Science, Technology, and Society, Cheat Sheet of Society and Environment

Download Science, Technology, and Society and more Cheat Sheet Society and Environment in PDF only on Docsity! 1 CHAPTER 6 and 7: THE HUMAN PERSON FLOURISHING IN TERMS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1. Selected Views on Technology 2. Martin Heidegger on Science and Technology 3. The Society in the Face of Science and Technology 4. Human Being 5. Understanding Human Flourishing 6. Science and Technology and Human Flourishing After completing the chapter, students should have developed the ability to: 1. critique various concepts in human flourishing: 2. analyze human flourishing with the progress of science and technology; and 3. conceptualize own views on human flourishing. "Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort."– Franklin D. Roosevelt. President, USA 1882-1945 Learning Outcomes Chapter Outline https://bitly.ws/VXJq 2 INTRODUCTION The human landscape has transformed as a result of science and technology. Man tends to exhibit limitless happiness and is ready to find a better alternative for everything that carries out man's tasks, as stated in the previous unit. The role and purpose of man's existence in society gradually diminished with the development of bioengineering, robots, and similar fields. Robots, machines, and other technology aim to improve the human situation or, in the future, take over human roles in society. Will the present circumstances—whether favorable or unfavorable—threaten human nature? Are all the advantages from the rewards of this discipline's advancement fulfilling the primary goal of every person in society? SELECTED VIEWS ON TECHNOLOGY The way technology is understood may be seen from a variety of angles. These beliefs had an impact on how society viewed and applied technology. We'll touch on some of it quickly below. Aristotelianism The utmost good of a person's endeavor to accomplish a goal is to flourish. According to Aristotle, what is beneficial for beings with intentions and goals is good for all entities. The existence of unique human beings, each with their logical mind and free will is a basic aspect of being human. It sees technology as essentially a tool. According to Aristotle, technology is the organization of ways to satisfy demands put forward by humanity. This may give the impression that technology mostly focuses on the result. The value assigned to a product based on its usage and impact on society will determine whether technology is beneficial or harmful. Technological Pessimism French philosopher Jacques Ellul strongly concurs with this viewpoint. Although technological pessimism believes that technology is developing and helpful in many ways, it also believes that it is questionable in many respects. Technology is often referred to as a tool, but in this viewpoint, it has replaced everyday life. The technique is now a framework from which people cannot break free. It has provided strategies for simplifying processes. The four points of Ellul's pessimistic thesis are that (1) technological advancement comes at a cost, (2) it causes additional difficulties, (3) it has negative impacts, and (4) it has unanticipated and terrible repercussions. Although Ellul has made a good case for his points, they are consistently judged to be unconvincing and untrue. He appears to have misjudged the objective judgments that a technician and other technological agencies make regarding the https://bitly.ws/VFqM https://bitly.ws/VEYj 5 Heidegger's Technology as a Way of Revealing According to Heidegger, enframing contains the true content or essence of technology. This is the ongoing pulling out of hiding of what is hidden. This is an ongoing revelation that makes it clear that something has to be made public. This coming forth into the open involves a two-way exchange: the concealed calls out for someone to set upon it and bring it to unconcealment, and the one who hears the call sets upon and acts upon the concealed in order to bring it to unconcealment. To demonstrate this better, he provided additional instances by comparing and contrasting old and new technologies. He began by comparing the contemporary windmill to the old windmill, which depends on the wind's ability to blow but does not store energy. The modern windmill can release energy for use now and store it later. The second was about the peasant who plants seeds but does nothing more but wait for the seed to sprout since the soil has not been put to the test. On the other hand, modern agricultural technology presented a problem that led to a revolution in the industry. These days, food is produced not just for current use but also for future use, which may feed a larger population. On the other side, the hydroelectric plant built on the Rhine River blocked the river so that it could be used to store and transmit electrical energy. Heidegger further highlighted the risk associated with technology because of this ongoing revelation. The desire to reveal what has been hidden also serves to hide something further. Furthermore, when one seeks to comprehend something, he tends to close off to the thing being opened up to him. Man also has a tendency to misinterpret what is being shown to him. Heidegger urges people to exercise greater discernment and consideration when things are being revealed to them and others who are connected to them. The Mode of Revealing in Modern Technology Technology remains visible in current technology, according to Heidegger, but not in the sense of bringing anything new into being. This revelation is ongoing. Ancient Windmill https://bitly.ws/VFSM Modern Windmill https://bitly.ws/VFUv https://bitly.ws/VFVM & https://bitly.ws/VFW3 6 Modern technology is shown by nature's difficulties because, rather than bringing about changes, it imposes demands on nature in order to: Unlock and expose. The basic idea is that nature won't reveal itself unless provoked. This is true of the hydroelectric plant constructed on the Rhine River, which released the electricity it was hiding. Stockpiles for future use. Technology strives to