STS CHAPTER 2 MIDTERM REVIEWER VIENNA CIRCLE

- group of scholar who believed that only those

LESSON 1: HUMAN FLOURISHING which can be observed should be regarded as meaningful

'good spirited' term by Aristotle to describe the pinnacle of 2. Verifiability Principle - statemenet is meaning if and only
happiness --- 'human flourisihing' if it is either analytically true or empirically verifiable

- they believe that acquiring these qualities will surely bring 3. Meaningless Statement - statements that cannot be
the seekers hapiness empirically verified are considered meaningless; including
statements that are purely metaphysical, ethical, or
PHRONESIS - type of wisdom or intelligence, relevant to judgements
practical action, implying both good judgement and
excellence of character and habits referred to as 'PRACTICAL 4. Observation Language - only meaningful language is the
VIRTUE' language of observation where statements can be directly tied
to sensory experience
CONCEPTION REGARDING SOCIETY AND HUMAN
FLOURISHING 5. Theoritical Claims - verification theory posed challenges
for scientific theories that relies on unobservable entities or
Western Civilization - more focused on the individual events since this could not be directly observe thus it is
Eastern - more on community-centric considered meaningless
Greek Aristotelian view - aims for Eudaimonia as the ultimate
God
CRITIQUES AND LIMITATION OF VERIFICATION
SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN THEORY
FLOURISHING
- technology is a human activity that we excel in as a result of 1. Self-defeating - theory itself cannot be empirically verified;
achieving science if the theory's criterion could not meet its own standard, it
raised doubts about the theory's validity
SCIENCE AS A METHOD AND RESULTS
1. Observe 2. Unobservable Entities - problems for science since it
2. Determine the problem renders theories involving unobservable entities or events
3. Formulate hypothesis meaningless
4. Conduct experiment
5. Gather and analyze 3. Value Judgements - these typically cannot be empirically
6. Formmulate conclusion and provide recommendation verified but considered meaningful in everyday language

VERIFICATION THEORY 4. Problems and Analyticity - the idea of distinguishing

- a discipline is science if it can be confirmed or interpreted in between analytically true and empirically verifiable statements
the event of an alternative hypothesis being accepted was criticized, as the boundary between these two was often
blurry, leading to ambiguity in applying the criterion
Key Concept and Components of Verification Theory
5. Bogus Arguments - explains things coincidentally
1. Empiricism - meaningful statements are those that can be
empirically verified or confirmed through sensory experience
6. Thomas Kuhn - attempted to interpret evidence according
to our own biases, whether or not we subscribe to the theory
FALSIFICATION THEORY
- asserts that as long as an ideology is not proven to be false
and can best explain a phenomenon over alternative theories,
we should accept the said ideology.
Karl Popper
- known proponent of falsification theory
SCIENCE AS SOCIAL ENDEAVORS
- due to inconclusiveness of methodologies previously cited,
this has emerged
SEVERAL PHILOSOPHERS
- Paul Thagard
- Imre Lakatos
- Helen Longino
- David Bloor
- Richard Rorty
SCIENCE AND RESULTS
- science is not the only discipline which is able to produce
results - religion luck and human randomness are some of its
contemporaries in the field
SCIENCE AS EDUCATION
- discoveries in physics, speccifically in quantum mechanics,
appeared to have debunked the idea of objectivity in reality,
subscribing instead of alternative idea called intersubjectivity
SCIENCE EDUCATION BIAS
- refers to the favoritism or emphasis placed on students with
a strong inclination towards science and math
STEM (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING,
MATHEMATICS)
- more demand in this field as students are preconditioned that
the field would latter land them high-paying jobs and a
lucrative career after graduation
LESSON 3: TECHNOLOGY AS A WAY OF
REVEALING
Generation Gap - changes bought about by the technology,
older generation think technologies are too complicated to
operate
The human condition before Common era
- gifted with brains, able to utilize abundant materials for their
own ease and comfort that they discover new things to
motivate their selves to do
Early African Homo Erectus fossils (sometimes called
Homo ergaster)
- Oldest known early humans to have possessed modern
human-liked body proportions
Human condition in the common era
- Holocene Extinction / Sixth Extinction / Anthropocene
Extinction - occurred 100,000-200,000 yrs up to present ---
the ongoing extinction of the Earth’s flora and fauna due to
human activities
- formation of communities caused humans to expand territory
and more people to feed
- process of trade emerged
- humanity became more complex
- primary goal was not merely to survive, but live the good
life
Notable comparisons then and now
1. Mortality rate - due to technology, lesser women and
children die during birth
2. Average lifespan - people now engage less in combat and
are less likely to die in treatable diseases becoz of technology
3. Literacy rate - better access to education
4. Gross domestic product - often used to determine the value
of the country’s goods and services produced within the
territory given a certain time period… higher income = higher
productivity
Martin Heidegger
- argued that the essence of technology or purpose, and being
are different from eachother
1. Technology is a means to an end
2. Technology is a human activity

