2. Lesson’s Objective:
At the end of the chapter, the students shall be able to:
1. Analyze the human condition in order to deeply reflect and
express philosophical ramifications that are meaningful to the
student as part of society.
2. Critique human flourishing vis-à-vis the progress of science and
technology so that the student can define for himself/ herself the
meaning of the good life.
3. Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) is widely
acknowledge as one of the most important
philosophers in the 20th century.
He was a German philosopher who was part of
the continental tradition of philosophy.
“The essence of technology is by no
means anything technological” -
Martin Heidegger
4. Heidegger’s work on philosophy focused on ontology or the
study of “being” or dasein in German.
His philosophical works are often described as
complicated, partly due to his use of complex compound
German words, such as:
Seinsvergessenheit (Forgetfulness of Being),
Bodenständigkeit (Rootedness-in-Soil) and
Wesensverfasung (Essential Constitution)
5. The Essence of Technology
It cannot be denied that science and technology
are responsible for the ways society is
continuously being modernized.
The essence of technology can be captured in its
definition.
In his treatise, The Question Concerning
Technology, Martin Heidegger explains two widely
embraced definitions of technology: the
instrumental and anthropological.
6. 1. Instrumental Definition: Technology is a means to an end
Technology is not an end in itself, it is a means to an
end. In this context, technology is viewed as tool
available to individuals, groups and communities that
desire to make an impact on society.
2. Anthropological Definition: Technology is a human
activity Technology can also be defined as a human activity
because to achieve an end and to produce and use a means to
an end is, by itself, a human activity.
7. TECHNOLOGY AS A WAY OF REVEALING
Heidegger stressed out that the true can be pursued through the
correct. Simply, what is correct leads to what is true In this
sense, Heidegger envisioned technology as a way of revealing – a
mode of ‘bringing forth’. Bringing Forth can be understood through
the Ancient Greek philosophical concept, the poiesis which refers to
the act of bringing something out of concealment. By bringing
something out of concealment, the truth of that something is
revealed. The truth is understood through another Ancient Greek
concept of aletheia which is translated as unclosedness,
unconcealedness, disclosure, or truth.
8. Thus, for Heidegger, technology is a form of poiesis – a way of
revealing that unconceals aletheia or the truth.
This is seen in the way the term techne, the Greek root word for
technology, is understood in different context. In philosophy,
techne resembles the term episteme that refers to the human ability
to make and perform. Techne also encompasses knowledge and
understanding.
Technology as Poiesis: Does Modern Technology Bring Forth or
Challenge Forth Heidegger considers modern technology’s way of
revealing as a way of challenging forth. Modern technology
challenges forth, because it makes people think how to do things
faster, more effectively and less effort.
9. Enframing as a Modern Technology’s Way of Revealing
Enframing, according to Heidegger, is akin to two way of looking at
the world: the calculative thinking and meditative thinking.
1. Calculative Thinking – humans desire to put an order to
nature to better understand and control it.
2. Meditative Thinking – humans allow nature to reveal itself to
them without the use of force or violence.
The role of humans take as instruments of technology
through enframing is called destining. In destining, humans
are challenged forth by enframing to reveal what is real.
However, this destining of humans to reveal nature carries
with the danger of misconstruction or misinterpretation.
10. The Dangers of Technology
a. Man is in danger of becoming merely part of the standing-reserve.
b. Alternatively, he may find only himself in nature.
c. Most importantly, he may think that the ordering of the world through
technology is the fundamental mode of revealing.
d. So the real threat of technology comes from its essence, not its
activities or products.
Arts as the Saving Power
a. The poet Friedrich Hölderlin writes that the saving power grows where
danger is.
b. The saving would allow a bringing-forth that is not a challenging-forth
(things would reveal themselves not just as standing-reserve).
c. Both technology and bringing-forth grow out of “granting,” which allows
revealing.
d. Poetry and other arts have the power to reveal, in the sense of
“bringing-forth”.
e. Poetry is included in the Aristotelian techne, and is akin to modern
technology.
f. But it is also fundamentally different from technology.
g. It may be the best means for getting at the essence of technology itself.
11. Questioning as the Piety of Thought
Heidegger concluded his treatise on technology by saying: The closer
we come to the danger, the more brightly do the ways into the saving
power begin to shine and more questioning we become. For questioning
is the piety of thought (1997, p.19).
HUMAN FLOURISHING IN PROGRESS AND DE-DEVELOPMENT
Recent research found 70% of people in middle- and high-income
countries believe overconsumption is putting our planet and society
at risk.
12. THE GOOD LIFE
Are we living the GOOD LIFE? Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics and the
Good Life Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics, the fundamental basis of
Aristotelian ethics, consists of ten books Named after one of
Aristotle’s son, Nichomacus who is thought to have edited it from
lecture notes. The Nichomachean Ethics abbreviated as NE or sometime
EN based on the Latin version of the name, is a treatise on the
nature of moral life and human happiness, based on the unique
essence of human nature. The NE is particularly useful in defining
what the good life is.
Aristotle explained that every action aims at some good. However,
some actions aim at an instrumental good while some aim at intrinsic
good. He made it clear that the ultimate good is better than the
instrumental good for the latter is good as means of achieving
something else or some other end while the former is good on itself.
13. Eudaimonia: The Ultimate Good
Candidates Critiques
* Pleasure - Transient, not complete
*Wealth - Only instrumental, not
self- sufficient
*Fame and Honor - Depends on others, not
self-sufficient
*Happiness - Complete and self-sufficient
14. Eudaimonia: Uniquely Human?
Eudaimonia or happiness is unique to humans for it is a
uniquely human function. It is achieved through a rationally
directed life.
Table 1. Aristotle’s Tripartite Soul
Aristotle tripartite soul illustrate a nested hierarchy of the
functions and activities of the soul
Rational Humans Theoretical
Practical
Rational
Sensitive Animals Locomotion Perception Partly-rational
Nutritive Plants Growth Nutrition
Reproduction
Non-rational
15. ARÊTE AND HUMAN HAPPINESS
Eudaimonia is what defines the good life. To live a good life is to
live a happy life. For Aristotle, eudaimonia is only possible by
living a life of virtue.
Arête, a Greek term, is defined as “excellence of any kind” and can
also mean “moral virtue”
16. 2 types of virtue:
1. Intellectual Virtue (virtue of thought)
- Achieved through education, time and experience.
Key intellectual virtues are:
a. Wisdom – which guides ethical behavior
b. Understandings – which is gained from scientific endeavors and
contemplation
Wisdom and understanding are achieved through formal and non-
formal means. Intellectual virtues are acquired through self-taught
knowledge and skills as much as those knowledge and skills taught
and learned in formal institutions.
17. 2. Moral Virtue (virtue of character)
- Achieved through habitual practice
Key moral virtues are:
a. Generosity – repeatedly being unselfish
b. Temperance – repeatedly resisting and foregoing every inviting
opportunity
c. Courage – repeatedly exhibiting the proper action and emotional
response in the face of danger
Moral virtue is like skill. A skill is acquired only through
repeated practice.
Both intellectual and moral virtue should be in accordance
with reason to achieve eudaimonia. Good life is understood as
happiness brought about by living a virtuous life.
