German philosopher Martin Heidegger says-
meditative thinking. Science and technology despite its methodological and technical nature,
gives meaning to the life of the person making his/her way in the world.
This lesson explains briefly the attributes and capacity of man and his role in relation to
technology and to society. This lessons also establishes some philosophical considerations on
how technology can be construed as a tool for higher purposes aside from the usual idea of it
being the provider of more efficient and comfortable ways of achieving and doing things.
Technology is a Product of Human Reason and Freedom.   Man is rational and with this
rationality comes also his creativity. To be able to appreciate the fruits of science and technology,
they must be examined not only for their function and instrumentality but also for their greater
impact on humanity as a whole.
To understand the concepts of human flourishing, it is good to explore technology in its essence.
Today, humans are much better off compared to those who lived centuries ago. Some of the
notable comparisons of then and now include:

EXAMPLE:

Basis of Comparison              Then                   Now

Before, having pen
1.     Communication pals (Links to an  Today, we use literally
external site.) in anything else but snail
  mail to communicate
elementary school and
  being incredibly with each other.
excited about writing Whether it’s email,
  letters and buying text, video chat, fax or
stamps. While there’s instant messaging, we
  have an arsenal of
something very
  romantic about the technologies that allow
idea of snail mail, it’s us to contact each
  other without having to
called snail mail for a
reason—it’s slow and find a mailbox.
 
ultimately, Technology has
  inconvenient. successfully shortened
communication from
  several days to mere
minutes.
 
Source: http://asi.cpp.edu/campuscrop/?
p=13151
 
 

 
2.Mortality Rate. The advancement of technology ensures a healthy population and strong
workforce, since lesser women and infants die during childbirth. Modern medicine gives proper
maternal care to mothers, assuring their full recovery and remains empowered. Infants were also
given full medical care that allows them to survive and grow normally.

3. Average Lifespan. Science is able to prolong lives by enhancing our living status and
the breakthroughs in finding remedies to most diseases – we are less likely to die from
treatable diseases. In addition, there is now easier and faster distribution of medicines.
4. Literacy Rate. Since more individuals have an access to education, this creates a
more informed public that could define a more unbiased society.
5. Gross Domestic Product. This determines the value of goods and services produced
within a certain territory at a certain period. High productivity, in which the indicator is
the presence of technology can generate higher country income.

Human flourishing is not just about living comfortably in the modern age with all the technological 
advancements,  but it also necessitates the actualization of a person’s talents and potentialities.
 
MODERN TECHNOLOGY
With modern technology, revealing never comes to an end. The revealing always happen on our
own terms as everything is on demand. Information at our fingertips, food  even out of season,
gravity defied to fly off to space- such is the capacity of the human person. We no longer need to
work with the rhythms of nature because we have learned to control it. We order nature, and
extract, process, make ready for consumption, and store what we have forced to reveal.
 
 
ENFRAMING : WAY OF REVEALING IN MODERN TECHNOLOGY
 
The way of revealing in modern technology is enframing. This enframing that challenges forth
and sets upon nature is a way of looking at reality. In simpler terms, it is as if nature is put into a
box or in frame so it can be better understood and controlled according to people’s desires.
Poeisis is concealed in enframing as nature is viewed as an orderable and calculated system of
information.
Enframing is done because people want security, even if the ordering happens in enframing is
violent and even if the Earth is made as a big gasoline station from which we extract, stockpile,
and put in standing reserve, ready to be used as we fit.
ART AS A WAY OUT OF ENFRAMING
Enframing as a mode of revealing in modern technology tends to block poeisis. Poeisis is defined
as bringing forth. The poetry that is found in nature can be no  longer easily appreciated when
nature is enframed. Poetry takes a different mindset, a more reflective  and sensitive way of
looking at the world. If Earth has just become a gas station for us ,then we have been enframed
as well.
     In modern technology, the way of revealing is no longer poetic;  it is challenging. When
instruments are observed linearly, its poetry can no longer be found. For example, the windmill is
a primitive structure compared to the hydropower plant; or the first iphone model is just an
obsolete piece of machine. People no longer realize how the watermill is more in tune with the
rhythm of nature or how much genius went into the building of the first iphone.
SELECTED VIEWS ON TECHNOLOGY:

1. ARISTOTELIANISM

 The view of Aristotle simply tells us that technology is a means to an end, in which
technology is the organization of techniques to meet the demands being posed by
humans. Therefore, technology is mainly concerned with the product, and it will be
judged based on how the we use it and its effects to the society.
 Aristotle establishes in his Physicsthat there are four causes for everything that exist,
either naturally or by art:

ARISTOTLE’S FOUR CAUSES:

1. Causa Materialis (Material Cause) - refers to the materials

 a bronze statue is made out of bronze

2.Causa Formalis (Formal Cause) - having its particular form/shape

 form or the shape of the material

3.Causa Efficiens (Efficient Cause)- The agent or the maker

 made by artist's actions with the help of tools

4. Causa Finalis (Final Cause)- the purpose or the primary use

 serves for religious worship (final cause)

