Module 3 STS Good Life - gmo PDF

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Module 3GE-STS: Science, Technology andSociety  ####### Eliciting Ideas: Life Is Round With CornersFill each polygon with simple sentence comprising your own definition of good life.My personaldefinition ofGood Life####### Module 3Good LifeT H E S E A S O N S O F L I F EThere was a man who had fo...

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Good Life Module 3

GE-STS: Science, Technology and Society

Good Life 

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Good Life

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THE SEAS ONS OF LIFE

Module 3

Eliciting Ideas: Life Is Round With Corners Fill each polygon with simple sentence comprising your own definition of good life.

My personal definition of Good Life

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There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn to not judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall. When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said no – it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed, he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfilment. The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but one season in the tree’s life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are – and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life – can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up. If you give up when it’s winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfilment of your fall. Don’t judge a life by one difficult season. Don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. https://livelifehappy.com/live-lifehappy-stories/

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Overview In Ancient Greece, long before the term “science” has been coined, there was first a need to understand one’s self, personal preferences, and the meaning of good life in order to comprehend the world and reality. According to Plato, understanding reality is also uncovering your soul’s desires and how it will flourish. In other words, if you want to understand the reality of this world, you should understand yourself too. It was Aristotle who gave a distinctive definition between the theoretical and practical sciences. He said that “truth” and “good” is the aim of the said sciences, respectively. Rightly so, one must find the truth about what the good is before one can even try to locate that which is good. In this module, we will be discussing the true essence of your life. Are you really living in this so-called “good life”? Let’s find out!

Learning Outcomes 1. Define for himself/herself the meaning of good life. 2. Examine the components and shared concerns that make up the good life. 3. Create an innovative way on how to promote the concept of good life in your community.

Discussion 3.1 Defining Good Life in Different Perspectives The meaning of good life may differ from person to person. Your friend may see good life as being wealthy. Your cousin may comprehend it as having a complete and happy family. The smartest classmate of yours may understand it as getting recognition and reaching dreams. The old man in your neighbor may thought it as fulfilled life. To them, this good life is perhaps one of the fantasies of humans. Though the works of philosophers for the past hundred years may seem separated from earthly desires, this is not always true. Philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Kant, and Nietzsche once made the understanding of good life as the center of their philosophy. Figure 3.1 Great Philosophers and Their Definition of Good Life A. Plato Plato once said, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” In typical ancient Greek fashion, Plato and his mentor Socrates define the good life in terms of reasonable restraint and civic duty. They believed that an individual become a master of himself using his reason to reign in his passions, as well as doing what he can to help promote the stability of his community. Plato also claims that despite the reality of change, things remain, and they restrain their ultimate “whatness” – these concepts were explained by Plato through the two aspects of reality which are world of matter (changing and impermanent) and world of forms (real entities).

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B. Aristotle Aristotle disagreed with his teacher, Plato, for he believed that there is no reality over and above what the senses can perceive. As such, it is only by observation of the external world that one can truly understand what reality is all about. Change is a process that is inherent in things. We, along with all other entities in the world, start entails change. Every human person aspires for an end. This end, as what we have learned from the previous module, is happiness or human flourishing. No one – male or female, young or old, curly or straight, poor or wealthy – resists happiness. We all want to be happy. Aristotle claim that happiness is the end of everything that we do.

C. Immanuel Kant Kant describes happiness as “continuous well-being, enjoyment of life, complete satisfaction with one’s condition.” He refers to man’s preservation and welfare as synonymous with his happiness. In the Critique of Practical Reason, Kant defines happiness as “the state of a rational being in the world in the whole of whose existence everything goes according to his wish and will.” Happiness is not pleasure. It is not the virtuous, joyful feeling associated with living a moral life, rather, happiness is simple getting what you want.

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D. Friedrich Nietzsche For Nietzsche, life is best affirmed by a striving for individual excellence that he identified with an idealized aristocracy. Despite his contempt for traditional morality, Nietzsche did not seek to replace it with universal prescriptions, but rather to undermine our confidence in all such notions of universality. Nietzsche attempts to disrupt old conceptual schemes, in order to encourage us to think for ourselves. To love your fate is to know that everything that has happened in your life; the good, the bad, and the ugly, has contributed to who you are and what you are doing at this very moment. To embrace any part of life, says Nietzsche, thus necessitates that you embrace all of it. Trying to create yourself will lead to some failures but embracing those failures alongside your successes can help re-spark a love of life and can help you see the meaning in even the worst moments.

