Science, Technology and Society

Science, Technology
and Society
GEC007
ILO: Identify different conceptions of human flourishing
The Human Flourishing in Terms of Science and

Technology
Eudaimonia, literally “good spirited,” a term coined by Aristotle to
describe the pinnacle of happiness that is attainable by humans; has often
been translated into “human flourishing” In Western civilization tends to be
more focused on the individual; based on an individual’s values rather than his
belief that the state is greater than him. The east are more community-
centric; community takes the highest regard that the individual should
sacrifice himself for the sake of the society.
ILO: Identify different conceptions of human flourishing
The Human Flourishing in Terms of Science and

Technology
Every discovery, innovation, and success contributes to our pool of
human knowledge; human’s perpetual need to locate himself in the world by
finding proofs to trace evolution; the end goals of both science and
technology and human flourishing are related; in that the good is inherently
related to the truth, are two concepts about science which ventures its claim
on truth.
ILO: Determine the development of the scientific methods and validity of science
Science as Method and Results, Verification Theory,

Falsification Theory and How much is too much
Science as Method and Results
The Scientific Method:
• Observe
• Determine the problem
• formulate hypothesis; reject the null
hypothesis
• Conduct experiment
• Gather and analyze results
• Formulate conclusion and provide
recommendation

Verification Theory
The earliest criterion that
distinguishes philosophy and science
The idea proposes that a discipline is
science if it can be confirmed or
interpreted in the event of an alternative
hypothesis being accepted. Several
budding theories that lack empirical
results might be shot down prematurely,
causing slower innovation and punishing
ingenuity of newer, novel thoughts. This
theory completely fails to weed out
bogus arguments that explain things
coincidentally.

Falsification Theory
Karl Popper is the known
proponent of this view. Asserts that as
long as an ideology is not proven to be
false and can best explain a
phenomenon over alternative theories
Allowed emergence of theories
otherwise rejected by verification theory.
Encourages research in order to
determine which among the theories can
stand the test of falsification

How Much is Too Much
• In 2000, world leaders signed the Millennium Development Goals that
targets eight concerns, one of which was that they should be able to forge a
global partnership for development.
• However, inasmuch as the objective was good, the goal to achieve growth
might be fatal.
• The economists believe that growth is the primary indicator of development,
as both go hand in hand, and has put forth their resources in trying to
achieve it such. Technology has been the primary instrument in enabling
them to pursue said goal, utilizing resources, machineries, and labor.
However, the world cannot provide and stretch for everybody's consumption
since the nature has limitations. Thus, Hickel's proposal was to adopt "de-
development." policies.
ILO: Discuss what technology reveals
Technology as a mode of revealing

“A Way of Revealing”: Technology and Utopianism in Contemporary Culture
“Technology is a way of revealing. If we give heed to this, then another whole
realm for the essence of technology will open itself up to us. It is the realm of
revealing, i.e., of truth.”
—Martin Heidegger

Although technology was once viewed literally as a means of bringing
about utopian society, its means to that end was exhausted in the minds of
many when it fostered the nuclear attacks on Japan in 1945. Since then, not
only has technology lost its utopian verve, but it also has been viewed by some
quite pessimistically.

Nevertheless, technology does provide an avenue for utopian cultural
production, whose utopian energy must often be rescued by readers and
scholars using the Blochian utopian hermeneutic. In this way technology is as
Heidegger described it—“a way of revealing,” that is, the tool that brings the
carving out from within the rock.

This article argues that although technology has come to be viewed by some
pessimistically in the years since Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it is now experiencing
a utopian renaissance in that it allows for utopian cultural production to be
widespread as never before.

This is occurring thanks to new technology-facilitated genres such as the
Alternate Reality Game, the mass audiences tuned in to Internet avenues for
utopian production, and the continued improvement of older technologies such
as film and television.

Technology cannot be the impetus for ideal change by itself, no matter how
embraced such a concept might have been upon the introduction of the
telegraph or the Internet, but it has brought about new methods of injecting
new energy into culture, which can only serve to benefit society as a whole.