LESSON 3: THE GOOD LIFE
to answer the question are we living a good life? we must
reflect on these:
1. What standard could be used to define a good life?
2. How ccan the standard serve as a guide toward living a
good life in the midst of scientific progress and technological
development
ARISTOTLE ----according to him:
- 'Truth'is the aim of the theoritical sciences and the 'good' is
the end goal of practical ones (one must find the truth about
what the good is before one can even try to locate which is
good)
- this world is all there is to it and that this world is the only
reality we can all access
- change is a process that is inherent in things. It starts as
potentialities and move toward actualities
PLATO
according to him:
- things in this world are not real and are only copies of the
real in the world of forms
- 2 aspects of realities; world of forms and world of matter
- change is a process and a phenomenom that happens in the
world and it is CONSTANT
- claims things remain to be despite all the changes happened
WORLD OF FORMS
- entities are only copies of the ideal and the models, and the
forms are the only real entities
WORLD OF MATTER
- things are CHANGING and impermanent
JOHN STUART MILL (18TH CENTURY)
- declared the Greatest Happiness principle
'an action is right as far as it maximizes the attainment of
happiness for the greatest number of people'
' ethical is meant to lead us to the good and happy life'
SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT (aim for the good and happy life)
1. MATERIALISM (led by Epicurus)
- DEMOCRITUS and LEUCIPPUS led a school whose belief
is that "the world is made up of and is controlled by atomos or
seed
- matter is what makes us attain happiness
- world and human beings are made up of matter
2. HEDONISM (YOLO) (led by Epicurus)
- see the end goal of life in acquiring pleasure
- life is about indulging in pleasure becoz life is limited
- pleasure is the priority
3. STOICISM
- believed that to generate happiness, one must learn to
distance oneself and be apathetic [apatheia - to be
indifferent]
- we should adopt the fact that some things are not within our
control
- happiness can only be attained by a careful practice of
apathy
4. THEISM [opposite of atheist]
- ultimate basis of happiness is communication with God
- most people find the meaning of their lives using God as a
fulcrum of their existence
5. HUMANISM
- espouses the freedom of man to carve his own destiny, free
from shackles
- man is the captain of his own ship
- humanists see themselves as individuals who are in control
of themselves and the world outside them
LESSON 4: WHEN TECHNOLOGY AND HUMANITY
CROSS
Technology
- greek word ‘techne’ and ‘logos’ which mean art and word
- discourse on arts
- appeared in 17th century in applied arts (artistic designs made
for utilitarian objects in everyday use)
- technology became a necessity,, for convenience, pleasure,
happiness, communication
Technologies evident today:
1. Television Sets - (1)Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, german
student, successful in his attempt to send images through
wires with the aid of a rotating disk called ‘electric telescope”
(2) Alan Archibald Swinton & Boris Rosing - created a new
system of television by using cathode ray tube in addition to
the mechanical scanner system namely ‘mechanical and
electronic tv’
2. Mobile Phones - Martin Cooper made the world’s first
mobile phone call, took 10 hrs to charge
3. Computers - first was release in April 1981 called Osborne
I - invented to make life more efficient and less stressful
ROLES PLAYED BY THESE TECHNOLOGICAL
ADVANCEMENT
1. Television - platform for advertisements and information
dissemination
2. Mobile phones - used for communication, surf the internet,
take pictures, portable and convenient
3. Personal Computers and Laptops - wider screens, separate
keyboards, availability of mouse or a touchpad, computer
games
ETHICAL DILLEMMA FACED BY THESE
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS
-makes children lazy and unhealthy, unaware of the time
- brings people only virtually closer and not physically or
personally
- moral dilemma - children freely exposed to the internet and
learning good and sometimes bad things, makes them
vulnerable to character change
ROBOTICS AND HUMANITY
Robots - actuated mechanism programmable in two or more
axes with a degree in autonomy
- automatically operated machine that replaces human effort
Service robot - robot that performs useful task for humans
Personal service robot - for noncommercial task
(domestic servant robot, pet robot)
Professional service robot - for commercial task
(delivery robot, fire-fighting robot, rehab robot)
DESIRE (Deutsche Servicerobotik Initiative)
- collaborative research project funded by German Federal
Ministry of Education and Research
- launched on October 1, 2005
Objectives
- to create a reference architecture for mobile manipulation
- to promote convergence of technologies
- to conduct pre-competition research and development
activities for new products
ROLES PLAYED BY ROBOTICS
- perform complicated activities which human beings are
incapable of
- entertain people, made to serve as toys
LAWS OF A GOOD ROBOT (formulated by Isaac Asimov
in 1940s)
1. A robot may not injure a human being
2. A robot must obey orders given it but not conflict the first
law
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as not
conflict 1st and 2nd law
ETHICAL DILEMMAS FACED BY ROBOTICS
Safety - robots can cause harm to humans if they malfunction
or designed withouth adequate safety features
Emotions - if robots develop emotions there is dilemma
surrounding their moral status
Rights - if robots are given right, there is dilemma
surrounding the situation in which robots are recognized as a
person
Autonomy - robots making decision on their own without
human intervention
Partial autonomy - includes active human-robot
interaction
Full Autonomy - excludes active human-robot
interaction

Elmer Elsie (ELectro MEchanical Robot, Light SEnsitive)

- 2 electronic robots built in 1940s by neurobiologist and
cybernetician William Grey Walter