WEEK 7: HUMAN FLOURISHING IN • The other is the danger that the disclosure of the enframing

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY forecloses every other dispensation and conceals that too is
a disclosure.
PHILOSOPHY- The study of general and fundamental problems • 8. Still the enframing is a disclosure. It involves human being,
concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, therefore harbors the possibility of saving power.
mind and language.
Doctrine of causality
Branches of Philosophy 1. Causa materialis- the material, the matter out of which
1. Natural Philosophy an object is made.
2. Moral Philosophy- 2. Causa formalis-the form, the shape into which the
3. Metaphysical philosophy material enters.
4. 3. Causa efficiens- which brings about the effect that is
MARTIN HEIDEGGER (1889-1976) finished
 German philosopher whose work is associated with 4. Causa finalis- end
phenomology and existentialism.
 His ideas have exerted influence on the development of Bringing Forth- making something
contemporary European philosophy.
 His best-known work is Being and Time (1927). He gave a  The bringing forth-poesis-which underlies causality is a
very impressive analysis of human existence, the bringing out of concealment.
prominence of the important themes of existentialism like  The revealing is what the Greeks call truth-Aletheia- means
care, anxiety, guilt and above all death is brought out here. unhiddedness or disclosure.
 He begins “The Question Concerning Technology” by  Technology brings forth as well , and it is a revealing.
examining the relationship between human and technology,  This is seen in the way the Greeks understood techne, which
a relationship Heidegger calls a free relationship. If this encompasses not only craft, but other acts of the mind and
relationship is free, it opens our human existence to the poetry.
essence of technology”. This essence of technology,  Heidegger characterizes modern technology as a challenging
however, has nothing to do with technology. Rather, as forth- very aggressive in its activity.
Heidegger suggests, ‘The essence of a thing is considered to  With modern technology, revealing never comes to an end.
be what the thing is.”  The revealing always happens on our own terms as
 Heidegger examines two definitions of technology. Firstly, he everything is on demand.
offers that “Technology is a means to an end”(Instrumental  He also described modern technology as the age of
definition). Secondly, he proposes that “Technology is a switches, standing reserve and stockpiling for its own sake.
human activity (Anthropological definition).
Example:
The Question Concerning Technology 1. Volcanic eruption- challenging forth
2. Coral bleaching-challenging forth
• 1. Heidegger begins by portraying his investigation of 3. Planting trees- bringing forth
technology as the building of a path. 4. Mining- challenging forth
• 2. He examines the common understanding of technology as 5. Farming- bringing forth
a neutral instrument under the control of humans.
• He proposes to get to the true sense via the correct sense Questioning as the Piety of Thought
 Piety means obedience and submission.
• 3. He analyses the notion of instrumentality to reach the truth
 One builds a way towards knowing the truth who he/ she is
or the essence of technology- it is traced to causality.
as a being in this world.
• 4. Technology is a very particular kind of revealing to, and  Thus we shall never experience our relationship to the
the description articulates the key terms of Heidegger’s essence of technology so long as we merely represent and
philosophy of technology: Modern technology challenges- pursue the technological, put up with it, or evade it.
forth nature to yield treasures to humans; technology sets- Everywhere we remain unfree and chained to technology,
upon (positions and orders) the yields of nature so that they whether we passionately affirm or deny it. But we are
are available and of humans, becoming part of the standing delivered over to it in the worst possible way when we regard
reserve. it as something neutral; for this conception of it, to which
• 5.He discusses the relation of modern science to the today we particularly like to pay homage, makes us utterly
essence of technology- blind to the essence of technology (1977,p1)
• He claims for the sciences the aggressive approach to nature  ENFRAMING: WAY OF REVEALING IN MODERN
that goes well with technology, but poorly with science. TECHNOLOGY
Calculative thinking
 One orders and puts a system to nature so it can be
• 6. The enframing of technology is destiny.
understood better and controlled
• Destiny is neither an inevitable fate that descends on
Meditative thinking
humanity nor the result of human willing.  One lets nature reveal itself to him/ her without forcing it.
• Disclosure of destiny and human freedom are one and the
same. 1. Technology as a Mode of Revealing
