3. OBJECTIVE:
Examine shared concerns
that make up the good life in
order to come up with
innovative, creative solutions
to contemporary issues
guided by ethical standard
4. Are we
living the
Good Life?
How can the standard
serve as a guide toward
living the good life in the
midst of scientific progress
technological
advancement?
What standard
could be used to
define ‘the good
life’?
5. Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics
- The Magician’s twin: C.S Lewis and the Case
Against Scientism
- Lewis posited that “science must be guided by
some ethical basis that is not dictated by science
itself.”
Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics – ETHICAL BASIS
6. ARISTOTLE
• The most important ancient
Greek philosopher & scientist
• He was a student of Plato,
who was then a student of
Socrates.
• BIG THREE of GREEK
Philosophy.
• He attempted to explain
what the GOOD is.
7. ARISTOTLE NICOMACHEAN ETHICS
• It’s consist of 10 books, is considered as the fundamental basis of
arestotelian ethics.
• Originally, they were lecture notes written on scrolls when he taught
at the Lyceum (the first scientific institute, based in Athens, Greece.)
• It is widely believed that the lecture notes were compiled by or were
dedicated to one of Aristotle’s son, Nichomacus.
• It is also believed that the work was dedicated to Aristotle’s father
who was of the same name.
8. NICOMACHEAN ETHICS
• Is abbreviated as NE or sometimes EN
• Is an article on the nature of moral life and
human happiness based on the unique essence
of human nature
• Is useful in defining what the good life is
10. In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle stated:
“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 has for the this reason the good has
been rightly declare as that at which all things aim”
(Nicomachean Ethics 2:2)
Everyone is moving towards the Good.
The good life, however, is more than these countless
expression of what is good.
Living in contentment
12. Training for a sport/dance
The good is expressed & manifested in
various ways for different person and
circumstances.
13. In Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle stated:
…”both the many and the cultivated call it happiness ,
and suppose that living well and doing well are
the same as being happy.” (Nicomachean Ethics 1:4)
The Ancient Greeks called this concept of “living well
and doing well” as Eudaimonia
Eu meaning “good” and daimon meaning “spirit”
14. Eudaimonia
refers to the good life, which is marked by happiness
and excellence.
It is a flourishing life filled with meaningful endeavours that
empower the human person to be the best version of
himself/herself
Ex: ◦If one is a student then he/she acts to be the best version
of a student by studying well & fulfilling the demands of the
school.
15. 2 kinds of Good
◦Instrumental good
- Good in ITSELF
-
- Ex: Having money,
material things
◦Intrinsic good
- The ULTIMATE GOOD
- Good as a means of
achieving something else or
some other end
16. In Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle stated:
…“Now such a thing as happiness above all else , is held to be;
for this we choose always for itself and never for the sake of
something else, but honor, pleasure, reason, and every virtue we
choose indeed for themselves, but we just them also for the sake
of happiness, judging that by means of them we shall be happy.
Happiness, and the other hand, no one chooses for anything
other than itself” (Nicomachean Ethics 2:7)
17. Happiness is the ultimate end of human action.
◦Financial stability for one’s family
◦The power achieved for winning the elections
◦Harmony and peace as a reward for taking
care of the environment, and …
All these are pursued for the sake of
happiness
18. Happiness is the ultimate purpose of human
existence
◦Happiness is a final end or goal that encompasses
the totality of one’s life.
◦It is not something that can be gained or lost in a
few hours, like pleasurable sensation.
◦It is more like the ultimate value of your life as live up to
this moments, measuring how well you have lived up to
your full potential as human being.
19. Happiness defines a good life.
◦Not the kind that comes from sensate
pleasures
◦Comes from living a life of virtue, a life
of excellence, manifested from personal
and global scale
virtue = moral excellence of a person
20. For example
◦Making sure that one avoids sugary
and processed foods to keep
healthy is an activity that expresses
virtues.
◦The resulting health adds to one’s
well-being and happiness.
21. Another example
◦Taking care of the environment through
proper waste management which results in a
clean environment and adds to people’s
well-being and happiness.
Virtuous actions require discipline and
practice.
- affect the individual self and the greater
community*
22. In Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle stated:
“It is the activities that express virtue the that control
happiness , and the contrary activities that
control its contrary (Nicomachean Ethics 1:10)
The good life is marked by happiness brought about by
virtuous human action and the decisions that affect the
individual self and greater community.
It characterized by a life flourishing of oneself and of
others.
23. In Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle stated:
“Virtue is the excellent of character that empowers one to
do and be good.
“Virtue, then , being of two kinds , intellectual and moral ,
intellectual virtue in the mean owes it's
birth, and growth to teaching (for which reason it requires
experience and time), while moral virtue
comes about as a result of habit. (Nicomachean Ethics
2:1)
24. Virtue/s
- behavior showing high moral standards.
- “paragons of virtue”
- synonyms: goodness, virtuousness, righteousness, morality,
ethicalness, uprightness, upstandingness, integrity, dignity,
rectitude, honesty, honorableness, honorability, honor,
incorruptibility, probity, propriety, decency, respectability, nobility,
nobility of soul/spirit, nobleness, worthiness, worth, good,
trustworthiness, purity, pureness, lack of corruption, merit;
principles, high principles, ethics.
- “the simple virtue and integrity of peasant life”
25. Virtuous actions require discipline and practice.
◦It is the constant practice of the good no matter
how difficult the circumstances may be.
-habit of exercising the good
26. 2 kinds of virtue
◦INTELLECTUAL VIRTUE
- Virtue of Thought is achieved
through education, time experience.
a. Wisdom – guides ethical behavior
b. Understanding – gained from
scientific endeavors and
contemplation
These are achieved through formal
and non-formal means.
Are acquired through self-taught
knowledge and skills as much as
those knowledge and skills taught and
learned in formal institution.
◦MORAL VIRTUE
- Virtue of Character is achieved
through habitual practice.
- Key Moral virtues: Generosity,
Temperance & courage
- Is like a skills, which is acquired
through repeated practice.
- Ex. Everyone is capable of learning
how to play the guitar because
everyone has an innate capacity for
intellectual virtue, but not everyone
acquires it because only those who
devote time and practice develop
the skill of playing the instrument.
27. The GOOD LIFE in the sense of
Eudaimonia
- Is the state of being HAPPY, HEALTHY, &
PROSPEROUS
- In the way we: THINK, LIVES, & ACTS
- Good Life is HAPPINESS brought by living a VIRTUOS
LIFE
Intellectual virtue – virtue of thought
Moral virtue – virtue of character
28. The Good Life, Science & Technology
- One could draw parallels between moving towards
good life and moving toward further progress and
development in S&T
- In appraising the goodness of the next medical
procedure, the new social media trend, the latest
mobile device, or the upcoming technology for food
safety, one must be guided by Aristotelian virtues
(Ethical basis)
29. The Good Life, Science & Technology
- By imposing on S&T an ethical standard that is not
dictated by S&T, not only will scientific advancement
and technological development flourish, but also the
human person
30. ASSESSMENT:
1. He was a student of Plato, who was then a student of Socrates.
2. Is an article on the nature of moral life and human happiness based on the
unique essence of human nature
9. is the ultimate end of human action.
to do and be good
11-12. Give the (2) kinds of virtue?
