1.

Critique human flourishing vis-à vis the progress of science and technology
so that the student can define for himself/herself the meaning of good life.

1. Examine shared concerns that make up the good life in order to come up
with innovative, creative solutions to contemporary issues guided by ethical
standards

1. Examine what is meant by good life in various philosophies

2. Examine what you consider to be a good life and determine which
philosophy that represents
3. Examine shared concerns that make up the good life in order to come up
with innovative, creative solutions and ethical solutions

TABLE OF CONTENTS
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 Time Frame

The Moral Life…………………………………………4

The Life of Pleasure……………………………………4

The Fulfilled Life………………………………………5

What is Good Life as Perceived in School of Thought...6

Reference……………………………………………….7

Exercise 8……………………………………………….8 1 hour

Student’s Honesty Clause…………………………….…9

Rubrics………………………………………………….10

(Week 8)
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 Aristotle, was referred to as the first person to look into the search for a good
life. According to him, humans to what they do because they have goals. A goal,
also called as an end, is what every human aspires for. Some students strive to
finish their course because they want to graduate, but some, not only want to
graduate, they want to be able to work.

The things people do, claimed by Aristotle, leads to the end which is
happiness. He stated that happiness is the be all and end all of everything.
According to him, a genuinely happy life required fulfilment of a broad range of
conditions, including physical as well as mental well- being.

In Psychology, happiness is a mental or emotional state of well- being which

can be defined by, among others, positive or pleasant emotions ranging from
contentment to intense joy. To behaviorist, happiness is a cocktail of emotions we
experience when we do something good or positive. To neurologist, happiness is
the experience of a flood of hormones released in the brain as a reward for
behavior that prolongs survival.

Look at the pyramid presented below:

American psychologist Abraham Maslow wrote in his 1943 paper, A Theory

of Human Motivation, that people have needs to be fulfilled, some bigger and some
are smaller in priority compared to one another. Maslow arranged these needs into
the pyramid shown in Figure 9.1.

The bottom four levels of the pyramid are called “deficiency needs,” which
people do not feel anything if these needs are met, yet they feel anxious if these are
not met. The topmost fifth level is the “growth need,” the self-actualization that
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enables a person to reach his fullest potential as a human being. Maslow said that
only few people were able to self-actualize, because this level requires uncommon
qualities such as honesty, independence, objectivity, creativity and originality.
Philosophically, the good life can mean “living well.” The philosophers stated
below explained what a good life is.

The Moral Life: A good life is a virtuous life.

Philosophers Socrates and Plato gave priority to living with virtue as

absolutely better that with living with pleasure, wealth or power. According to
Socrates, it is better to suffer wrongdoing than doing something wrong. The
morally good person, according to Plato, enjoys an inner harmony, which a rich,
powerful, but wicked person cannot enjoy. Plato stated in his work, the Republic,
that in the afterlife, the virtuous people are rewarded, while the wicked people are
punished.

Religions describe the good life as a life living according to the God’s laws,
having a pious life. For Hindus, they believe in karma, that one will be rewarded
for good deeds done, or one will be
punished for doing evil, in this life,
or in other reincarnations.

The Life of Pleasure: A good life

should feel good.

The philosopher who had

bluntly, boldly, declared that a good
life should be a life of pleasure or enjoyment is Epicurus. According to him,
enjoying things such as food, drink, sex, and other indulgences, should be felt by
the senses. His philosophy, hedonism, promotes that pleasure makes life worth
living. Hedonists believe that happiness means
feeling good, a “happy,” person has many “feel
good” experiences.

Though it seemed contrary to the pious life

promoted by Socrates, Epicurus did not
encourage people to lose themselves in
pleasurable immorality, shamelessness or
depravity because of the following reasons:

● Overindulgence causes health problems, which in the long run would limit
the enjoyment of pleasurable things;
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 ● “Higher” pleasures such as friendship and study; are as important as the
pleasures of the flesh;
● The good life should be virtuous, as was promoted by Socrates and Plato.

The Fulfilled Life: The good life is the happy life.

Plato’s student, Greek philosopher Aristotle, believes people live life to find
happiness. Happiness is the end of all things people work for. He agrees with
Socrates that a good life is a moral life, he agrees with Epicurus that a good life
should have many pleasurable experiences. But for Aristotle, there are some
objective conditions that should be present such as:

● Virtue: Having a moral life.

