GAPAN CITY COLLEGE

City Hall Compound, Bayanihan, Gapan City,

Nueva Ecija, Philippines 3105
General Education Department
Week 5 Module in
SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Name: ______________________________________ Score: ___________/

Course, Year & Sec.: ___________________________ Date: ____________

Lesson 5:
The Good Life

I. OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
a. Define for himself/herself the meaning of a good life;
b. Examine the components and shared concerns that make up the good life; and
c. Create an innovative way on how to promote the concept of good life in your community.

II. CONCEPT NOTES

In ancient Greece, long before the term “science” has been coined, there was first a need to
understand one’s self, personal preferences, and the meaning of the good life in order to comprehend the
world and reality. According to Plato, understanding reality is also uncovering your soul’s desire and how it will
flourish. In other words, if you want to understand the reality of this world, you should understand yourself too.
It was Aristotle who gave a distinctive definition between the theoretical and practical sciences. He said that
“truth” and “Good” is the aim of the said sciences, respectively. Righty so, one must find the truth about what
the good is before one can even try.
To learn more about the concepts of the “good life”, read and write the following concepts in your
Batang Gapan Notebook.

The Great Philosophers and Their Definition of Good Life

Plato
● Plato once said “the unexamined life is not worth living.” In typical ancient Greek fashion, Plato and
his mentor Socrates define the good life in terms of reasonable restraint and civic duty. They
believed that an individual become a master of himself using his reason to reign in his passions, as
well as doing what he can to help promote the stability of his community. Plato also claims that
despite the reality of change, things remain, and they restrain their ultimate “whatness” – these
concepts were explained by Plato through the two aspects of reality which are world of matter
(changing and impermanent) and world of forms (real entities)
Aristotle
● Aristotle disagreed with his teacher, Plato, for he believed that there is no reality over and above
what the senses can perceive. As such, it is only by observation of the external world that one can
truly understand what reality is all about. Change is a process that is inherent in things. We, along
with all other entities in the world, start entails change. Every human person aspires for an end. This
end, as what we have learned from the previous module, is happiness or human flourishing. No one
– male or female, young or old, curly or straight, poor or wealthy – resists happiness. We all want to
be happy. Aristotle claim that happiness is the end of everything that we do.

Immanuel Kant
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Kant describes happiness as
“continuous well-being,
enjoyment of life,
complete satisfaction with
one’s condition.” He refers to
man’s
preservation and welfare as
synonymous with his
happiness. In the
Critique of Practical Reason,
Kant defines happiness as “the
state of a
rational being in the world in
the whole of whose existence
everything
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goes according to his wish and
will.” Happiness is not
pleasure. It is not
the virtuous, joyful feeling
associated with living a
moral life, rather,
happiness is simple getting
what you want.
● Kant describes happiness as “continuous well-being, enjoyment of life, complete satisfaction with
one’s condition.” He refers to man’s preservation and welfare as synonymous with his happiness. In
the Critique of Practical Reason, Kant defines happiness as “the state of a rational being in the world
in the whole of whose existence everything goes according to his wish and will.” Happiness is not
pleasure. It is not the virtuous, joyful feeling associated with living a moral life, rather, happiness is
simple getting what you want.
Friedrich Nietzsche
● For Nietzsche, life is best affirmed by a striving for individual excellence that he identified with an
idealized aristocracy. Despite his contempt for traditional morality, Nietzsche did not seek to replace
it with universal prescriptions, but rather to undermine our confidence in all such notions of
universality. Nietzsche attempts to disrupt old conceptual schemes, in order to encourage us to think
for ourselves. To love your fate is to know that everything that has happened in your life; the good,
the bad, and the ugly, has contributed to who you are and what you are doing at this very moment.
To embrace any part of life, says Nietzsche, thus necessitates that you embrace all of it. Trying to
create yourself will lead to some failures but embracing those failures alongside your successes can
help re-spark a love of life and can help you see the meaning in even the worst moments.

Happiness as the Goal of Good Life

Are you living a good and

happy life? It was said that
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the mission of life is to end the
miseries of material existence
and attain a blissful life. Admit
it or not, we are constantly
chasing
after life, but we often fail in
our pursuit. I’m sure that all of
us have experiences failure,
sadness
and rejection. We may get a
glimpse of happiness, but it
does not last forever. Most of
us, if not
all, do not want miseries;
however, we cannot avoid it.
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 The ethical is meant to lead
us to the good and happy life.
Through the ages, as has
been discussed in the previous
modules, man has constantly
struggled with the external
world
in order to reach human
flourishing. History has given
birth to different schools of
thought, all of
which aim for the good and
happy life.
● Are you living a good and happy life? It was said that the mission of life is to end the miseries of
material existence and attain a blissful life. Admit it or not, we are constantly chasing after life, but we
often fail in our pursuit. I’m sure that all of us have experiences failure, sadness and rejection. We
may get a glimpse of happiness, but it does not last forever. Most of us, if not all, do not want
miseries; however, we cannot avoid it.
● The ethical is meant to lead us to the good and happy life. Through the ages, as has been discussed
in the previous modules, man has constantly struggled with the external world in order to reach
human flourishing. History has given birth to different schools of thought, all of which aim for the good
and happy life.