Despite the many views of technology associated with utopian thinking, one
important role that technology plays is its facilitation of idealistic cultural
production—literature, music, visual arts, media.

This role can be as simple as the tools that allowed prehistoric man to create
cave paintings, or as advanced as contemporary cultural production platforms
(e.g., the Internet and film technologies).

If the hermeneutic employed by subscribers to the philosophy of Ernst Bloch is
accepted, then utopian potential can be found in any cultural product. Since
most cultural production is dependent upon technology in one way or another,
then it hardly seems a stretch to grant technology some credit in the area of
utopian potential, despite what it leaves to be desired in others.

Still, the history of technology’s relationship with utopianism is quite
complicated, especially with regard to technology as a means to a socially
utopian end.

Technological utopian visions flourished; however, technology remained an
object of considerable debate, especially in the wake of the nuclear attacks on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan in 1945, and throughout the Cold War.

At this point, technology all but entirely
ceased to be the means to utopia it had once
been credited as, and in fact became quite
the opposite in the minds of many, among
them Herbert Marcuse. Nevertheless,
technology resulted in significant gains in the
areas of cultural production, which allowed
for utopian visions to be explored, even if an
application of an interpretation of a perfect
world was necessary for them to be
recognized.

Today, technology remains that which allows for cultural production to
communicate messages of hope, which exemplifies Martin Heidegger’s (1977)
idea of technology as “a way of revealing” (p. 12), but technology cannot be
the locus for utopian change by itself.

In spite of this, new technological innovations might be evidence of a kind of
technological utopian renaissance within cultural studies, as new technology-
facilitated genres (e.g., Alternate Reality Games, mass audiences tuned into
Internet avenues for utopian production), and the continued improvement of
older technologies, (e.g., film and television) build on technology’s arsenal of
cultural production outlets.
ILO: Examine modern technology and its roles in human flourishing
Roles of Technology in Human Flourishing

1. Flourishing is living within an optimal range of human functioning.
2. Flourishing connotes goodness, generativity, growth, and resilience.
ILO:Critique human flourishing vis-à-vis progress of science and technology
Human Flourishing as Reflected in Progress and

Development
How do we know that we are
progressing?
What are the indicators of
development? More often than not, the
development is equated with growth and
greater consumption. The more that the
population is able to consume, the
wealthier it is. Likewise, the more the
person is able to buy stuff, the higher
he/she is on the development scale. The
planet, however, is already overburdened
with human activities. It is about time that
we rethink our standards of development
if we are truly want of live the good life.
Activity 1
Instructions: Choose a partner. Discuss the similarities and differences
between Jason Hickel's framework of de-development and Martin
Heidegger's The Question Concerning Technology. Then, write a 200 to
300-word reaction paper on Hickel's article in a short bond paper. Use
Heideggerian concepts learned in the previous section in explaining
your thoughts and ideas about Hickel. Submit it on next meeting
Quiz 1 – from the book

Activity 2
Instructions: Form 4 members and discuss about Hickel Paradigm
discussions from your Professors’ Photocopy. Discuss about your
group’s understanding and show examples if needed. Write it in a
Manila Paper maximum of 2 Manila papers ONLY.
Quiz 2 – Present it in class next meeting

Science, Technology and Society

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Science, Technology

The Human Flourishing in Terms of Science and

The Human Flourishing in Terms of Science and

Science as Method and Results, Verification Theory,

Science as Method and Results, Verification Theory,

Science as Method and Results, Verification Theory,

Science as Method and Results, Verification Theory,

Technology as a mode of revealing

Technology as a mode of revealing

Technology as a mode of revealing

Technology as a mode of revealing

Technology as a mode of revealing

Technology as a mode of revealing

Technology as a mode of revealing

Technology as a mode of revealing

Technology as a mode of revealing

Technology as a mode of revealing

Technology as a mode of revealing

Technology as a mode of revealing

Technology as a mode of revealing

Technology as a mode of revealing

Roles of Technology in Human Flourishing

Human Flourishing as Reflected in Progress and

Quiz 1 – from the book

Quiz 2 – Present it in class next meeting

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