GED103 – MIDTERM Positivity - practice or tendency to be

positive or optimistic in life.

MODULE 1: THE HUMAN PERSON

FLOURISHING IN TERMS OF "There is an end of all of the actions that we
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY perform which we desire for itself. This is
what is known as eudaimonia, flourishing,
"There is a thirst in each of us for enduring
or happiness, which is desired for its own
happiness, serenity, and fulfillment. There is
sake with all other things being desired on
a thirst for wholeness, for freedom, for
its account."
authentic and sustained love. It is summed
- Aristotle
up in that underlying feeling that there must
be more to life."
- Elliott S. Dacher M.D
The good is what is good for purposeful,
goal-directed entities. He defines the good
proper to human beings as the activities in
Human flourishing is the reward of virtues
which the life functions specific to human
and values, and happiness is the goal and
beings are most fully realized. A
reward of human flourishing. Self-direction
fundamental fact of humanity nature is the
(i.e., autonomy) involves the use of one's
existence of individual human beings each
reason and is central and necessary for the
with his own rational mind and free will.
possibility of attaining human flourishing,
self-esteem, and happiness.
Human Flourishing - ability to live a good The use of one's volitional consciousness is
life. a person's distinctive capacity and means of
survival. Aristotle's eudaimonia is formally
egoistic in that a person's normative reason
Eudaimonia - is a property of one's life for choosing actions stems from the idea that
when considered as a whole. he must pursue his own good or flourishing
because of self-interest. Egoism is an
Flourishing - is the highest good of human integral part of Aristotle's ethics. Good
endeavors and that toward which all actions means "good for" the individual moral
aim. It is success as a human being. The best agent.
life is one of excellent human activity. It is
the effort to achieve self-actualization and
fulfillment within the context of a larger
Out of habit we have learned to search for
community of individuals.
this gem of life in the wrong place. That is
Flourishing - a state where people
why, regardless of our efforts and
experience positive emotions, psychological
persistence, we cannot find what we are
functioning, and positive social functioning.
searching for. Mistakenly, we continue to
- one that connotes goodness, generativity,
look outside of our self to discover the
growth, and resilience.
experience of human flourishing. That's
what culture has taught us. It's this tenacious
mental habit that denies us access to the poem, the craftsperson makes the wood
richest experience of human life-human carving, etc.
flourishing.
- The second is Physis, the bringing forth
that occurs in nature, in which things such as
flowers are brought forth in themselves [en
Principles of Human Flourishing
heautoi].
1. Universal purpose of goods - the Earth’s
- Both instances, however, fall into
resources serve every person's needs,
the category in Poiesis in the sense that
regardless of who "owns" them.
something that was not present is made
2. Stewardship of creation - duty to care present.
for the earth as a gift is a personal
responsibility for the common good.
Something that was not present is made
3. Promotion of peace - everyone has the
present.
duty to respect and collaborate in.
- In continental philosophy and semiotics,
4. Participation - everyone has the right and Poiesis is the process of emergence of
the duty to take part in the life of a society. something that did not previously exist.