• 7. There is a twofold danger to destiny. 2. Technology as Poesis: Applicable to Modern
• One is the danger that human being reduces itself to Technology
standing reserve and in so appearing to have taken total 3. Questioning as the Piety of Thought
control encounters nothing any more. 4. Enframing: A way of Revealing in Modern Technology
5. Human Person Swallowed by Technology
6. Art as a Way out of Enframing
WEEK 8: HUMAN FLOURISHING What is the good life?
• People have different ideas of what constitutes the good life.
Human flourishing is defined as an endeavor to achieve self-
actualization and fulfillment within the context of a larger community of • Wrong pursuits may lead to tragic consequences.
individuals. This also means access to the pleasant life, the engaged • Correct pursuits may lead to flourishing.
or good life and the meaningful life.
(Seligman, Steen, Park and Peterson, 2005), stated that human ARISTOTLE (NICOMACHEAN ETHICS 2:2)
flourishing requires the development of attributes and social and All human activities aim at some good. Every art and human
personal levels that exhibit character strengths and virtues that are inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to
aim at some good; and for this reason the good has been
commonly agreed across different cultures.
rightly declared as that at which all things aim.
Nicomachean Ethics and Modern Concepts
According to Aristotle, there is an end of all the actions that we perform Eudaimonia- Eu-good, daimon- spirit= good life
which we desire for itself. Flourishing is the greatest good of human Good life- happiness and virtue
endeavors and that toward which all actions aim. The good is what is Virtue- intellectual and moral
good for purposeful and goal-directed entities. He presented the The 4 Pillar of the Good life
various popular conceptions of the best life for human beings; (1) a  Health, wealth, love and happiness
philosophical life, (2).life of pleasure and (3) a life of political activity.
THE HAPPINESS PURSUIT
• Everybody wants more happiness and success.
Eudamonia means good spirit is a property of one’s life when • It’s good to know how to optimize happiness and success.
considered as a whole. It is formally egoistic in that a person’s
• There is a wide agreement that happiness is the greatest
normative reason for choosing particular actions stems from the idea human good.
that he must pursue his own good or flourishing. It also implies a divine
state of being that humanity is able to strive toward and possibly reach. RISK FACTORS
Happiness is “doing well” and” living well”. It is a pleasant state of • The happiness pursuit becomes one’s ultimate purpose in
mind. life.
• The happiness pursuit is not guided by a philosophy of life
Verbally there is a very general agreement; for both the general run of informed by general principles of meaning, spirituality and
men and people of superior refinement say that is ( Eudaimonia), and virtue.
identify living well and faring well with being happy; but with regard to
what ( Eudaimonia) is they differ, and the many do not give the same Golden Rule
account as the wise… (Nicomachean Ethics 1095a17).
• Confucius: What you do not want done to yourself, do not do
to others.
Epicurus identifies that the eudaimon life is the life of pleasure
• Aristotle: We should behave to others as we wish others to
maintains that life of pleasure coincides with the life of virtue. He
behave to us.
understands Eudaimonia as a more or less continuous experience of
• Buddhism: Hurt not others with that which pains thyself.
pleasure and, also freedom from pain and distress. Virtue is only
• Christianity: D unto others as you would have them do unto
instrumentally related to happiness.
you.
Socrates believed that virtues such as self-control, justice, courage,  They make personal happiness and success their ultimate
wisdom, piety and related qualities of mind and soul are absolutely end of life without moral compass and without the desire to
crucial if a person is to lead a good and happy life. Virtues guarantee a pursue inner goodness.
happy life Eudaimonia Disillusion- King Solomon realized the vanity of success
long, long ago: The world will never be enough: “The eye is
For Plato, Eudaimonia depends on virtue (arête) which is depicted as not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with
the most crucial and the dominant constituent of euddaimonia. hearing”( Eccl.1:8)
 It takes more and more to reach the same level of
happiness- addiction, money etc.
Pyrrho, founder of Pyrrhonism, a school of philosophical skepticism
 Nothing in this world can fill the spiritual vacuum within us.
that places the attainment of ataraxia (a state of equanimity) as a way  Dreams are often broken when reality strikes.
to achieve Eudaimonia. Pyrrhonist practice is for the purpose of FATE AND CIRCUMSTANCE
achieving epoch.  Bad things happen to good people
 Reversal of fortune
 For some people, most days are bad days. ( poverty)

