UNIT IV. HUMAN FLOURISHING 1.

By examining things and thinking more

Human Flourishing 2. By masterly using reason
 According to Aristotle, Human is defined as a 3. By living the Four Cardinal Virtues (Wisdom,
rational animal because they can think and use Courage, Temperance, Justice)
reason consistently.
By examining things and thinking more
 The way human beings do things is by making
rational choices that take specific actions or  Plato believed that humans can reason and must
scientific investigations that are mostly in-line use it to become wiser to flourish.
in their personal preferences.  He said that human being who does not examine
 Hence, a human being is a person who makes up his or her life and surroundings would not
society and is responsible for the research and flourish.
innovations currently being used and existing
By masterly using reason
today.
Essential tool to live a flourishing life  According to Plato, using reason over desires
makes human to be good. Reasoning allows the
1. Understanding the behavior of humans (strength control of oneself, and limiting one's reason
and weakness) may result in negative consequences.
 A human can flourish if he or she can control
2. Their nature, values, norms, needs (material or
itself through reason and act for the common
spiritual)
good.
3. How to cater to these
By living the four cardinal virtues
A. Human Flourishing: Based on Ancient Greek
Philosophers' Perspective  Wisdom
 The quality of having experience,
Flourishing knowledge, and good judgement; the
quality of being wise.
 It is a state where people experience positive
 One must pursue learning based on
emotions and positive social functioning.
curiosity, which leads to more efficacy and
 Is a descriptor and a measure of positive mental
self-mastery, which are needed to have a
health in life well-being (the state of being
fulfilling life.
happy, healthy or prosperous).
 Courage
How to live a flourishing life?  It is important to have courage in society
today; it is needed to face life's challenges
Plato and Aristotle
because JUSTICE needs courageous
 The two most recognized Greek Philosophers individuals to stand for what is right and to
that tries to answer the question. correct what is wrong.
 These great philosophers called flourishing life  Temperance
as "EUDAIMONIA"  According to Joel (2011), it is defined as
 It is usually associated with HAPPINESS. moderation or voluntary self-restraint.
 For them, happiness is the result of eudaimonia  Plato believed that having temperance
or human flourishing. prevents corruption and chaos.
 It is important in the society because a
PLATO'S interpretation of "Human human without temperance will not
Flourishing" flourish since lack of self-restraint can
PLATO (428/427-348/347 B.C.) lead to vices and violence.

 For him, "all human beings naturally desire ARISTOTLE'S interpretation of "Human
eudaimonia or human flourishing". Flourishing”
 To be flourish, Plato believed that one must ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.)
have moral thought and virtuous action.
(VIRTUE - trait or quality that is deemed to be  He explained that eudaimonia or human
morally good). flourishing is the highest good of human beings.
 The well-being of a human individual must  Zey (2001) introduced the Rational Choice
NOT depend on external goods (such as fame, Theory, which is used to model human decision
wealth, good appearance). making. It explains the behavior of human being
 To live just for the sake of these external goods in order to satisfy human needs.
will not lead to flourishing. What are the aspects of Human Nature?
If having a VIRTUE is needed in order to There are four aspects of Human nature
FLOURISH, how does one develop virtue? according to Aristotle.
According to Plato, Human being can develop 1. Physical
virtue by the following:
2. Emotional
3. Social 11 Virtuous Traits
4. Rational 1. Courage 5. Magnanimity 9. Friendliness
2. Temperance 6. Patience 10. Justice
Humans are Physical Being 3. Liberality 7. Truthfulness 11. Shame
4. Magnificence 8. Wittiness
 For humans, to keep their body physically and
mentally functioning, they need air, water, food In addition, Aristotle stated that all virtues are
rest, and exercise. connected by PHRONESIS or "PRACTICAL
WISDOM". It enables an individual to apply the
Humans are Emotional Being appropriate virtue in each situation. A virtuous life
 Humans are the highest forms of animals. Like can be attained through education and habit. In
any other animals, humans have needs, desires, summary, when an individual possesses
and wants. Humans have emotional needs to INTELLECTUAL VIRTUE and VIRTUES OF
express different emotions in such reaction. CHARACTER, he or she will attain
EUDAIMONIA or HUMAN FLOURISHING.
Humans are Social Being
B. Human Flourishing: A Modern World
 The feeling of satisfaction, flourishing, or well- Concept
being can be experienced when learning to
socialized. As social beings, it is inherent that In Psychology, Human Flourishing has different
humans need friendship, companions, components: happiness, life satisfaction, mental and
cooperation, and a sense of belongingness in virtue, close social relationship, and financial and
society. material stability.

Humans are Rational Being 1. Flourishing is intrinsically worthwhile

 As Aristotle said, a human is defined as a  It contrasts with the Greek Philosopher's point
rational animal because they can think and use of view that human flourishing is a means to an
reason consistently. Rationality is what end goal, happiness. Flourishing is naturally
differentiates humans from other animals. It good and is worth striving for. Therefore, it is
allows human to express, be creative, or obey intrinsically worthwhile.
reason. 2. The actualization of the human potential
How does human become more virtuous?  When an individual uses his or her potentials
For Aristotle, a virtue is a character trait that and capabilities it is called human flourishing.
enables a person to flourish. Just like Plato, The level of flourishing for every individual will
Aristotle believed that humans, through reason, seek cannot be compared because every individual
knowledge about the world. He also believed that has different potential and encounter different
by gaining knowledge, humans would flourish. He opportunities.
called it "INTELLECTUAL VIRTUE" Criteria for Human Flourishing
(According to King (2014), intellectual virtue is an
excellent personal trait or character strength that is a. Life as a whole
deemed to be morally good for thinking and  In studying an individual's flourishing, it
learning and is often associated with knowledge and is needed to understand his or her nature
cognitive ability.) Aristotle made an important as a whole person/life, which means it is
distinction between knowledge and human important to study not only some parts of
flourishing. an individuals life but its totality as a
2 Types of Knowledge: human as a well.

