STAS111

• Philosophy is study of general and fundamental

  problems concerning matters such as

  existence, knowledge, values, reason,

  mind and language.
• There are 3 branches of Philosophy. 1. Natural Philosophy 2. Moral Philosophy 3. Metaphysical Philosophy
• Martin Heidegger is a German philosopher whose work is

  associated with phenomenology and

  existentialism.
• Martin Heidegger begins “The Question Concerning

  Technology” by examining the

  relationship between human and

  technology, a relationship Heidegger

  calls a free relationship.
• Heidegger examines two definitions of

  technology. Firstly, he offers that

  “Technology is a means to an

  end”(Instrumental definition). Secondly,

  he proposes that “Technology is a

  human activity (Anthropological

  definition).
• Causa materialis - the material, the

  matter out of which an object is made.
• Causa formalis - the form, the shape

  into which the material enters.
• Causa efficiens - which brings about

  the effect that is finished
• Causa finalis - end
• The bringing forth “poesis” which

  underlies causality is a bringing out

  of concealment.
• “Aletheia” means unhiddedness or

  disclosure.
• Technology brings forth as well, and it

  is revealing.
• Piety means obedience and

  submission.
• Calculative thinking

  • One orders and puts a

  system to nature so it

  can be understood

  better and controlled
• Meditative thinking

  • One lets nature reveal

  itself to him/ her

  without forcing it.
• Human Flourishing defined as an endeavor to achieve

  self-actualization and fulfillment within

  the context of a larger community of

  individuals. This also means access to

  a pleasant life, an engaged or good life

  and a meaningful life.
• human flourishing

  requires the development of attributes

  and social and personal levels that

  exhibit character strengths and virtues

  that are commonly agreed across

  different cultures.
• According to Aristotle, Flourishing is the

  greatest good of human endeavors and

  that toward which all actions aim. He

  presented the various popular

  conceptions of the best life for human

  beings;

  1. A philosophical Life

  2. Life of Pleasure

  3. A life of Political Life
• Eudamonia means good spirit is a property of

  one’s life when considered as a whole
• Epicurus identifies that the Eudaimon

  life is the life of pleasure and maintains

  that life of pleasure coincides with the

  life of virtue.
• Socrates believed that virtues such as

  self-control, justice, courage, wisdom,

  piety and related qualities of mind and

  soul are absolutely crucial if a person is

  to lead a good and happy life. Virtues

  guarantee a happy life Eudaimonia
• Plato, Eudaimonia depends on

  virtue (arête) which is depicted as the

  most crucial and the dominant

  constituent of eudaimonia.
• Pyrrho, founder of Pyrrhonism, a school

  of philosophical skepticism that places

  the attainment of ataraxia (a state of

  equanimity) as a way to achieve

  Eudaimonia. Pyrrhonist practice is for

  the purpose of achieving epochs.
• Aristotle (Nicomachean 2:2) 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.
• Eudaimonia- Eu - good, daimon- spirit =

  good life
• Good life- happiness and virtue
• Virtue- intellectual and moral
• The 4 Pillar of the Good life

  Health

  Wealth

  Love

  • Happiness
• Confucius: What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.
• Aristotle: We should behave to others

  as we wish others to behave to us.
• Buddhism: Hurt not others with that

  which pains thyself.
• Christianity: Do unto others as you

  would have them do unto you. Bad things happen to good people
• Heidegger

  • Living an authentic life means

  living with deep acceptance on

  the facticity of death resulting

  to a life lived
• Socrates

  • The unexamined life is not

  worth living for
• The Holistic Approach - good people, good community

  and world peace= good life
• Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which

  holds that matter is the fundamental. substance in nature, and that all

  things, including mental aspects and

  consciousness are results of material

  interactions.
• first materialists were the

  atomists in Ancient Greece.
• Democritus and Leucippus led

  a school whose primary belief

  is that the world is made up of

  and is controlled by the tiny

  invisible units in the world

  called atomos or seeds.
• Atomos simply come together

  randomly to form the things in

  the world.
• Classification of Materialism

  1. Naïve materialism

  2. Dialectical materialism

  3. Metaphysical materialism