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3.2 Happiness as the Goal of Good Life Are you living a good and happy life? It was said that the mission of life is to end the miseries of material existence and attain a blissful life. Admit it or not, we are constantly chasing after life, but we often fail in our pursuit. I’m sure that all of us have experiences failure, sadness and rejection. We may get a glimpse of happiness, but it does not last forever. Most of us, if not all, do not want miseries; however, we cannot avoid it. The ethical is meant to lead us to the good and happy life. Through the ages, as has been discussed in the previous modules, man has constantly struggled with the external world in order to reach human flourishing. History has given birth to different schools of thought, all of which aim for the good and happy life. Table 3.1 Different Philosophies of Good Life Philosophy

Materialism

Hedonism

Stoicism

Theism

Humanism

Description The 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 indivisible units in the world called atomos or seeds. For them, the world, including human beings, is made up of matter. As such, only material entities matter. In terms of human flourishing, matter is what makes us attain happiness. The hedonists, for their part, see the end goal of life in acquiring pleasure. For them, pleasure has always been the priority; and life is about obtaining and indulging in pleasure because life is limited. Hedonists strongly believe in the quote “Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.” This philosophy, just like materialism, rejects the notion of afterlife. The school of thought led by Epicurus, the stoics espoused the idea that in order to be happy one must learn to distance oneself and be apathetic. Apatheia means to be indifferent. For the, everyone should adopt the fact that some things are not within our control. The sooner we realize this, the happier we can become. The ultimate basis of happiness for theists is the communication with God. They find meaning of their lives using God as a fulcrum of their existence. The world where we are in is only just a temporary reality where we have to maneuver around while waiting for the ultimate return to the hands of god. They believe in afterlife. Humanism espouses the freedom of man to carve his own destiny and to legislate his own laws, free from the shackles of a God that monitors and controls. For them, man is the holds the steering wheel as captain of his own ship. This is the spirit of most scientists who thought that the world is a place and space for freely unearthing the world in seeking for ways on how to improve the lives of inhabitants. 4

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Activity: Lesson in Action! Devise an innovative and creative way to solve current social or environmental issues in your community that promotes good life. Options: 1. Creating an electronic brochure that promotes good life. 2. Posting a photo that supports a certain campaign regarding social/environmental issues and challenge one friend. Add caption that promotes good life. Do this for one week. 3. Attending related webinars. 4. Any innovative way you think of that promotes good life by trying to solve social and environmental issues in your community. Requirements: (respectively) 1. Submit your e-brochure. 2. Submit screenshots of your posts; is possible tag your instructor. 3. Submit screenshots that justify your attendance in the chosen webinars; submit ecertificate if you have received any. 4. Submit a proof.

Evaluation Supply Type A. Answer the following questions with brief yet accurate concepts in a sentence form. 1. Why do you think the meaning of good life differ from person to person? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. In your own words, what is the meaning of good life according to: a. Plato ___________________________________________________________________________________________ b. Aristotle ___________________________________________________________________________________________ c. Kant ___________________________________________________________________________________________ d. Nietzsche ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Among the four mentioned philosophers, who among them have opposing definition of good life? Why? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. In your own words, what is the meaning of good life according to: 5

Good Life  a. Materialism ___________________________________________________________________________________________ b. Hedonism ___________________________________________________________________________________________ c. Stoicism ___________________________________________________________________________________________ d. Theism ___________________________________________________________________________________________ e. Humanism ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. Among the five philosophies, what has opposing and similar beliefs regarding good life? Why? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ B. Complete the following metacognitive phrases. 1. For me, the true definition of good life is… ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Among the four philosophers, I believe in … because … ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Among the five philosophies, I am … because … ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________

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References Textbooks: 1. Serafica, et.al. 2018. Science, Technology and Society. Rex Book Store, Inc. 856 Nicanor Reyes Sr. St., Manila. pp 75-81 2. Doria, et.al. 2018. Science, Technology and Society. Jimczyville Publications. #16 Concha St., Bgry. Tinajeros, Malabon City. pp 83-85 Online References: 1. http://www.openculture.com/2015/12/plato-aristotle-nietzsche-kants-ideas-on-the-goodlife.html 2. http://aporia.byu.edu/pdfs/hughes-the_role_of_happiness_in_kants_ethics.pdf 3. https://bigthink.com/scotty-hendricks/nietzsches-advice-for-how-to-find-meaning-in-your-life

Prepared by: Villaruel, Sweet Angelikate L. CS-BPS Faculty

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