WEEK 9: GOOD LIFE Living an authentic life means living with deep acceptance on the
facticity of death resulting to a life lived-Heidegger
The good life The unexamined life is not worth living for-Socrates
A PUZZLING PROBLEM The Holistic Approach
• People want to be healthy but many consume junk food good people, good community and world peace= good life
MATERIALISM
• People want to be happy but many do things that make A form of philosophical monism which holds that matter is the
themselves miserable fundamental substance in nature, and that all things, including mental
aspects and consciousness are results of material interactions.
• Most things that taste good are probably bad for you.  The first materialists were the atomists in Ancient Greece.
• Most things that give you thrill are probably bad for you too.
 Democritus and Leucippus led a school whose primary belief • Refers to nontheistic life stance centered on human agency
is that the world is made up of and is controlled by the tiny and looking to science rather than revelation from a
invisible units in the world called atomos or seeds. supernatural source to understand the world.
 Atomos simply comes together randomly to form the things in The Good Life is a Balance Life
the world.  A single-minded pursuit is not always beneficial.
Classification of Materialism  Active engagement needs to be balanced by rest.
1. Naïve materialism
2. Dialectical materialism  Exclusive love needs to be balanced by greater love.
3. Metaphysical materialism
 Achievement needs to be balanced by acceptance.
 Self-transcendence needs to be balanced by fair treatment.
Hedonism No one can deny the fact that science and technology has a
Is a school of thought that argues that the pursuit of pleasure profound impact on how modern man thinks and appreciates
and intrinsic goods are the primary or most important goals matter. It can be concretely seen in the present conditions of
of human life. man in the society. The desire to feel satisfaction of research
 A hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure (pleasure minus and development through genetic engineering, cloning and
pain) but when having finally gained that pleasure, happiness the likes opened endless doors for skeptics.
remains stationary. WEEK 10: WHEN HUMANITY AND
 “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” TECHNOLOGY CROSS
The idea that new technologies can liberate us from the human
Stoicism
 Another school of thought led by Epicurus. condition is a fantasy. In reality, the 21st-cenntury will be all too human.
David Mattin
 The stoics espoused the idea that to generate happiness,
one must learn to distance oneself and be apathetic. Humanity
 A virtue associated with basic ethics of altruism derived from
 The path to happiness for humans is found in accepting this
human condition ( wikipedia).
moment as it presents itself, by not allowing ourselves to be
controlled by our desire for pleasure, or our fear of pain.  According to Confucius, humanity is a” love of people”, if you
want to make a stand, help others make a stand.
THEISM
• The belief in the existence of the Supreme Being or Deities Human Robot Interaction
Today, in the era of present technology, robotics has become
• Describes the classical conception of God.
a big part of our collective lives. Robots are utilized for their knowledge,
• The ultimate basis of happiness is the communication with exactness and interminable vitality to perform assignments consistently
God and profitably, that when performed by people tends to create flaws.
For instance, AI robots have already started an enormous job in
• Monotheism- Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism, improving waste administration and finding distinctive approaches to
Zoroastrianism handle the waste issue endured by most developing nations like India.
Indeed, the robot age has arrived. The possibility of robots may bring
to most minds the possibility of androids like T-800 in the movie
“Terminator”. The vast majority of us are not able to understand that a
lot of robots exist in the most basic forms today; they are not so much
android but rather more like industrial tools or equipment. This implies
the world would be prepared for more smart intelligence to be utilized
in day-to-day applications (Singh).

