STAS111

• Philosophy


  The love of wisdom
• Philosophy


  • A broad field of knowledge in which the definition of knowledge itself is one of the subjects investigated
  • Spans the nature of the universe, the mind, and the body; the relationships between all three, and between people
  • The pursuit of wisdom; the predecessor and complement of science, developing the issues which underlie science and pondering those questions which are beyond the scope of science
  • The study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with reality, existence, knowledge, values, mind, and language
• Epistemology


  The theory of knowledge, dealing with the nature, origin, scope and (possibility/study) of knowledge
• Metaphysics


  The branch of philosophy concerned with the study of "first principles" and "being" (ontology), the study of the most general aspects of reality, pertaining to subjects such as substance, identity, the nature of the mind, and free will
• Logic


  The study of correct reasoning
• Ethics


  The study of right and wrong in human endeavors
• Aesthetics


  A branch of philosophy that explores the creation and appreciation of beauty through critical analysis and reflection
• Other branches of philosophy

  • Education
  • History
  • Language
  • Law
  • Mathematics
  • Mind
  • Politics
  • Religion
  • Science
• Martin Heidegger


  • German philosopher whose work is associated with phenology and existentialism
  • His best-known work is Being and Time (1927)
  • He gave a very impressive analysis of human existence, the prominence of the important themes of existentialism like care, anxiety, guilt and above all death is brought out here
• Heidegger's examination of technology


  1. Begins by examining the relationship between human and technology, a relationship Heidegger calls a free relationship

  2. Offers two definitions of technology: 1) Technology is a means to an end (Instrumental definition) 2) Technology is a human activity (Anthropological definition)

  3. Analyses the notion of instrumentality to reach the truth or the essence of technology- it is traced to causality

  4. Discusses the relation of modern science to the essence of technology

  5. Claims for the sciences the aggressive approach to nature that goes well with technology, but poorly with science

  6. Describes the enframing of technology as destiny, which is neither an inevitable fate that descends on humanity nor the result of human willing

  7. Discusses the twofold danger to destiny: 1) The danger that human being reduces itself to standing reserve and in so appearing to have taken total control encounters nothing any more 2) The danger that the disclosure of the enframing forecloses every other dispensation and conceals that too is a disclosure
• 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
• Bringing Forth (Poesis)


  A bringing out of concealment, the revealing which the Greeks call truth (Aletheia) - unhiddedness or disclosure
• Revealing through technology

  • Volcanic Eruption - challenging forth
  • Coral Bleaching - challenging forth
  • Planting Trees - bringing forth
  • Mining - challenging forth
  • Farming - bringing forth
• Questioning as the Piety of Thought


  Piety means obedience and submission. One builds a way towards knowing the truth who he/ she is as a being in this world.
• Calculative Thinking


  The more technical kind of human thought, in which people gather information and put it together in order to put it to some specific use. It is the more active aspect of human thought, concerned more with the doing of a thing than of considering the possible consequences.
• Meditative Thinking


  Involves something much deeper than practical calculation, and it takes much more effort. It tells us why we should do or should not do a thing, beyond the simple calculative process of actually doing it. Meditation is not limited to expanding on calculation, and it does not necessarily have to have an end product, as does calculation.
• Human Flourishing


  An endeavor to achieve self-actualization and fulfillment within the context of a larger community of individuals. It requires the development of attributes and social and personal levels that exhibit character strengths and virtues that are commonly agreed across different cultures.
• Eudaimonia


  Means good spirit, a property of one's life when considered as a whole. It is formally egoistic in that a person's normative reason for choosing particular actions stems for the idea that he must pursue his own good or flourishing. It also implies a divine state of being that humanity is able to strive toward and possibly reach. Happiness is "doing well" and "living well".
• Virtue


  Moral excellence of a person. Morally excellent people have a character made-up of virtues valued as good, such as being honest, respectful, courageous, forgiving and kind. Virtues need to be cultivated to become more prevalent in life.
• Aristotle's 12 Virtues

  • Courage
  • Temperance
  • Liberality
  • Magnificence
  • Magnanimity
  • Ambition
  • Patience
  • Friendliness
  • Truthfulness
  • Wit
  • Modesty
  • Justice
• The idea that new technologies can liberate us from the human condition is a fantasy. In reality, the 21st century will be all too human.
• Human Robot Interaction

  • Robots are utilized for their knowledge, exactness and interminable vitality to perform assignments consistently and profitably, that when performed by people tends to create flaws
  • AI robots have already started an enormous job in improving waste administration and finding distinctive approaches to handle the waste issue endured by most developing nations like India
• Virtues

  • Moderation
  • Liberality - spending
  • Magnificence - charisma
  • Magnanimity - generosity
  • Ambition - pride
  • Patience - calm
  • Friendliness - social IQ
  • Truthfulness - honesty
  • Wit - humor
  • Modesty - ego
  • Justice - indignation
• David Mattin: 'The idea that new technologies can liberate us from the human condition is a fantasy. In reality, the 21st century will be all too human.'
• Robots


  • Utilized for their knowledge, exactness and interminable vitality to perform assignments consistently and profitably, that when performed by people tends to create flaws
• AI robots


  • Improving waste administration and finding distinctive approaches to handle the waste issue endured by most developing nations like India
• Teens are emotionally more vulnerable to the effects of rampant texting and online sharing
• We send and receive text messages 3,339 times a month
• An estimated 99% of all species that ever existed on earth are already extinct
• Ways in which human species could become extinct

  • Transforming or evolving into one or more species
  • Dying out without any replacement or continuation
• Advances in biotechnology might make it possible to design new viruses that combine the easy contagion and mutability of the influenza virus
• A dreadful pandemic with high virulence and 100% mortality rate among infected individuals could possibly will terminate human species
• An all out nuclear war between Russia and the United States might be an example of a global catastrophe that would be unlikely to result in extinction
• Recurrent Collapse


  The human condition will reach a kind of status, either instantly or after undergoing one or more cycles of collapse regeneration. Human civilization may endure catastrophes that prevent it from moving beyond a certain level of advancement
• Plateau


  Human civilization may reach a level of technological advancement beyond which no further advancement is feasible
• Post Humanity


  People have developed significantly different cognitive abilities, population sizes, body types, sensory or emotional experiences or life expectancies. Post humanity has established itself as a label for a form of human existence radically transformed by the most advanced medical techniques and by the use of biotechnology and nanotechnology for human enhancement
• C.S. Lewis: 'Humanity, so-called power over nature "turns out to be a power exercised by some men over other men with Nature as its instrument". He feared that modernism and its ability to explain away everything but "nature" would leave us emptied of humanity. All that would be left is our animal instincts.'
• C.S. Lewis: 'The choice we have to see humanity as a complex combination of both material and spiritual components or else to be reduced to machines made of meat ruled by other machines with nothing other than natural impulses to guide them.'