1. Theoretical knowledge b. Human flourishing is a dynamic state

 This type of knowledge is about the nature of  Human flourishing is self-motivated. It

the principle. It allows us to manipulate nature; requires a developmental
however, without practical knowledge, it cannot process/progress to portray human
be done. potential. To become a flourishing human
being, one must continuously develop or
2. Practical knowledge endlessly growing.
 This is the knowledge of applying principles. c. Objective good
Thus, knowledge is very important in life, but it
is the application of this knowledge that leads to  Everyone needs to be flourish. There are
flourishing. things that are good and otherwise bad for
everybody. Good things or objective
Aside from intellectual virtue, the other virtue in goods such as good social relationships,
life is the virtue of character. Aristotle believed positive emotions and purpose, and so on,
that to flourish, one must possess the 11 virtuous if developed, will contribute to having a
traits. flourishing life.
 C. The Human Person Flourishing in Terms of focused on orientation to technology, not on the
Science and Technology form or function.
Now that you have an idea and a good How do we generally think about technology?
perspective about human flourishing. What do you
For Heidegger, First, technology is a means to
think is the role of Science and Technology in
an end. It refers to the instrumental definition of
Human Flourishing?
technology. And secondly, technology is a human
Role of Science and Technology in activity that refers to the anthropological definition.
Human Flourishing These two definitions of Heidegger are correct;
however, limiting the understanding of human
Remember, Aristotle said that humans flourish
relationships with technology. Heidegger discussed
by gaining new knowledge. He called it
the concepts of causality to fully understand what is
"intellectual virtue." He also distinguished
meant by "technology as a means to an end.”
theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge. On
the other hand, Science is a systematic body of There are four causes of causality/connection.
knowledge that seeks to explain life and the world.
1. Causa materialis
SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY
 Comparable to theoretical  Comparable to practical  It refers to the material used to form an object.
knowledge. knowledge
 Explains the nature or  Applies the theoretical 2. Causa formalis
 principles behind an object, knowledge in order to
event or phenomenon. have an output.  It refers to the form or shape.
Elucidating the importance of science and 3. Causa finalis
technology to human being, scientific and
technological discoveries allow humanity to gain  It refers to an end.
intellectual virtues. For example, through science,
4. Causa efficiens
the antibiotic nature of Penicillium notatum was
discovered. But through technology, the penicillin  It refers to which brings about the effect
medicine was developed and provided a cure to
many diseases.
Alvin Tofler is an American writer and "CAUSA,"
futurologist who focused his writings on technology  Latin word means "that which brings about.”
expansion and its impact on society (Zakaria, 2012).
Advancement in Science and Technology provides "Aition,"
a positive impact on human life such as the  Heidegger preferably uses this Greek word
following: which means "that which is responsible for
 made work easier, efficient or practical something else."
 made people happy or entertained  And that leads him to use the terms hyle, eidos,
 kept people healthy and safe telos, and logos as a replacement to the four
 helped to address social issues and concerns causes.
 helped in the development of human talent and "The realm of truth."
abilities
 Heidegger termed technology as a kind of
Having an advantage, science and technology poesis, a way of bringing forth or revealing
can be exploited that results to negative impact or referred to this.
serious disadvantages. As a result, technological
developments made possible industrialization which "Technikon"
made humans become machine-like workers. It also  Technology came from this Greek word that is
caused pollution that causes diseases that causes life related to techne.
loss. Technologies such as nuclear weapons also  Heidegger made two points about techne.
cause extermination.  It refers to both manufacturing and to the
To help you understand the lesson, read the arts.
article by Connolly and Miller, "is Human  It is usually part of poesis. Techne is a
Flourishing in the ICT World of the Future likely? kind of knowing.
(Optional)  It may refer to "expertise" or "know-
how."
D. Technology as a Way of Revealing  In a sense, technology is not in the instrumental
Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) production of good or manipulation of
materials, but rather in "revealing."
 It is one of the most original and important
philosophers in the 20th century. In his essay, he Heidegger differentiates older forms of technology
suggested how humans establish a "free and modern form of technology.
relationship" with technology. Heidegger He said that modern technology has a different
kind of revealing, and it is challenging. Old
windmills, for instance, draw energy from the wind
but do not extract and store energy, unlike modern
technology.
To understand more of modern technology as
revealing differently. Heidegger introduced the idea
of "standing reserve."
 He explained that technology transforms the
world into a standing reserve.
 It is said that "nothing in the world is good in
and of itself, but only good for something.
 An airplane, for instance, has no good or value
in and of itself, but it is good for humanity as a
mode of transportation.
 It can be disposed of, leaving it with no value its
disposal by humanity depends on its goodness.
 Humans can become standing reserves of
technology. Since humans are responsible for
technological advances, humans will never
completely become as standing reserves.
 In the same way, nature and nature's mode of
revealing will never completely become under
human control.
Despite humans having now the capacity to
destroy nature, the natural world reveals itself to
humans on their terms.
Example:
 Humans cannot directly control the formation of
coal deposits or accumulate nitrogen in the soil.
They can only control the way humans orient
themselves to their thinking and actions, with
such resources.
 Humans manage to think of technology as an
instrument, a means of getting things done.