The Impact of Technology on Human Health

Technology has crept into every corner of our lives, form
obsessive texting to checking emails more often. Most of us absorb
three times more information everyday compared with 50 years ago.
According to University of California researchers, we spend 12 hours in
front of TV and computers at home. Multitasking participants had more
difficulty filtering out irrelevant information than those focusing on one
task at a time. Teens, however, are emotionally more vulnerable to the
Humanism effects of rampant texting and online sharing. According to a 2010
• A school of thought espouses the freedom of man to carve Nielsin survey, we send and receive text messages 3, 339 times a
his own destiny and to legislate his own laws, free from the
month (Deodhar).
shackles of a God that monitors and controls.

• Is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the

value and agency of human beings, individually and The Future of Humanity (Nick Bostrom, 2009)
collectively. Extinction
An estimated 99% of all species that ever existed on earth
are already extinct (Raup, 1991). There are different ways in which
human species could become extinct: Primarily, by transforming or techniques on the essential elements of being human. However, many
evolving into one or more species or by merely dying out without any shared deep worries and trepidation about the danger brought by rapid
replacement or continuation. Our species has survived earthquake, technological change. It is of course true that no one can predict the
volcanic eruption, typhoons and other natural phenomena for tens of future. The key variable in understanding the future is rarely technology
thousands of years. Nowadays, one of the utmost extinction risks arise alone, but how humans use it, perceive it, and adapt to it.
from human activity. For instance, Advances in biotechnology might
make it possible to design new viruses that combine the easy C.S.Lewis argued that humanity, so –called power over nature “turns
contagion and mutability of the influenza virus. A dreadful pandemic out to be a power exercised by some men over other men with
with high virulence and 100% mortality rate among infected individuals Nature as its instrument’. He feared that modernism and its ability to
could possibly will terminate human species. Additionally, an all-out explain away everything but “nature “would leave us emptied of
nuclear war between Russia and the United States might be an humanity. All that would be left is our animal instincts. The choice we
example of a global catastrophe that would be unlikely to result in have to see humanity as a complex combination of both material and
extinction. spiritual components or else to be reduced to machines made of meat
ruled by other machines with nothing other than natural impulses to
Recurrent Collapse guide them. He also warned us of a society that has explained away
This means that the human condition will reach a kind of every mystery, and the danger of what he calls “man-molders which
statis, either instantly or after undergoing one or more cycles of will be armed with the powers of an Omni-competent state and
collapse regeneration. Human civilization may endure catastrophes irresistible scientific technique.
that prevent it from moving beyond a certain level of advancement. It
also requires a carefully calibrated homeostatic mechanism that According to Francis Fukuyama, there are three possible scenarios for
possesses the level of civilization restricted within a relatively narrow the near future. First, the genetically enhanced intelligence or the
interval. prospect of living longer lives free from genetic disease. Next, advance
in stem cell research might soon allow us to regenerate any tissue in
Plateau the body. Lastly, the widespread use of psychotropic drugs like Prozac
Human civilization may reach a level of technological and Ritalin that can make everyone happy without the side effects of
advancement beyond which no further advancement is feasible. the drugs.
Predictions that life span can be greatly increased have depended in
part on the apparent decelerations and plateaus. Jacques Ellul warns that as technological capabilities grow, they
results in countless means to accomplish tasks than ever before. The
Post humanity more dependent we become on technology, the more it conforms our
People have developed significantly different cognitive behavior to its requirements rather than vice versa.
abilities, population sizes, body types, sensory or emotional
experiences or life expectancies. Post humanity has established itself William Gibson, who coined the term “cyberspace”, has said the ‘the
as a label for a form of human existence radically transformed by the future is here”- it’s just not evenly distributed”. Some of the important
most advanced medical techniques and by the use of biotechnology changes in the future will come not from a new technology, but from a
and nanotechnology for human enhancement. large number of people having access to something that already exists
(Scharre, 2017).
Technology Trends (Jayshree Pandya)

