1. Leaving Certificate Religious Education
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Section A: Search for Meaning and Values

2. Leaving Certificate Religion
Course Details
Syllabus Structure
Examination (80%)
2.5 Hours
7-8 Essays Questions
Coursework (20%)
2,500-3,000 words
Due the final Friday of 6th Year
Unit One - Section A: The Search for Meaning and Values Unit Two - Section B: Christianity: Origins and Contemporary Expressions - Section C: World Religions - Section D: Moral Decision Making Unit Three - Section E: Religion and Gender - Section F: Issues of Justice and Peace - Section G: Worship, Prayer and Ritual - Section H: The Bible: Literature and Sacred Text - Section I: Religion: The Irish Experience - Section J: Religion and Science

3. Aims
To present religions as systematic responses to perennial questions common to all peoples about the meaning of life in the world.
To develop an understanding of the nature of this search for meaning through an examination of questions arising in personal experience.
To examine philosophical and religious answers to the questions of the meaning of life and its ultimate grounding.
To examine the philosophical and religious answers to the questions of the existence of God, and the nature of divine revelation.
To examine the role of religion in the secular world.

4. The Quest for Meaning: The Tradition of Search
As a result of studying this section, students should be able to
give a brief definition and explanation of the nature and purpose of philosophy in terms of the search for meaning and values
in the case of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle present a summary of two of their main ideas and explain why each idea was important in the development of philosophy
outline the place of the Sophists in the society of ancient Greece and their importance in the development of philosophical thought
on the question of the search for meaning: identify and briefly explain three key moments in the development of philosophical thought from the classical to the contemporary period.
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5. Give a brief definition and explanation of the nature and purpose of philosophy in terms of the search for meaning and values
Philosophy
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6. Over to you….. What are the most basic human needs?
Why is it not possible for a person to fulfill the need for self-actualisation if their basic needs are not met?
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7. Metaphysics Logic Ethics Anthropology Epistemology
the study of being and the universe 
Metaphysics
the study of reasoning
Logic
the study of moral behaviour
Ethics
the study of human nature
Anthropology
the study of knowledge
Epistemology

8. Outline the place of the Sophists in the society of ancient Greece and their importance in the development of philosophical thought 
Key People/Groups
The Sophists
Pythagoras
Thrasymachus
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9. The Sophists “Sophists’ image retrieved from: The Sophists
·       The Sophists were a group of travelling philosophers.  
·       They lived in Athens during the 5th and 6th centuries BCE  
·       They believed that there was no such things as absolute good or evil, wrong or right; it all depended on the circumstances.   
o   Pythagoras is an example of this. He believed the truth was a matter of each individual and that what is true for me may not be true for you but both positions are valid. “Man is the measure of all things”.   
o   “Justice is simply the interests of the stronger”. Thrasymachus’ view reinforces the Sophist’s belief that the difference between good and evil cannot be known; the concepts of truth and justice were mere products of habit and circumstance, often created by those in power to suit their own interests. ***  
·       The sophists appealed to the politically ambitious younger generation; it taught them the skill of persuasion through rhetoric in debating and public speaking.   
·       The philosophy of the Sophists created bitter disagreement because they said that there were no absolute norms for what was right and wrong. They contributed to the breakdown of moral order. The distinction between good and evil were no longer clear, and this caused problems in Greek society.   
·       The philosophers who followed, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle disagreed with the views held by the Sophists.
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The Sophists

10. “Man is the measure of all things”. Pythagoras
Pythagoras believed the truth was a matter of each individual and that what is true for me may not be true for you but both positions are valid.
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11. “Justice is simply the interests of the stronger”.
Thrasymachus
 Thrasymachus’ view reinforces the Sophist’s belief that the difference between good and evil cannot be known; the concepts of truth and justice were mere products of habit and circumstance, often created by those in power to suit their own interests. 

12. In the case of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle present a summary of two of their main ideas and explain why each idea was important in the development of philosophy 
Key People/ Concepts
Socrates
Plato/ Allegory of the Cave
Aristotle
Ethics
Justice/ Injustice
The Soul/ The Body/ The Mind
Wisdom
Happiness
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13. Socrates:  a philosopher in Athens in the 6th century BCE 
was concerned with the question of ethics: right and wrong, good and evil, justice and injustice. He moved philosophy beyond reflections on the natural world.  
wished to establish a universal definition of Justice, worked to find laws and limits that could be observed in order to live a good life and once those laws were found they would become universal.  
For Socrates knowing what was good was the same as doing what was good. He believed:  
soul was very important and had to be cared for; this could be done by the gaining of wisdom- knowing what was good led to doing what was good.  
that gaining wisdom was the key to living a virtuous life and thereby saving the soul.  
that an action is right when it promotes true happiness of the human being and true pleasure and lasting happiness were to be attained through moral living.

14. Screenshot taken of youtube video on the 8th of November’2018
Screenshot taken of youtube video on the 8th of November’2018. Hyperlink attached to image.

15. Plato: 
was a student of Socrates 
founded his own school called the Academy 
he saw the body and soul in conflict. This is known as the dualistic understanding of the human person.  
sought to understand reality and how we perceive it.     
Believed: 
the world was divided into reality and appearance – knowledge ( truth ) and opinion. 
that true knowledge could only be found through the intellect, the mind. The senses could not be trusted.  
that the person who is concerned with the world of true knowledge, is concerned with beauty itself. 
for something to truly exist it must have some un-changeability in it. 
that humanity should be on a journey upwards from the material to the spiritual. 
Plato’s concern for meaning alongside with his distrust of the senses resulted in his theory of ideas. 
His theory of ideas stated that there are pure, unchangeable ideas which human beings may ‘forget’ but which can be understood through the use of intellect.  
His parable of the Cave is an Allegory. It charts the journey that must be taken by all who strive to live a good life. This journey involves a personal conversion – a radical re-shaping of one’s vision. 

16. Aristotle 
Moved beyond Plato in his recognition that we know the world through the senses 
His life can be divided into three stages: 
His time with Plato 
His time spent at Assos and Mitylene 
His time in leadership of the Lyceum in Athens    
Is recognised for his contribution to scientific thought and principles 
Believed:  
that our knowledge begins with the senses. We then move from the particular to the general.   
in the principles of form and matter. Everything has form and matter, and both are equally important and one cannot exist without the other.  
that form is that which makes something what it is and the matter is that which makes the thing individual and concrete.   
we have two ways of knowing, firstly from our senses and then through the intellect.   
That through our senses we learn about the changing aspects of things, and through the intellect we understand the things that remain unchanging.  
The soul: 
every living thing possesses a psyche (soul). The person’s soul enables him / her true potential, which for Aristotle is happiness.  
Ethics:  
virtue is defined as excellence in fulfilling one’s proper task or purpose. A person becomes virtuous by doing virtuous things.  
The chief moral concern for Aristotle, therefore, was living a virtuous life.

17. On the question of the search for meaning: identify and briefly explain three key moments in the development of philosophical thought from the classical to the contemporary period. 
1_______________
2______________
3.__________________
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