Science, Technology, and Society 8 - The Human Person Flourishing in Terms of Science and Technology
Summary
TLDRThis video explores the intersection of science, technology, and society, focusing on human flourishing. It delves into two perspectives on happiness: the hedonistic view, which seeks to maximize pleasure and minimize pain, and the eudaimonic view, which defines happiness as self-improvement and intellectual growth. The speaker highlights Aristotle's concept of eudaimonia as the highest form of human flourishing, emphasizing the importance of community in Eastern cultures and individualism in Western cultures. The video concludes by connecting technological advancements with the pursuit of knowledge and self-importance, setting up the next discussion on technology's role in human life.
Takeaways
- 🙂 The video discusses the relationship between science, technology, and human flourishing, focusing on how happiness is viewed in different disciplines.
- 🧠 In psychology, happiness is defined as a mental or emotional state of well-being, ranging from contentment to intense joy.
- 🔬 Neurologically, happiness is seen as the release of hormones in the brain as a reward for behavior that promotes survival.
- 🤔 The question is posed: Is happiness a destination or a journey? Two main views are explored—hedonism and eudaimonia.
- 🌞 Hedonism defines happiness as the absence of suffering, with the purpose of life being to maximize pleasure and minimize pain.
- 🌱 Eudaimonia, rooted in Aristotle's philosophy, defines happiness as the pursuit of becoming a better person through intellectual and spiritual growth.
- 📈 The comparison between hedonia and eudaimonia shows that combining both can lead to a fulfilled life, where purpose and feeling good coexist.
- 🧘♂️ Eudaimonia, as a concept of human flourishing, emphasizes that it is the highest good humans can achieve, striving for excellence in human activities.
- 🌍 Human flourishing, as discussed in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, involves key components like making the right decisions, friendship, wealth, and power.
- ⚖️ A comparison is made between Eastern and Western conceptions of society: Eastern focuses on community-centric values, while Western prioritizes individual happiness and fulfillment.
Q & A
What is happiness according to psychology?
-In psychology, happiness is defined as a mental or emotional state of well-being, characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.
How do neurologists view happiness?
-Neurologists view happiness as the experience of a flood of hormones released in the brain as a reward for behavior that prolongs survival.
What is the hedonistic view of happiness?
-The hedonistic view defines happiness as the opposite of suffering, where the presence of happiness indicates an absence of pain. Hedonists believe the purpose of life is to maximize happiness and minimize misery.
What is eudaimonia, and how does it differ from hedonism?
-Eudaimonia, originating from Greek words meaning 'good spirit,' is the pursuit of becoming a better person by challenging oneself intellectually and spiritually. Unlike hedonism, which focuses on pleasure, eudaimonia emphasizes personal growth and flourishing.
How did Aristotle describe eudaimonia?
-Aristotle described eudaimonia as the pinnacle of happiness attainable by humans. It is the highest good of human endeavors, representing flourishing, and success as a human being through excellence in human activity.
What is human flourishing according to Aristotle?
-Human flourishing, according to Aristotle, is the state of achieving the highest good, where one's life is lived with excellence in human activity. It represents success as a human being and is desired for its own sake.
What are some components of human flourishing?
-Components of human flourishing include virtues such as prudence, friendship, wealth, and power. These elements contribute to living a fulfilling and successful life.
How do Eastern and Western societies differ in their conceptions of human flourishing?
-Eastern societies focus on community-centric values, where individuals sacrifice for the sake of society. In contrast, Western societies emphasize individual achievement, with a focus on personal growth and eudaimonia as the ultimate goal.
What role does technology play in human flourishing?
-Technology is seen as a human activity that excels due to advancements in science. It contributes to human flourishing by enabling discoveries and innovations that improve our knowledge and quality of life.
How has the concept of human flourishing evolved over time?
-The concept of human flourishing has changed over time as people developed more comfortable living conditions, explored new places, created products, and amassed wealth. Modern times emphasize globalization, cooperation, and communication as essential aspects of human flourishing.