5. Global Solidarity - recognition that we

are all interconnected, part of one human
Martin Heidegger
family.
- A German philosopher and a seminal
thinker in the Continental tradition of
philosophy.
- Widely acknowledged to be one of the
MODULE 2: TECHNOLOGY AS A WAY most original and important philosophers of
OF REVEALING the 20th century.
- Technology, according to Heidegger, must
What is the Concept of Poiesis? be understood as “a way of revealing.”
- Poiesis means revealing, or bringing - Revealing is his translation of the Greek
something into existence that did not exist word ‘aletheuein,’ which means ‘to
before. discover.’ Related to this verb is ‘aletheia,’
- Poiesis means “bringing forth.” which is usually translated as ‘truth,’ though
Heidegger insists that a more adequate
translation would be ‘unconcealment.’
Heidegger distinguishes between two
forms of bringing forth:
- The first is directly associated with Poiesis, How can technology be ‘a way of
as it is the bringing forth into existence that revealing’?
the craftsperson and the poet (and anyone - Everything we perceive or think of or
who produces things) practice. interact with “emerges out of concealment
- The products of this activity are into unconcealment.”
brought forth by something else [en alloi – - By entering into a particular relation with
“in another”], that is, the poet makes the
reality, reality is ‘revealed’ in a specific way. courage, and so on. Eventually, the virtue
- Heidegger explains that modern becomes a habit.
technology is rather a ‘forcing into being.’
- Aristotle also believed that good for
- Technology reveals the world as raw
humans is the maximum realization of what
material, available for production and
was unique to humans., It followed the good
manipulation.
for human was to reason well. The task of
reason was to teach humans how to act
virtuously, and the exercise faculties in
Why is technology not a human activity?
accordance with virtue. The good life, then,
- In our time, ‘being’ has the character of a
was defined by Aristotle as the activity of
technological ‘framework,’ from which
the soul in accordance with virtue.
humans approach the world in a controlling
and dominating way. - This must still stand in the contemporary
- Every attempt to climb out of technology world because most people are being
throws us back in. The only way out for obsessed with material things. For most
Heidegger is “the will not to will.” people, having a good life is being rich with
- Heidegger strongly opposes the view that material possessions. They miss to
technology is “a means to an end” or “a remember that happiness and having a good
human activity.” life is living a life that is consistent with
- These two approaches, which he calls, having high moral standards.
respectively, the “instrumental” and
“anthropological” definitions, are indeed
“correct,” but do not go deep enough; as he MODULE 4: WHEN TECHNOLOGY
says, they are not yet “true.” AND HUMANITY CROSS
Technology
- The ever-growing society has made people
MODULE 3: THE GOOD LIFE
see technology as a form of necessity.
In the Nicomachean Ethics:
- Aristotle proposed that humans are social,
rational animals that seek to "live well." To Greek Words
that end, the system of ethics designed to Techne – Word
help us reach eudaimonia, a world that Logos – Art
means living well or flourishing. - Technology means “a discourse on arts.”
(Buchanan, 2010)
- Aristotle sees virtues as character traits and
- Technology became popular in the 17th
tendencies to act in a particular way.
century because the concept was only used
- We gain them through practice and by to talk about arts, specifically applied arts.
copying 'moral exemplars' until we manage
to internalize the virtue.
Evolution of the Term “Techne”
- We become temperate by practicing
- As society evolved and technology
temperance, courageous by practicing
progressed, machines and tools were also The Ethical Dilemmas of Robotics
attached to the word “technology.”
Ethical Dilemmas – is a problem in the
decision-making process between two
possible options, neither of which is
TV was a product of different
acceptable from an ethical perspective.
experiments by various people.
Robot/s – one confined to specialist
Paul Gotlieb Nipkow (Nipkow Disk)
applications in industry and the military,
- German student in the late 1800s,
where users received extensive training on
successful in his attempt to send a message
their use, but they are increasingly being
through wires with the use of rotating metal
used by ordinary people.
disk.
- Electric telescope, with 18 lines of South Korea – drawing up an ethical code
resolution. to prevent humans from abusing robots, and
vice versa.
European Robotics Network (EuRoN) – a
5 Ethical Dilemmas Faced by Emerging
group of leading roboticists and started
Technologies:
lobbying governments for legislation.
1. Data Privacy
2. Risks associated with Artificial
Isaac Asimov – developed the "The Three
Intelligence (AI) – refers to computer
Laws of Robotics."
systems capable of performing complex
tasks that historically only a human could do 1. A robot may not injure a human being.
(reasoning, making decisions, solving
2. A robot must obey the orders given by a
problems)
human being except that would conflict the
3. Developing Sustainable Environment – First Law.
Sustainable Development is a development
3. A robot must protect his own existence as
that meets the needs of the present.
long as such protection does not conflict
(Renewable Energy – solar, wind,
with the First and Second Law.
hydroelectric, biomass)
4. Health Implications due to Technology
Use – Close computer work can cause dry Software Robots – Basically, just computer
eyes, light sensitivity, double vision, fatigue, programs already make important financial
and headaches. decisions.
5. Infodemic and Data Weaponization Issues David Hanson – an American scientist who
– Infodemic is too much information once worked in Disney. Developed a novel
including false or misleading information in of artificial skin that bunches and wrinkles
digital and physical environments during a just like human skin, and the robots heads he
disease outbreak. covers in this can smile, frown, and grimace
in very human-like way.
Jaron Lanier – an Internet pioneer, has
warned of the dangers such technology
poses our sense of our humanity. He talks of
the dangers of "Widening the Moral Circle."
These robots are specifically designed to
encourage human beings to emotional
attachment to them. It is the ethics of robot-
human interaction.

MODULE 5: WHY DOES THE FUTURE

NOT NEED US?
Bill Joy
- An American computer scientist who co-
founded Sun Microsystems.
- Served as chief scientist at the company.
- Famous Wired magazine essay “Why the
future doesn’t need us” (2000).
Examples:
- Erica: Robot News Anchor
- Sofia/Sophia: World’s 1st AI Humanoid
Robot