● Health: Good health and a reasonably long life.
● Prosperity: People should be comfortably well-off that they do not need to
work doing something they don’t want to.
● Friendship: Good friends. Human beings are innately social; a good life
can’t be that of a hermit, or a recluse.
● Respect. People should enjoy the
respect of others, ideally, a person’s
qualities and achievements should be
recognized by others.
● Good luck. Anybody can be
unhappy because of a tragic loss,
accident or misfortune.
● Fulfillment: People must be able to
use their abilities and capacities such
as
scientific work, philosophical discussions, or artistic creation.

According to Aristotle, if a person was able to have these in his/her life, then, that
person has lived a good life.

What is Good Life as Perceived in School of Thought

1. Materialism- In terms of human flourishing, matter is what makes us attain

happiness. The materials that we possess give us ultimate happiness.

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 2. Stoicism- led by Epicurus. The stoics, exposed the idea that to generate
happiness, one must learn to distance oneself and be apathetic. This group
believe that happiness can only be attained by a careful practice of apathy.

3. Hedonism- the hedonists see the end goal of life acquiring pleasure. Pleasure
has always been the number one priority of them. They believe that pleasure
give meaning to their life without thinking of the future.

4. Theism- Most people find the meaning of their lives using God as the
fulcrum of their existence.

5. Humanism- for humanists, man is literally the captain of his own ship. They
see themselves not merely a steward of the creation but as individuals who
are in control of themselves and the whole world around them.

References:

Javier, M. CONTENT-SCIENCE-TECH-SOCIETY-PhilSCApdf/

Aristotle & Virtue Theory: Crash Course Philosophy #38. Retrieved from:
https://youtu.be/PrvtOWEXDIQ

Liwayway Mimije- Cruz. The Good Life. Retrieved from: Slideshare.net

Cabaddu, Mark Angelo, (2019). Science, Technology and Society Module.

Retrieved from:
https://www,scrib.com/document/429431394/science-technology-and-society-mod
ule.

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 EXERCISE 8
(You will finish this in 1 hour)
Name: Year & Section:

I. Essay

1. What is good life?

2. What is the relationship between good life and science?

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 3. Does technology always lead us to good life? Support your answer.

II. Advantages and Disadvantages of the Different School of Thought in

Attaining Good Life and Happiness

Direction: List down the advantages and disadvantages of the different school of
thought in attaining good life and happiness.

School of Thought Advantages Disadvantages

Materialism

Hedonism

Stoicism

Theism

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 Humanism

RUBRICS FOR GUIDE QUESTIONS

EXCELLENT VERY GOOD GOOD POOR
CRITERIA
4 3 2 1
COMPLETION: 60 to 70% of Less than half
At least 85% of
Number of questions All questions the of the
the questions
were questions questions
successfully completed were
successfully were were
successfully
completed. successfully successfully
completed.
completed. completed.
TYPE OF RESPONSES: Sporadic but
Most of the Less than half
Response to questions are All of the more than
answers to the of the
answers were half of the
written in complete questions were answers were
written in answers
sentences. written in written in
complete were written
complete complete
sentences. in complete
sentences. sentences.
sentences.
QUALITY OF RESPONSES: Somewhat
Quality of work (Neatness) Not careless; careless, but
Not careless Very careless
very legible. can read
and conventions adhered to. and fairly and illegible.
Work is some of the
legible. Work Work consist
exemplary; has writing.
consist of 5 to of too many
less than 4 Work consist
9 spelling or spelling or
spelling or of 10 to 15
grammatical grammatical
grammatical spelling or
errors. errors.
errors. grammatical
errors.
ACCURACY: About 60%
Close to 100% Less than half
Answers/responses are on About 80% of of the
of the questions of the
the questions questions
point (correct) and well are correct or questions are
are correct or are accurate
thought out. on point. Very properly
on point. Well or on point.
well thought out answered with
thought out. Fairly well
responses. little thought.
thought out.
Reference:
https://www.rcampus.com/rubricshowc.cfm?code=B2X849A&nocache=1601036710103
Student’s Honesty Clause:
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 I hereby declare that all the answer in this exercise or activity are done by
me. I pledge to practice the highest degree of Academic honesty at all times, as
expected from all students indicated in the course policies of Science, Technology
& Society.

Name & Signature

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