Outlines
🤔 Exploring Happiness in Science and Technology
The video introduces the topic of human flourishing through the lens of science and technology, particularly focusing on happiness. It defines happiness in psychology as a mental and emotional state of well-being marked by positive emotions, and neurologically as the brain's reward system triggered by survival-promoting behavior. The question posed is whether happiness is a journey or a destination. Two main views of happiness are discussed: the hedonistic view, which sees happiness as the absence of suffering, and eudaimonia, a Greek term referring to personal growth and intellectual challenge as the path to happiness.
🌿 Hedonism vs. Eudaimonia: Paths to Fulfillment
A deeper dive into the hedonistic and eudaimonic views of happiness. Hedonists strive to maximize happiness and avoid misery, equating happiness with feeling good. In contrast, eudaimonia focuses on self-improvement, intellectual challenge, and spiritual fulfillment. The concept of eudaimonia, coined by Aristotle, is considered the pinnacle of happiness and an essential aspect of human flourishing. A graph is introduced to compare these two views, illustrating how combining elements of both can lead to a fulfilled life. Aristotle's philosophy emphasizes that eudaimonia is the highest good for humans, a state where all actions aim towards flourishing.
📜 Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Human Flourishing
This paragraph introduces Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, a key philosophical text exploring the components of a good life. Written by Aristotle’s son, Nicomachus, the text outlines the importance of virtues like making the right decisions and pursuing excellence. Other components of flourishing include friendship, wealth, and power. In ancient Greek society, achieving these elements was believed to lead to complete happiness. The concept of 'the good' is also introduced, which ties into human flourishing. Over time, society's understanding of flourishing has evolved, but its core elements, such as cooperation and communication, remain critical.
🌏 Eastern vs. Western Views on Human Flourishing
A comparison is made between Eastern and Western perspectives on human flourishing. Eastern societies, like China and Japan, focus on a community-centric approach where the individual sacrifices for the greater good. Examples include Confucianism and Bushido, which encourage intellectual and spiritual development for the benefit of society. In contrast, the Western perspective, largely influenced by Aristotle’s eudaimonia, centers on individual fulfillment. In the Western view, human flourishing is achieved through personal excellence and individual growth. This comparison highlights the cultural differences in how happiness and flourishing are understood.
🔬 The Role of Research and Technology in Human Progress
The conclusion emphasizes how scientific discoveries, innovations, and research contribute to human knowledge and flourishing. The video touches on the philosopher Martin Heidegger’s idea that technology is a core human activity born out of science. It also references how individuals are constantly seeking to place themselves in the world through research, adding to the broader pool of human knowledge. The pursuit of truth and understanding is framed as an essential part of human flourishing, tying back to earlier discussions on happiness and the good life.
🎥 Closing Remarks and Preview of Next Video
The video wraps up with a thank-you message and a preview of the next topic, which will delve into 'technology as a way of revealing.' The speaker encourages viewers to like and subscribe, and mentions that the slides were adapted for the video format. This concluding section signals a transition to further exploration of technology’s role in human flourishing and its philosophical implications, specifically referencing Heidegger’s ideas on technology.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Happiness
💡Hedonism
💡Eudaimonia
💡Human flourishing
💡Science and technology
💡Aristotle
💡Nicomachean Ethics
💡Community-centric
💡Western individualism
💡Martin Heidegger
Highlights
Happiness in psychology is defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.
In neurology, happiness is seen as the release of hormones in the brain as a reward for behavior that promotes survival.
The hedonistic view defines happiness as the opposite of suffering, where the purpose of life is to maximize happiness and minimize misery.
Eudaimonia, from Greek words meaning 'good spirit,' defines happiness as the pursuit of becoming a better person.
Aristotle coined the term 'eudaimonia,' which represents the pinnacle of human happiness and flourishing.
Eudaimonia focuses on intellectual and spiritual growth, challenging oneself to become richer in spirit.
