•Long before the word “Science” has been coined, the need to

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: understand the world and reality was bound with the need to
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, understand the self and the good life.
AND SOCIETY: THE GOOD •At the end of this lesson, the students should be able to: •Plato – to understand reality and the external world, man must
LIFE •Examine what is meant by a good life;
seek to understand himself too.
•Aristotle – gave a definitive distinction between the theoretical
•Identify how humans attempt to attain what is deemed to be a and practical sciences.
good life; and •Theoretical disciplines: logic, biology, physics and
•Recognize possibilities available to human being to attain the metaphysics
good life. •Practical disciplines: ethics and politics
•“Truth” is the aim of the theoretical sciences, the “good” is the
end goal of the practical ones.

ARISTOTLE & HOW WE ALL PLATO ARISTOTLE

• Two realities: the world of forms
ASPIRE FOR A GOOD LIFE (the entities are only copies of the
ideal and the models, and the forms
ARISTOTLE
are the only real entities.) and the
world of matter (things are
•First philosopher who approached the problem of reality
changing and impermanent)
from a “scientific” lens
• Recognized change as a process and
•First thinker who dabbled into the complex as a phenomenon that happens in
the world, that it is constant.
problematization of the end goal of life: happiness
• Claims that despite the reality of
change, things remain and they
retain their ultimate “whatness”
• There is no reality over and above
what the senses can perceive.
• Change is a process that is inherent
in things.
• We, along with all other entities in
the world, start as potentialities and
move toward actualities.
• Every action that emanates from a
human person is a function of the
purpose that the person has.
HAPPINESS AS THE GOAL OF A
GOOD LIFE
JOHN STUART MILL
•“Greatest Happiness Principle” – an action is right as far as it
maximizes the attainment of happiness for the greatest number of
people.
•Individual happiness of each individual should be prioritized and
collectively dictates the kind of action that should be endorsed.
•The ethical is meant to lead us to the good and happy life.

DIFFERENT SCHOOLS OF DIFFERENT SCHOOLS OF DIFFERENT SCHOOLS OF

THOUGHT THOUGHT THOUGHT
MATERIALISM HEDONISM STOICISM
• Democritus and Leucippus •Led by Epicurus • Another school of thought led by Epicurus.
• To generate happiness, one must learn to distance oneself and be
• Most people who are clinging on to material wealth as the primary •Hedonists see the end goal of life in acquiring pleasure. apathetic.
source of the meaning of their existence.
•Life is about obtaining and indulging in pleasure because life is • for stoics, happiness can only be attained by a careful practice of
• In terms of human flourishing, matter is what makes us attain limited. apathy.
happiness.
•Mantra: “Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.” • We should adopt the fact that some things are not within our control.
The sooner we realize this, the happier we can become.
•Does not buy any notion of afterlife.
 DIFFERENT SCHOOLS OF DIFFERENT SCHOOLS OF
THOUGHT THOUGHT Whether or not we agree with these technological
THEISM HUMANISM advancements, these are all undertaken in the hopes
•Most people find the meaning of their lives using God as a • The freedom of man to carve his own destiny and to legislate his own laws, of attaining the good life. The balance, however,
free from the shackles of a God that monitors and controls.
fulcrum of their existence. between the good life, ethics, and technology has to
• Man is literally the captain of his own ship.
•People based their life goals on beliefs that hinged on some form be attained.
• Humanists see themselves not merely as stewards of the creation but as
of supernatural reality called heaven. individuals who are in control of themselves and the world outside them.
•The ultimate basis of happiness for theists is the communion with • As a result of the motivation of the humanist, current scientists eventually
God. turned to technology in order to ease the difficulty of life. (Ex: tinkering with
sexuality)

THANK YOU!