 
2.TECHNOLOGICAL PESSIMISM
 French philosopher, JACQUES ELLUL extremely supported this view. This view holds that
although technology has advantages, it is still doubtful in many ways. According to this view,
technology becomes our way of life, which humans cannot escape. As such, Ellul’s pessimistic
arguments include:

 Technological progress has a price

 Technological progress creates more problems
 Technological progress creates damaging effects
 Technological progress creates unpredictable devastating effects

3. TECHNOLOGICAL OPTIMISM
 This view regarding technology is strongly supported by technologists and engineers, and
probably ordinary people who believe that technology can alleviate our difficulties and provide
solutions for problems that may arise. It claims that whilst it is true that technology might result to
problems, it will still be the solutions to these problems.
THE TECHNOLOGICAL VIEW OF THE WORLD BY MARTIN HEIDEGGER
What, then, is technology, if it is neither a means to an end nor human activity? Technology,
according to Heidegger  must be understood as “a way of revealing” (Heidegger 1977, 12).
“Revealing” is one of the terms Heidegger developed himself in order to make it possible to think
what, according to him, is not thought anymore. It is his translation of the Greek word alètheuein,
which means ‘to discover’ – to uncover what was covered over. Related to this verb is the
independent noun alètheia, which is usually translated as “truth,” though Heidegger insists that a
more adequate translation would be “un-concealment.”

 Technology is not an instrument. It is a way of understanding the world.

 Technology is not a product human activity. It comes from somewhere else that we
cannot have control over.
 Technology is the ultimate danger . Humans as raw materials and the will to
power/manipulate.

Heidegger explains by analyzing classical texts and words – modern technology is rather
a ‘forcing into being’. Technology reveals the world as raw material, available for production
and manipulation.
 Every attempt to climb out of technology throws us back in. The only way out for Heidegger is
“the will not to will”. 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.
To further illustrate technology as a way of revealing, Heidegger gave some examples by
contrasting then and modern technologies: (Bautista, et.al., 2018)
 Ancient Windmill vs. Modern Windmill. The earliest windmill relies only on the wind blowing
and does not store energy, whereas the modern windmill unlocks the wind energy than can be
use immediately or can be stored up for future use.
 Peasant Planting Seeds vs. Modern Technology. The peasants planting seeds will only wait
for the bringing forth of the planted seeds since there is no challenge set on the soil while modern
technology revolutionized agriculture. Today, food is not only for immediate consumption, but can
be stored for future use and could supply a larger population.
 A bridge vs. hydroelectric plant. A river that join river banks for years does not set challenge
upon the river, but a hydroelectric plant unblocks the electricity concealed in the river that can be
stored and distributed.
Heidegger described modern technology as the age of switches, standing reserves and
stockpiling for its own sake. He proposes art as a way out of enframing. With art, we are better
able to see the poetic in nature in reality. It leads us away from calculative  thinking and
towards meditative thinking. Through meditative thinking, we will recognize that nature is art
par excellence. Hence nature is more poetic.
ENRICHMENT
Listen further to the explanation of Heidegger’s interpretation of technology
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/philosophy-of-technology/0/steps/26314  (Links to an
external site.)
In conclusion,  technology is not the end fate of humans. We must not be enslaved by it. It must
only serve to reveal our humanity, an instrument to better ourselves, the people around us and
nature.
THE GOOD LIFE
Everyone is  pursuit of the good life. We do certain things because we want to achieve a life
which will make us happy and content. By studying and working hard , we try to attain this goal
not only for ourselves but also for our loved ones and the rest of humanity. Peoples definition of
good life  may vary and differ in the particulars. In general, however, we recognize universal
truths that cut across our difference.
ARISTOTOTLE , an important ancient Greek philosopher whose work spans from natural
philosophy to logic and political theory, attempted to explain what is good . His definition may be
useful in our pursuits of the truth.  In NICOMACHEAN ETHICS, Aristotle stated: All human
activities aim at some good. Every art and human inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit ,
is thought to aim at some good ; and for this reason the good has been rightly declared as that at
which all things aim ( Nicomachean Ethics 2:2). Everyone is moving towards the good . Thus
completing one’s studies, training for a sport or taking a rest is good.
BELOW ARE OTHER PERSPECTIVES OF GOOD LIFE:
MATERIALISM. This is a belief  that the world is made up of tiny indivisible units called atomos
or seeds. People work with clinging on to material wealth as the primary source of the meaning of
their existence.
 HEDONISM. The goal of life is acquiring pleasure, their mantra is “eat, drink, and be merry for
tomorrow we die”.
STOICISM. The idea of this belief is that one must distant oneself from desires and passions.
THEISM. The ultimate basis of happiness of this belief is their communication with a supernatural
being or God. 
HUMANISM. This means that a man make his own destiny and to legislate his own laws, free
from the shackles of God that monitors and controls.
REFERENCES:
Bautista et al. (2018). Science, Technology, and Society. MaxCor Publishing
House, Inc.
Serafica et al. (2017). Science, Technology and Society.Manila.Rex Bookstore
Inc.
 
Heidegger, Martin. “The question concerning technology (W. Lovitt, Trans.) The question
concerning technology: and other essays (pp. 3-35).” (1977).