1. Biological Engineering and Bio-Economy 21st Century Technologies

2. Molecular Manufacturing and Self-replicating Systems 1. Genetic engineering- is the process by which an organisms’
3. Distributed Additive Manufacturing genetic material is altered or manipulated so that the
4. Artificial Intelligence Driven Automation organism will have specific characteristics.
5. Neuromorphic Computing and Computing Beyond Turing It has been applied in numerous fields
Limit including research, medicine, industrial
6. Quantum Computing and Control biotechnology and agriculture.
7. Nanosatellites and Space Exploration It can be used in Cloning, Genetically
8. Internet to BrainNet Modified Organisms (GMOs), Gene
9. Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine therapy.
10. Brain Mapping and Brain Uploading 2. Robotics
WEEK 11: WHY DOES THE FUTURE DON’T  Is an interdisciplinary research area at the interface of computer
science and engineering. It involves the conception, design,
NEED US
manufacture and operation of robots. (Wikipedia).
 Characteristics of Robots: Robots all consist of some sort of
Technology is changing our world at an overwhelming pace. Most
mechanical construction, Robots need electrical components that
people are deeply involved with technology. They tend to be ever
control and power the machinery.
optimistic about its prospects and persistently eager to adopt and
 Types of Robots: Pre-Programmed Robots ( operate in a
promote it. Many focused their optimistic remarks on health care, food,
controlled environment where they do simple, monotonous
energy, environment, education, economy and agriculture. In the span
tasks), Humanoid robots ( robots that look like and/ or mimic
of a few short years, social media, mobile devices and internet have
human behavior- Sophia), Autonomous Robots ( operate
transformed how we communicate and get information about the world.
independently of human operators, Teleoperated Robots
Rapid advances in science and technology foreshadow a world that
( mechanical bots controlled by humans), Augmenting Robots
can displace some forms of human labor. In addition, nearly everyone
expressed concerns about the long-term impact of new tools and
 ( either enhance current human capabilities or replace the 8. 5G-6G connectivity
capabilities a human may have lost), 9. Re-engineering and Recycling
 Applications: military robots ( to search, rescue and attack), 10. High-rise farms
industrial robots ( IBM keyboard manufacturing factory in Texas), 11. Lab-grown meats
collaborative robots or cobots,( intended for direct human robot 12. Robot soldiers
interaction within shared space), construction robots ( robotic arm 13. Roads over rivers and seas
and robotic exoskeleton), agricultural robots ( closely linked to 14. Holography
the concept of AI-assisted precision agriculture and drone 15. Body implants prosthesis
usage), medical robots ( da Vinci Surgical System and Hospi),
kitchen automation ( Rotimatic, flatbreads baking, Frobot, frozen
yogurts), Robot combat for sport, domestic robots ( Roomba
vacuums the carpets), nanobots (Kinesin uses protein domain
dynamics in nanoscales to walk along a microtubule) and swarm
robotics (disaster rescue missions, target localization and
tracking, simultaneous localization and mapping, cooperative
environment monitoring and convoy protection).

3. Nanotechnology- is the study and manipulation of atomic or

molecular scale to improve or even revolutionize many
technology and industry sectors.
4. Artificial Intelligence
 Refers to “machines” that respond to stimulation consistent with
traditional responds from human, given the capacity for
contemplation, judgement and intention.
 Alan Turing established the fundamental goal and vision of
artificial intelligence. It is the attempt ro replicate or simulate
human intelligence in machines.
 Norvig and Russell defined Artificial Intelligence in four
approaches: Thinking rationally, thinking humanly, acting
rationally and acting humanly.
 It is being used in health care, energy development, finance,
transportation, aviation and telecommunications.
 It includes autonomous vehicles such as drones and self-driving
cars, playing games such as chess or Go, search engines such
as Google search, online assistants such as Siri, image
recognition in photographs, predicting flight delays and medical
diagnosis.
 Methods and Goals in AI: The symbolic ( or top-down) approach-
seeks to replicate intelligence by analyzing cognition independent
of the biological structure of the brain in terms of the processing
of symbolic label. and the connectionist ( bottom-up) approach-
involves creating artificial neural networks in imitation of the
brain’s structure.

Potential Risks to Society

 Devaluation of humanity
 Decrease in demand of human labor
 High costs of creation
 Ethical issues
 Social isolation
 Environmental Problems

List of Emerging Technologies that will shape our Future

1. Electric/ self-driving cars

2. Robot butlers
3. Flying cars
4. Space tourism
5. Colonization of other planets
6. Wearable screens
7. 3D printed Food and Metal