ZITA M.

CORPUZ
 The human person as the bearer and
beneficiary of S & T, flourishes and finds
meaning in the world that he/she builds.

 In the pursuit of the GOOD LIFE, he/she

may unconsciously ACQUIRE, CONSUME or
DESTROY what the world has to offer. .

 It is thus necessary to reflect

on the things that truly matter.

 S & T must then be a part of

human life that merits REFLECTIVE
and MEDITATIVE THINKING.
Technology as a MODE of Revealing -
Martin Heidegger
He urges us to question technology and
see beyond people’s understanding of it.

Answers to question are:

- Technology as a means to an end.
- Technology is a human activity .

He puts forward the ancient Greek concepts:

- Aletheia (unhiddenness/disclosure)
- Poeisis ( bringing forth/making something for a
purpose
- techne (skill, art, craft)
TECHNOLOGY AS POIESIS:
It is when modern technology
challenges nature and demands of it
resources that are most of the time,
forcibly extracted for human
consumption and storage.

 Example – the “setting upon” of the

land in Mining. It extracts minerals
from the earth and forcefully assigns
the land as a means to fulfill the
never-ending demands of people.
 QUESTIONING AS THE PIETY OF THOUGHT -
(Martin Heidegger)

Piety is being religious, submissive, obedient

In addressing what technology has
brought forth, one cannot help but be
submissive to what his/her thoughts and
reflections elicit
It is when we start questioning that
we submit ourselves to our
thoughts.
Example – It is a known truth that we as human
beings and everything around us are made of the
same substances that constitute the stars.
Therefore we actually are STARDUST.
ENFRAMING: WAY OF REVEALING
HUMAN TECHNOLOGY
It is putting nature in a frame so that it can be
better understood and controlled according to
people’s desires.
Enframing is done because people
want security; people want to control
and are afraid of unpredictability.
In looking at the world, Heidegger distinguished between:
 Calculative thinking - one orders and puts a system to
nature so it can better be understood and controlled,
Meditative thinking – one lets nature reveal itself to
him/her without forcing it. It grounds us so as not to let
our technological devices affect our real core and warp our
nature.
Example of Enframing: If the Earth has just
become a “gas station” for us then we have
become enframed as well.

ART AS A WAY OUT OF ENFRAMING:

When an instrument is observed linearly,

its POETRY CAN NO LONGER BE FOUND.

Example – The watermill is a primitive structure

compared to the hydropower plant. People no
longer realize how the watermill is more in
tune to the rhythms of nature or how much
genius went into building it.
With Art, we are better able to see the poetic in nature in
reality.
It leads us away from calculative thinking and toward
meditative thinking.

Criticisms on Aristotle’s conception of the four causes - which

were mechanical:
1) Causa materialis – the material out of which a material is
made. Example : a silver chalice.
2) Causa formalis – the form/shape to which the material
enters
3) Causa finalis – the end, the sacrificial rite in relation to
which the chalice required is determined as to its from and
matter.
4) Causa efficiens – brings about the effect that is the
finished, actual chalice, in this instance the silversmith.
Though enframing happens, it cannot
completely snuff out the POETIC
CHARACTER OF TECHNOLOGY.

We ponder technology and

question it.
In so doing, we also become aware
of the crisis we have plunged the
Earth into.
 HUMAN FLOURISHING AS REFLECTED IN
PROGRESS & DEVELOPMENT

Indicator of Development: Development is

equated with growth and greater
consumption.
The planet however is already
OVERBRURDENED with human
activities.

IT IS ABOUT TIME THAT WE RETHINK

OUR STANDARDS OF DEVELOPMENT
IF WE TRULY WANT TO LIVE THE
GOOD LIFE.
 Reading Exercise: FORGET “DEVELOPING”
POOR COUNTRIES, ITS TIME TO “DE-DEVELOP”
RICH COUNTRIES – JASON HICKEL
1. What is the main objective of the sustainable Development Goals of
the UN?
2. What is the standardized unit that measures resource use and
waste?

3. What is the standard response to eradicating poverty?

4. What is the threshold of the Earth for adequately sustaining life?

5. According to the majority of people in middle and high income

countries, what puts the planet and society at risk?

6. What are the indicators of the quality of life given in the article?
THE GOOD LIFE
The Nicomachean Ethics (Aristotle’s
definition may be useful in our
pursuit of the truth.

All human activities aim at some

good. Every art and human inquiry,
and similarly every action and
pursuit, is thought to aim at some
good; and for this reason the good
has been rightly declared as that at
which all things aim.
THE GOOD LIFE
The good life is characterized by
happiness that springs from living
and doing well.

The ancient Greeks called this as

Eudaimonia. – concept of living well and
doing well.

Happiness defines a good life.

It is that which comes from living a life of
VIRTUE, a life of excellence manifested from
the personal to the global scale.
THE GOOD LIFE

2 kinds of Virtue:
1. Intellectual Virtue – owes its birth
and growth to teaching
2. Moral virtue – comes about as a
result of habit.

Discipline makes a habit of

exercising the good.
 WHEN TECHNOLOGY AND HUMANITY
CROSS
The good life entails living in a just and
progressive society whose citizens have
the freedom to flourish.

The UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

–explicates the fundamental human rights that are
vital and necessary in the pursuit of the good life.
Among them are:
Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal
in dignity and rights. They are endowed with
reason and conscience and should act towards one
another in a spirit of brotherhood.
The UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Article 2: Everyone is entitled to all the rights and

freedom set forth in this Declaration, without
distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex,
language, religion, political or other opinion,
national or social origin, property, birth or other
status.

Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty

and security of person
Article 4: No one shall be held in slavery or
servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be
prohibited in all their forms.
HUMANS VS. ROBOTS
The rise of the machines accompanying the progress
in S & T may render humans useless.

Manual labor is gradually being replaced by

machinery.
Computers become more and more sophisticated
Robots designed like human beings are created to
perform complex, repetitive or dangerous tasks.
With the development of artificial intelligence (AI),
robots may also eventually act and decide like
humans.
Technology enables the growth of the BPO
industry but it seems that it is also technology that
will kill the industry as we know it.
WHY THE FUTURE DOES NOT NEED US

Bill Joy (2000) in his essay contended that our most

powerful 21st century technologies – genetics,
nanotech and robotics are threatening to make
humans an endangered species

Today's scientists and engineers are finding a wide

variety of ways to deliberately make materials at the
nanoscale to take advantage of their enhanced
properties such as higher strength, lighter weight,
increased control of light spectrum, and greater
chemical reactivity than their larger-scale counterparts.

There are 25,400,000 nanometers in an inch

A sheet of newspaper is about 100,000
nanometers thick
There are 25,400,000 nanometers in an inch
A sheet of newspaper is about 100,000
nanometers thick

Genetic engineering, also called genetic

modification or genetic manipulation, is the
direct manipulation of an organism's genes
using biotechnology.
It is a set of technologies used to change the
genetic makeup of cells, including the
transfer of genes within and across species
boundaries to produce improved or novel
organisms
GNR today is accessible to small groups and individuals
and does not require funding and facilities as those need
by nuclear weapons of mass destruction (like that of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings in 1945)

 This makes GNR more prone to accidents and abuse

 It is scary to imagine that such accidents and abuses may
self-replicate and spin out of control, especially when
placed in the hands of extremist groups and individuals.

S & T may be the highest expression of

human rationality.
People are able to shape or destroy the
world with it.