Mod 7

• Humans see wealth as one of their goals and the primary goal is not just to survive, but to live the good life
• Due to science and technology, the following have been improved: Mortality rate, Average Lifespan, Literacy Rate, Gross Domestic Product
• Humans rely on technology in search for the good life
• Humans see nature as a source of manipulation and not an autonomous reality demanding respect and admiration
• As long as humans are invested in growth and development, we cannot distance ourselves from technology
• Due to too much reliance on technology, humans lose track of things that matter
• Technology does little to aid people in their pursuit of life's meaning
• Aristotle


  The first philosopher who approached the problem of reality from a "scientific" lens and also the first thinker who dabbled into the complex problematization of the end goal of life: happiness
• Aristotle's view


  • Disagreed with Plato's position that things in this world are not real and are only copies of the real in the world of forms
  • Claimed that there is no reality over and above what the senses can perceive
  • Pointed out that every action emanates from a human person is a function of the purpose (telos) that the person has
  • Claimed that happiness is the be all and end all of everything that we do
• Aristotle's concept of happiness


  Human flourishing, a kind of feeling that one has maxed out his potentials in the world, that he has attained the crux of his humanity
• John Stuart Mill declared the Greatest Happiness Principle, that an action is right as far as it maximizes the attainment of happiness for the greatest number of people
• Materialism


  • The world is made up of and is controlled by the tiny indivisible units in the world called atomos or seeds
  • Matter is what makes us attain happiness
• Hedonism


  • The end goal of life is in acquiring pleasure
  • Pleasure has been the priority of hedonists
  • Life is about obtaining and indulging in pleasure because life is limited
• Stoicism


  • To generate happiness, one must learn to distance oneself and be apathetic
  • Happiness can only be attained by a careful practice of apathy
• Theism


  • The ultimate basis of happiness for theists is the communion with God
• Humanism


  • Man carves his own destiny and legislates his own laws, free from the shackles of a God that monitors and controls
  • Man is literally the captain of his own ship
  • Humanists see themselves not merely as stewards of the creation but as individuals who are in control of themselves and the world outside them
• Man is constantly in pursuit of the good life
• Throughout history, man has worked hard in pointing out what amounts to a good, happy life
• The soul, as the seat of our humanity, has been the focus of attention of the end goal of a good life
• Science and technology have been, for the most part, at the forefront of man's attempts at finding happiness
• The only question at the end of the day is whether science is taking the right path toward attaining what it really means to live a good life
• Democritus and Liucippus led a school  whose primary belief is that the world is made up of and is controlled by the tiny indivisible units  in the world called atomos or seeds.