Happiness in eudaimonia is viewed as an end in itself, being pursued for its own sake and resulting in human flourishing.
Human flourishing is the highest goal of human endeavors, characterized by success as a human being through excellence in activity.
Four key components of human flourishing include making the right decisions (prudence), friendship, wealth, and power.
Eastern societies, such as those influenced by Confucianism and Bushido, focus on community-centric human flourishing.
Western societies, following the Aristotelian view, emphasize individual flourishing through eudaimonia.
Coordination and cooperation are emphasized over competition in today's globalized world for human flourishing.
Technological advancements and research contribute to human flourishing by expanding the pool of human knowledge.
Technology, as a human activity, is a result of the pursuit of science and contributes to self-importance and progress.
Human flourishing evolves with time, incorporating new elements as society advances, including comfort, exploration, and wealth.
Transcripts
um in this video we're going to talk
about more on science technology and
society
and in this particular video we're going
to tackle
the topic on the human person
flourishing
in terms of science and technology
so in this topic we may ask the question
well what is happiness
okay so for you what is happiness for
you so in psychology
happiness is a mental thing or
it's an emotional state shall we say of
well-being which can be defined by
positive or pleasant emotions ranging
from contentment
to intense joy so that is in
in the field of psychology that is how
they define
um happiness is two behaviors there
specifically happiness is a cocktail of
emotions
okay shall we say we experience that
when we do something good
or positive okay but to a more
scientific
you know um perspective of it to
neurologists shall we say
happiness is the experience of a flood
of hormones
released in the brain as a reward for
behavior
that prolongs survival okay so that's
um what happiness is in different um
branches
of sciences or study so the quest next
question is that i want to ask you is
that
is happiness a destination or is it a
journey
let's say you right so there are two
main views when we
look at happiness the first view here
is what we call the hedonistic view the
this hedonistic view of well-being is
that happiness
is the opposite the complete opposite of
suffering
okay so the presence of happiness
indicates that there is an absence
of pain okay so that's how they define
and for headness what happiness is
because of this hedonists believe that
the purpose of life
is to maximize happiness and minimize
the bad things or shall we call that
misery
okay in contrary with a hedonistic view
okay we have also one kind of happiness
which we will call
eudaimonia this is a term that combines
the greek words
good and spirit we get good in spirit to
describe
this ideology of what eudaimonia is so
eudaimonia defines happiness as the
pursuit
of becoming a better person there is
the pursuit of becoming a better person
so you the monists shall we call them
do this by challenging themselves
intellectually or engaging in activities
that make them spiritually richer richer
people so let's talk about more on
eudaimonia again it's
from greek words good in spirit so
um from its word itself so we can say
that eudaimonia shall we say it's good
spirited okay from
from the word itself so it was
originally coined by
aristotle okay and this describes the
pinnacle of happiness that is attainable
for us humans it is also one
um very important concept of human
flourishing
that is eudaimonia so to compare
and uh you know see the the perspective
of
hedonists the hedonia and the eudaimonia
i will present this graph here okay
picture not mine
so as you can see here in this in this
um
y-axis and this y variable um feel good
this is headerness what they want
so when you feel good it's either you
will enjoy the sweet life
or the fulfilled life either way
um if it's not so you'll go and get the
void and the dry life
for the you demonia if you felt the
purpose
you will have the fulfilled life and
you'll have the dry life
or the dried life rather so combining
them
the hedonia and the eudaimonia you will
have the fulfilled life
in this quadrant here shall we say okay
so that's the fulfilled life
so according to aristotle the one that
coined the word
there is an end of all the actions that
we perform which we desire
for itself we call that eudaimonia again
it's also called flourishing or
happiness
simple as it is which is desired for its
own sake
with all the other things being desired
okay
your ammonia is a property of one's life
when considered as a whole flourishing
is the highest good
of human endeavors and then towards with
with all actions aim it is success
as a human being and the best life is
one
with excellence in the human activity
that's what the
the the one that that uh you will
experience
if you reach this state of the
eudaimonia
okay and then this is also called
flourishing okay
