CHAPTER 2 Science, Technology and Society and the Human Condition

Lesson 1 Human Flourishing

(Dela Torre Ivan, Dela Umbria Elaiza , Dellagas Debbie , Deontoy James Clifford) April
11 TUESDAY 8AM

Chapter 1: Human Flourishing and Science and Technology The concept of human
flourishing is best captured by the term eudaimonia. It comes from the Greek word EU
meaning “well” and daimon or daemon meaning “spirit.” It is defined as a contented
state of being happy, healthy, and prosperous. It is also understood as the effort to
attain self-discovery and fulfillment within the setting of society, each with the right to
pursue his or her own efforts to achieve such state.

In Philosophy, eudaimonism refers to pursuing the right actions that lead to one’s
“wellbeing.” Ancient Greek philosophers developed normative ethical theories called
virtue ethics that emphasize the virtues of mind and character. According to them, such
virtues are linked to the concept of arete, meaning “excellence of any kind that is
necessary in order for one individual to flourish and attain the good life.”

Eudaimonia is an objective state that characterizes the well-lived life as an individual’s

ideal emotional state. It is thought of as the highest human good that is good-in-itself.

There are different philosophical theories that attempt to explain eudaimonia such as
hedonism. According to hedonism, pleasure is the most valuable pursuit of mankind and
everything that one does it to gain pleasure. This view can be tracked back to
Aristippus, a Greek philosopher who was convinced that life’s objective is to experience
maximum pleasure. Another approach to good is from the historical and philosophical
teachings of Aristotle the eudemonic well-being. He assumed that happiness is a vague
idea, emphasizing that not all desires are worth pursuing. Though some may yield
pleasure, they will not always produce lasting happiness.

Epicurus and other notable hedonists agreed with Aristotle that eudaimonia is the
highest good. However, Epicurus associated this with the idea of “pleasure for
pleasure’s sake.”
THE HISTORY OF EUDAIMONIA
Human Flourishing according to Aristotle the term eudaimonia is explained by Aristotle
in his Nicomachean Ethics that dates to 4th century BC. However, earlier thinkers such
as Democritus, Socrates, and Plato presented similar concepts. Socrates believed that
virtue is a sort of knowledge (the knowledge of good and evil). On the other hand, Plato
observed that even bad people can feel guilty when they do something wrong. He
claimed that the mind must govern the spirit, emotions, and physical desires to attain
eudaimonia. Aristotle departed from the Socratic view that happiness is based on
leading a life of virtue. He stated that such happiness is conditional for it is dependent
on other conditions. Any individual living a life of virtue will not be happy if faced with an
extreme predicament. An individual’s virtue cannot bring happiness if he or she is sick
or starving. In Aristotle’s point of view, the individual’s worldly conditions are important
in his or her pursuit of eudaimonia.

Aristotle stated that eudaimonia is not an instrumental good but rather, the ultimate
good for it is intrinsically good or good in its own sake. For Aristotle, being part of a
community is needed for an individual to flourish as a human being. He emphasized
that friendship, a mutual admiration between two persons, is a contributing factor in
attaining eudaimonia.

The Stoics perceived virtue based on morality. They believed that eudaimonia is the
highest good and is achieved by living in harmony with nature. However, perfect virtue
is impossible to achieve. Moral virtues such as courage, honesty, and justice are good
while moral vices like envy, slander, and shame are bad. Health, honor, and wealth are
neutral.

Human flourishing in the Christian perspective From a Christian perspective, St.

Augustine of Hippo and St. Thomas Aquinas proposed that eudaimonia or human
flourishing requires one to have knowledge of God. On the other hand, John Locke, who
derived fundamental principles of his philosophy from the Bible, stressed that happiness
is pursued through prudence.

Old Testament The concept of human flourishing in the Old Testament is best described
by the word shalom, which, according to theologians, means peace, harmony, and
completeness. It is a sense of wholeness involving an individual’s relationship with God
and his creations. It involves trusting the world and plan of God that he has already set
from the beginning of creation. According to Dr. Neal Plantinga, in his article Educating
for shalom (2015), a more suitable definition of the world shalom is the webbing
together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight. People
commonly refer to it as peace, but its meaning goes beyond mere peace of mind or
truce among enemies. The Bible equates “shalom” to universal flourishing and delight---
a rich situation that inspires wonder and joy for every creature on Earth reigned over by
the creator and Savior.

New Testament The concept human flourishing is captured in the Bible’s New
Testament through the Beatitudes. These are the eight blessings preached by Jesus to
his followers in Matthew 5: 1 – 12. Each beatitude begins with the Greek word Makarios
(plural Macario) meaning “blessed” or “happy.” The term beatitude comes from the Latin
beatus meaning “blissful,” “happy,” fortunate,” or “flourishing.”

The beatitudes begin with the phrase “Blessed are…” or “Happy are…” for they impart
which qualities and attitudes one must have on Earth in order to flourish in the afterlife.

In the classical Greek, Makar from Makarios refers to the state of living a life of
happiness without struggles and difficulties. Makarios is commonly used as a synonym
for eudaimonia because both connote happiness, peace of mind, joy, and the good life.
According to the Bible, Jesus preached the human flourishing can be achieved by
placing God at the center of one’s life. Scot McKnight highlighted in his discussion of the
Beatitudes that “the entire philosophy of ‘the good life’ and the late-modern theory of
‘happiness’ are at work when [Jesus] says, ‘Blessed are…’ (2013)”

Human flourishing in the socio-psychological perspective Science and technology

clearly affects the human experience and human understanding of happiness.
Advancement in science and technology, having made life easier, greatly influence the
way people view what the good life is. Recent studies show that human understanding
of human flourishing includes mental and physical health, satisfaction in one’s life,
meaning and purpose, and social relationships.

Carol Ryff (1995), a psychology professor, studied different models and theories of
happiness in different subfields of psychology. She concluded that there are six
components of well-being.
Ryff’s model of psychological well-being
1. Personal Growth
2. Purpose in life
3. Positive relationships
4. Self -Acceptance
5. Autonomy
6. Environmental Mastery Anthony Bradley (2013), a professor at the King’s College in
New York, echoed Ryff’s idea in his article “The New Legalism” where he wrote”

An emphasis on human flourishing ours and others’, becomes important because it is

characterized by a holistic concern for the spiritual, moral, physical, economic, material,
political psychological, and social context necessary for human beings to live according
to their design.

The consequence of human flourishing in order to come up with the technological

innovations, humanity has taken control of the environment to take advantage of its
natural resources. It takes millions of years for a mountain to take shape but only a few
years to flatten it to make way for the development of roads, subdivisions, and other
structures. Modernization advances science, technology, and the human future at the
cost of nature’s degradation.

As the world continues to transform and develop in a pace beyond anyone’s

expectations because of science and technology, scientific and technological
innovations new come with responsibilities. According to Gerd Leonhard, there would
be “an avalanche of technological changes that could reshape the very essence of
humanity and every aspect of life on our planet (2016, I)”.

Scientist Stephen Hawking, Stuart Russell, Max Tegmark and Frank wilczek published
an open letter in the Independent in May 2014 stating that the emerges of artificial
intelligence poses a great danger to humanity. They pointed out the possibility that such
technology can outsmart humans in terms of business and research, manipulate human
leaders, and develop dangerous and highly advanced weapons. They also noted that
the successful creation of artificial intelligence may and will be the biggest discovery in
human history but would also be undoubtedly the last. The impact of rapidly developing
technologies such as artificial intelligence goes beyond the present condition. It affects
not only humans but also the environment.