CHAPTER 8 THE GOOD LIFE Isaiah Berlin, a simple child, enjoys the freedom of doing things that he fancies - that's good life, CHAPTER OUTLINE ‘The Concept of Being Good The Good Life LEARNING OUTCOMES At the end of this chapter, the students should be able to: 1. describe what good life is; and ‘examine shared concerns that make up the good life considering ethical standards in order to determine appropriate decisions to contemporary issues. SOE NCE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY 99note state of being. Itis a direction —— | NOL a destinations ) Car Rogers. American Psychosis 52353 7 The [ want out of ife?” is an interesting question posed by wnat do ‘ Mark Ma What de enald probably answer in the simplest common way: “! man that evernone Orr great family and a job I like”. As discussed in pre me fis. process good ite? and ave " iOus chaptes happy oe ne ultimate goal of man is to flourish, that is, fea happines " a nn (2012) defined happiness as loving one’s life, * s life, valuing it in ways manifexca byample enjoyment anda robust sense of meaning, Achieving happiness and mary aramesire and needs commonly gives essence for living a good life. In particuas al decency and goodness, authenticity, mental health, selC-fulfillment ant meaningfulness describes it. (On the other hand, the concept of how good life would be, depends in the personal decision of man. It is evident in our modern society that man’s personal decision and ideas~ idea of progress, happiness, beliefs, expectations, attitudes and feelings are directly affected by convenience and benefits brought about by science and technology.(Dotson, 2012) Every human being aspires to live a good life Conversely, man’s idea of “good life” differs in many dimensions. ‘THE CONCEPT OF BEING GOOD ‘The term “good” is commonly used interchangeably with the term “right”, Traet (2007) explained that the adjectives good and right are related in meaning, but ate ot synonyms. It makes no sense to speak of a “right person” when we mean a “good Person; or the right action as a meaning for good action. How can we differentiate the two term then? Taking the right action means correctly Duty pplyinga norm, premise, presupposition, rule, aht Action << es standard, of law. This explains that the term ~ ‘ight” reasons are being used to justify the Right action compels fulfling duies2rd Principle and its application. upholding rights. source: [Link] Being good involves having the character * acing and personal qualities that were justified by reason as having moral worth. (Trae 2007) Morals refer to an individuals own principles regarding right and wrong |i Atistotelean view, “the understandability of the good is based on the #6 Of what is good for the specific entity under consideration”. As Younkins ( ‘Pounded, that this view of Aristotle states that the good is what is good: ancl een 00, scence [Link] wosoie”w» For Aristotle, the good is what is good for purposeful, goal-directed entities. He defines the good proper to human being as the activities in which the Ife FUNCHONS going good entails mutating chavacer specific to human beings are most fully and fostering relationship. realized. (Paragraph 33) Source: tptdoingethicscom It acknowledges the fact that human being is endowed with his own rational mind and free will. Timbreza (2008), as elucidated by Gripaldo (2013), explained that in natural ethician’s view, “good is that which is suitable to and proper for human nature, Whenever it is not proper for human nature, it is bad and must be avoided.” Acting rightly means doing the right thing based on the voice of conscience, otherwise, feeling of guilt, self-reproach, and remorse will be felt. It follows that a person, as a human being, has his own consciousness of function, survival, and ‘means of having the life he envisioned. Character Being Good Relationships Thus, considering the aspect of human nature, the term “good” denotes a more objective meaning of “a state or way of being”. THE GOOD LIFE ‘The meaning of this term up to present times remains vague. Wise men of the past argued with the nature and prerequisites of the good life. Similarly, questions such as, “Is a meaningful life also a happy one?” and “Is living with happiness means living a good life?” are still part of the debates even of the philosophers. Socrates declared that, “the unexamined life is not worth living for”, the idea of worthwhile living should be filtered with experience and vice versa. Aristotle, being the student of Socrates, viewed the good life as a life of relationships. It is the nature of man to seek good life with and for others rather than experiencing it by himself. Aristotle further elucidated the idea of relating the essence of happiness to achieving well-being and experiencing good life. In relation to psychological foundations, Steve Mueller (2016), the founder of Planet of Success defined the term as. (desirable) state that is primarily characterized by a high standard of living or the adherence to ethical and moral laws...As such, the term can both be understood as the quest for wealth, material possessions or luxuries and the quest to create a worthwhile, (Paragraph 5) honest and meaningful existence, Martin Heidegger, an existentialist philosopher, also has a different view on the aspect of life. Hie dealt more on how we live an “authentic life” rather dealing with the “good lie’: For Heidegger, living an authentic life means living with deep acceptance onthe faticity of“ death” and resulting toa “life lived according to when ithas clearly decided as its meaning and purpose”. (Corpuz, ZR Paclibar M.L.; Paclibar, 8. (2016). Pa D4 Copan Corpus. SENGE TECHPVOLOGY ANO SOGIETY 101SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN FLOURISHING ein the world where We liv and — technology | eo had they ccut dover all the forests, science the forefront of society. Advances and continu growth are the chang uous technological results of intensified application of scientific knowledge to deliver progress in the society. The rise of information technologies has made global communications possible ‘The introduction of gene therapy, stem cells and cloning has improved the medical and health sectors. gine catooncom Nanotechnology and roboties made industries flourished. Economic growth and global standing wer innovations, Scientific applications continuously provide conv tives. All these and more completes the story of changes, innovations, and progress ‘which impacts the ethical and moral preference of human in the modern society: Yet these progress become problematic because ofthe ethical or even legal concerns Examples are debates on whether human embryo (right to live) is being sacrifice or will the creation of artificial intelligence (AI)-smarter- serves the functionality of human nature does not: loyment oF hhieved through ence to human not in the process of clonin; than-human intelligence con does mining support the nation’s economic development and labor empl degradation of environment and human rights infringement ? Indeed, progress is inevitable so as the desire of human to flourish. As scientific ingly plays significantly to human lives, and technological developments increas irtues were offered by ‘eudemonistic orientation of happiness or end. What kind of vi these scientific progress? For the common good or self-directed? Do they promote well-being? Should the ethical and moral aspects of human being be changed to be \d attain human flourishing? at par with progress an