satisfy future expectations since it is a tool for a purpose. The community is storing the power generated by the hydroelectric plant situated on the Rhine River. By pushing nature, contemporary technology can now extract greater value from it. As Heidegger (1977) said, "Such challenging happens in that energy concealed in nature is unlocked, what is unlocked is transformed, what is transformed is stored up, what is stored up is in turn distributed, and what is distributed is switched about eve anew" (p.5). The Essence of Technology While Heidegger (1977) contends that this is not only human action, the constant revelation occurs when man permits himself to be a character in the setting upon challenges to nature. Man can set upon what was already concealed as he responds to the call of unconcealment, but "when man, investigating, observing, pursue nature as an area of his own conceiving, he has already been claimed by way of revealing that challenges him to approach nature as an object of research, until even the object disappears into the objectlessness of standing- reserve (p.6)." Heidegger referred to this collection of circumstances as "enframing," and it also captured the spirit of contemporary technology by challenging man to bring the concealed into the open. Enframing simply involves organizing whatever is provided to the man who sets upon the concealed, but there is a two-way interaction between the two: the man cannot set himself upon unconcealment without unconcealment's call, and the unconcealed will not enter unconcealment without the man responding to it. This distinguishes contemporary technology from purely human endeavors, and Heidegger claimed that enframing is where technology's core rests. The Danger of the Nonstop Revealing As previously said, modern technology continues the manner of revelation. Man must always respond to what is provided or the need for a better and more effective means of accomplishing a goal. With this comes the ongoing struggle for the revealed to become even more exposed. The threat Heidegger warned about is present here. By disclosing, a relationship between a person and the outside world is opened up, but whatever is opened up also has to be closed down, so as one item is exposed, another must be kept hidden. An example given by Heidegger on this is "the rise of a cause-effect understanding of reality closes off an understanding of God as something mysterious and holy: God is reduced to 'the god of the philosophers'" (Cerbone, 2008). Man's tendency to misunderstand what is provided to him poses another threat. When he does, he is not seeing the object but rather himself in it. A man also has a propensity to become so immersed in the frame that he neglects to 7 consider the outcomes and implications of placing onto an object that might be harmful to himself and others, the environment, and even other people. This takes place when he begins to think that technology is the answer to every problem that faces humanity and that even happiness for humans depends on technology's ongoing advancement. THE SOCIETY IN THE FACE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Present-day man prefers to find enjoyment in the accomplishments that come from modern technology, as may be seen by observing his surroundings. A man's worth seems to be his ability to use a smartphone, tablet, or laptop, all of which have unique capabilities and come in various sizes and designs. Social media have impacted the lives of many people. As individuals labor harder to upgrade their devices, face-to-face social contacts are becoming less and less common. Every time a new product is created, the man discovers a new desire that can only be satisfied by a new product; thus, it appears that there is no such thing as contentment. The necessity for physical work is declining due to the availability of machinery, and these new items tend to replace men in society. The state of humanity is not without hope. According to Heidegger, this may be avoided if man would not allow himself to be overwhelmed by the enframing that he was put upon but instead halt for a time and consider the worth of what is offered. It's important to strike a balance between anthropological research and technology. One must understand that technology concerns the means and the end; as one proverb goes, "the end does not justify the means." According to Heidegger, the answer to this problem is for man to stop dominating and manipulating what he was given instead of allowing nature to show itself to him. Heidegger asserts that as a result, man will be able to interact freely with technology. HUMAN BEING A human being can be described in a variety of ways. However, the majority of it lacks explicit definitions and descriptions of what it means to be a person. The answers to this query may have a philosophical or scientific underpinning. According to biologists, plants, animals, and other living things share people's characteristics. This indicates that a human being is a sophisticated object capable of carrying out operations necessary for maintaining life. The greatest form of these living things, the human, is thought to contain qualities that cannot be explained by science alone. Smith (2012) shared that; we can't turn to science for an answer because in the first place, science identified human with varied option and limited evidence. He further stressed that "Biologists aren't equipped to tell us whether an organism, is a human organism because "human" is a folk-category rather a scientific one" (page.2.). According to Blakemore and Greenfield (1987; as cited in Bernaldez, 2001), the ability to reason sets humans apart from other animals. This intelligence enables self-consciousness and awareness to the extent necessary for humans to fulfill their functional needs, find the truth, and advance as a species. It may sound universally acceptable but to Heidegger, the question "What is human being?", is just the tip of the original and more valid question "What is the meaning of being?" He thought that such move was to divert the "inquirer" from the "object of inquiry".