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Philosophy Description
Materialism The first materialists were the atomists in Ancient
Greece. Democritus and Leucippus led a school
whose primary belief is that the world is made up of
and is controlled by the tiny indivisible units in the
world called atomos or seeds. For them, the world,
including human beings, is made up of matter. As
such, only material entities matter. In terms of
human flourishing, matter is what makes us attain
happiness. The first materialists were the atomists
in Ancient Greece. Democritus and Leucippus led a
school whose primary belief is that the world is
made up of and is controlled by the tiny indivisible
units in the world called atomos or seeds. For them,
the world, including human beings, is made up of
matter. As such, only material entities matter. In
terms of human flourishing, matter is what makes
us attain happiness.
Hedonism The hedonists, for their part, see the end goal of life
in acquiring pleasure. For them, pleasure has
always been the priority; and life is about obtaining
and indulging in pleasure because life is limited.
Hedonists strongly believe in the quote “Eat, drink,
and be merry for tomorrow we die.” This
philosophy, just like materialism, rejects the notion
of afterlife.

The school of
Stoicism

thought led by
Epicurus, the
stoics
espoused the
idea
that in order to
be happy one
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must learn to
distance
oneself and
be apathetic.
Apatheia
means to be
indifferent. For
the, everyone
should adopt
the fact that
some things
are not within
our control.
The sooner we
realize this,
the happier we
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 can become.
The school of thought led by Epicurus, the stoics
espoused the idea that in order to be happy one
must learn to distance oneself and be apathetic.
Apatheia means to be indifferent. For the, everyone
should adopt the fact that some things are not
within our control. The sooner we realize this, the
happier we can become.

The ultimate
Theism

basis of
happiness for
theists is the
communicatio
n with
God. They find
meaning of
their lives
using God as a
fulcrum of
their
existence. The
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world where
we are in is
only just a
temporary
reality
where we have
to maneuver
around while
waiting for the
ultimate
return to the
hands of god.
They believe in
afterlife.
The ultimate basis of happiness for theists is the
communication with God. They find meaning of
their lives using God as a fulcrum of their existence.
The world where we are in is only just a temporary
reality where we have to maneuver around while
waiting for the ultimate return to the hands of god.
They believe in afterlife.
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 Humanism Humanism espouses the freedom of man to carve
his own destiny and to legislate his own laws, free
from the shackles of a God that monitors and
controls. For them, man is the holds the steering
wheel as captain of his own ship. This is the spirit of
most scientists who thought that the world is a
place and space for freely unearthing the world in
seeking for ways on how to improve the lives of
inhabitants.

III. ACTIVITIES
Now that you know the concepts of “A Good Life”, it is time for you to apply what you have learned.
Read carefully the directions of the following activities and write your answer in your Batang Gapan
Notebook.

Activity 1. Write a short essay (250-300 words) about your personal meaning of “A good life”.

Activity 2. Summarize (20-50 words) the definition of the good life of each great philosopher. (20 points)

Philosopher Definition
Plato
Aristotle
Immnauel Kant
Freidrich Nietzsche

Activity 3. Pick 1 from the 5 philosophies given which best relates to your life. Write an essay (800-1,000
words) relating to why this philosophy best suits you, Explain.

REFERENCES

Alper, M., Ellcessor, E., Ellis, K., & Goggin, G. (2015). Reimagining the good life with disability: Communication, new
technology, and humane connections.

Brey, P., Briggle, A., & Spence, E. (Eds.). (2012). The good life in a technological age. Routledge.

Hanslowe, K. L., & Oberer, W. E. (1973). Science, Technology, Law: The Good Life. J. Legal Educ., 26, 32.

Higgs, E., Light, A., & Strong, D. (Eds.). (2000). Technology and the good life? (p. 201203). Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.

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Steger, M., & SHIN, J. Y. (2012). Happiness and meaning in a technological age: A psychological approach. In The good
life in a technological age (pp. 110-126). Routledge.

Tuan, Y. F. (1986). The good life. Univ of Wisconsin Press.

Waldinger, R. (2015). What makes a good life. Lessons from the longest study on happiness.

Prepared by:

JOHN RONALD T. POLICARPIO

Instructor

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Week 5: Science Technology and Society