so specifically since we are human
beings we will call this
human flourishing okay so this
eudaimonia
concept this human flourishing came from
the nicoma nicomachean ethics so this is
these are
philosophical inquiry into the nature of
good life for a human being
this is written actually by aristotle's
son nico marcus that's why
from the name nicomachean ethics so
human flourishing arises as a result of
different components
such as number one we have four furnaces
this is the habit of making the right
decisions and taking the right actions
into context
and the pursuit of excellence for the
common good okay so we called it from
furnaces this is one of the areas okay
or the results
um of the human of human exploration we
also have friendship as one
wealth is one and then power also one so
we have four
okay furthermore um
to further our our
topic in human flourishing in the
ancient greek society
they believe that acquiring this will
surely bring the seekers
happiness complete happiness which in
effect allows them to partake in greater
notion
of what we call the good okay the good
as time changes elements that comprise
human flourishing
have changed we know that people found
means to live more comfortably explore
more places develop more products and
make more
money which is of course one very
important
part now of our daily lives humans of
the day are expected to become
the man of the world because we know
that
we are little by little being you know
becoming
globalized supposed to situate himself
in a global neighborhood the one that i
said
working side by side among institutions
and the government to be able to reach a
common goal
now this times these times competition
as a means of survival has become a
passe
which means it's outdated anymore okay
and coordination is a new trend meaning
helping with each other
you know um cooperation
okay and talking communication with with
others
so that's a new trend instead of
competition this time these days
okay and after this slide we're going to
have this a little bit of comparison
of the eastern and western conception
regarding society
and the human flourishing so we're going
to compare the eastern that is
asia or shall we say um specifically
china and the
other parts here um asia and then the
western part
is you know europe so for the eastern
conception
what is their perspective in society
and the human flourishing their main
focus actually is community-centric
so their their main goal is to have this
community as a whole
individuals should sacrifice for himself
for the sake of society that's how
easterns okay eastern people look at
society in human flourishing at times
um just say for examples are the chinese
confusion system
the japanese bushido and these encourage
studies of literature
sciences and art for greater core
greater cause
so just take note eastern conception is
made mainly
for community centric compared to the
western conception
which is more focused on individual as
we can see
more of our discussion in in human
flourishing especially in eudaimonia
came from the western civilization from
aristotle
so yeah to be to be very clear
we talked about human flourishing as an
end for the western culture
we have this aristotelian view
okay because arizona aristotle rather
is the one that gave us the eudaimonia
in the new commanding
ethics from his son nicomachus
so aims for eudaimonia as the ultimate
goal for the western conception
so we can see here some um comparison
compared to eastern and the western
conception so we have
again eastern is focus focusing on the
community
western is based on individual
okay so what are the main tech
takeouts in this lesson in science
technology and the human flourishing so
let's have the last
parts of the slide every discovery
innovation and success
contributes to our pool of human
knowledge okay
right now technically technical
technically we call this now research
you know in order for us to add
something to that body of knowledge
humans perpetual need to locate himself
the world by finding proofs to trace
evolution
elicits our idea sorry
what's that okay elicits our idea of
self-self-importance
and we have technology is a human
activity now
we excel in as a result of achieving
science so this is
um said by hideger okay this is
he is a german philosopher um martin
hitiger and we're going to talk more of
him in the next video actually
so here good is inaudible truth
okay again good is inherently related to
the truth
so that's it thank you for watching this
video
in the human person flourishing in terms
of science and technology so this is
still part of our
science technology science technology
society playlist
this is the source of the slides i took
okay not really
copied it off but you know edited some
of it
okay and make it um suited for the video
format so thank you for so much for
watching i hope you like and subscribe
this video
and yeah um there will there is going to
be a next video after this that will
talk about technology as a way of
revealing
okay so see you soon thank you so much
bye
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)