Lesson 2

The Human Person Flourishing in terms of Science and Technology

- Technology as a Way of Revealing
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Objectives: 
At the end of the lesson, you can:
1. Analyze the human condition in order to deeply reflect and express philosophical ramifications that
are meaningful to the student as a member of society; and,
2. Critique flourishing humans in relation to scientific and technological progress in order for the
student to define the meaning of the good life for them.
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Introduction
Human civilizations have progressed in lockstep with scientific and technological
advancements throughout history. The human person thrives and finds significance in the world that
he or she creates as both a bearer and a beneficiary of science and technology. A person might
acquire, devour, or destroy all the world has to give in the quest for a happy life. You will have a
better grasp of the role of technology in human life in this lesson.

Activity
Picture Analysis: Examine the images below. Write an analysis on their social impact in not less than three
sentences.
1. Social Media in Education
2. Robot in the workplace

Analysis

1. How do some people use social media for their selfish advantage ?
 2. What would be the disadvantages of having robots in the workplace Having robots in
our workplace tends to promote sloth-like work or laziness to the personnel or
employees. Why? Because high-tech machines, robots and any other devices made
by technology forces them to decrease their effort to work as the said gadgets will
do the job and is expected not to fail. Alongside, high expectancy we, humans,
confer to these high-tech machines and robots, it is still not certain that it will not
fail. Over the time some might be fragmented since everything has its peak and an
end So, with that being said, the risk of incorporating workers and machines is
highly dangerous.

Abstraction
Flourishing is a state where people "live within an ideal range of human functioning," with happy
emotions, positive psychological functioning, and positive social functioning.
Positivity
Human Flourishing is an attempt to achieve self-actualization and fulfillment within the framework
of a broader community of people, each of whom has the right to do so. The logical use of one's human
potentialities is required for human wellbeing. To pursue his freely and logically selected ideals and goals,
including talents, abilities, and virtues, to the evolution of science & technology in human civilizations.
Science and technology are both the bearer and the benefit of human beings.
Technology as a Mode of Revealing
Martin Heidegger is a German philosopher and a key figure in the Continental philosophical tradition, often
regarded as one of the most innovative and influential thinkers of the twentieth century?
Heidegger's Technology Point of View
• He rejects the notion that technology is "a means to an end" or "a human activity."
• These two methods, which he refers to as the "instrumental" and "anthropological" definitions, are "right,"
but they don't go far enough; they aren't yet "true," he adds.
As Heidegger points out, technological items are means to a goal, produced and operated by humans, but
technology's essence is something else entirely.
• He points out that just as the essence of a tree isn't a tree, the essence of technology isn't anything
technological.
So, if technology is neither a means to an end nor a human activity, what is it?
According to Heidegger, technology must be understood as a “way of revealing.” His translation of the
Greek term alètheuein, which means "to discover" – "to reveal" – is "revealing." The independent noun
alètheia is related to this verb and is commonly rendered as "truth," while Heidegger maintains that "un-
concealment" is a better translation.
What exactly is reality?
It is not supplied in the same way in all times and civilizations, according to Heidegger. It is relative in the
most literal sense of the word — it exists only through relationships. It is not something absolute that
human beings can ever know once and for all. Humans are unable to reach it.
1. What does it mean for technology to be a "means of revealing"?
2. When Heidegger states that technology is "a technique of disclosing," what does he mean?

Everything we see, think about, and engage with "emerges from concealment into un
concealment." Reality is ‘revealed' in a specific way by engaging in a specific relationship with it. The
manner of revealing that distinguishes our time is technology. Technology represents a particular way of
seeing the world, illustrating how humans exert control over reality. While the ancient Greeks saw ‘making'
as ‘assisting something to come into being,' modern technology, as Heidegger explains, is more of a
‘forced into being. The world is revealed as raw material, ready for manufacture and manipulation, thanks
to technology.

Why is technology not considered to be a human activity?

There is something wrong with today's modern, technical culture, according to Heidegger. Reality
can only exist as a raw material (as a "standing reserve") in our "age of technology." Humans did not cause
this situation; humans did not choose the technological method of exposing. Instead, our perception of the
world - of what it means to be a human - evolves with time. In today's society, the concept of "being" has
taken on the form of a technical "framework" through which humans manage and dominate the
environment. Every attempt to escape technology just serves to drag us deeper into it. Heidegger's only
way out is "the will not too will." We must allow for the option of relying on technologies without becoming
tied to them and to perceive them as manifestations of a sense of self.
 Application
Direction: Write an essay on in not less than 150 words.
Criteria: Clarity of the content – 5 Coherence/Organization – 3 Grammar – 2

Closure
Congratulations! You did a good job. I have a feeling that you are anticipating for another interesting topics
in the next lesson. God bless!