Senior Religion 2012-13
Class 1 – Sister Thomas Aquinas, O.P.
Socratic Journal assignments for Quarter 1
date in ( ) is date first assigned on calendar
1 (8/17)
2 (8/21)
3 (8/22)
4 (8/23)
5 (8/29)
Read Plato’s Meno and take notes in
Socratic Journal on 1) How does
Socrates guide the discussion?
2) How does the Socratic method
help us learn?
Read Aristotle’s Ethics Bk I, Ch 1-6
– Handout pp. 935-941 and take
notes in SJ on 1) What question is
Aristotle trying to answer? 2) How
far does he get in answering it?
Read Aristotle’s Ethics Bk I, Ch. 7-9
– Handout pp. 941-946 and take
notes in SJ on 1) What does it mean
for something to be “an end in itself”
or “chosen for its own sake”? 2)
What are some of the defining
characteristics of happiness?
Read Aristotle’s Ethics Bk I, Ch. 1012; Bk X, Ch. 6-7 pp. 946-949,
1102-1105 and take notes in SJ on 1)
What is Aristotle’s final formal
definition of happiness? 2) What
does Aristotle think will make
human persons happy? 3) Do I think
Aristotle is correct?
Read Catechism of the Catholic
Church #1691-1715 and take notes
in SJ on 1) Why might the moral life
also be called “Life in Christ” ?
(#1691-1698); 2) What is meant
by “the dignity of the human person”
and how is that dignity related to our
being made in the image of God?
6 (8/30)
Read Catechism of the Catholic
Church #1716-1729 and take notes
in SJ on 1) Compare & contrast the
Catechism’s discussion of the
Beatitudes and Happiness with
Aristotle’s discussion of happiness.
7 (9/4)
8 (9/6)
9 (9/12)
10 (9/13)
Read Summa Theologica by St.
Thomas Aquinas, First Part of the
Second Part (I-II), Question 3 Article
5 and Question 4, Articles 1, 2. In
your SJ take notes on the question
asked as the title of each article. Try
to answer the question in your own
words based on what Saint Thomas
says.
Read Gaudium et Spes (Constitution
on the Church in the Modern World)
by Vatican II, Preface and
Introduction, paragraph #1-10. In
you SJ take notes on the following
questions: 1) From the Preface –
what are the questions raised by
mankind and how will the Church
assist in answering these questions;
2) From the Introductory Statement –
make a list of the characteristics and
challenges of the modern world.
Read CCC #362-368;
Read Summa Theologica by St.
Thomas Aquinas, First Part (I),
Question 78 Article 1; Question 80,
Articles 1, 2; Question 83, Articles 1,
2, 3, 4. Use Chart of Powers of the
Soul to aid your comprehension. In
your SJ take notes on the question
asked as the title of each article. Try
to answer the question in your own
words based on what Saint Thomas
says.
Read CCC #1730-1748 on Human
Freedom. In your SJ take notes on
the following questions:
1) How are knowledge, freedom, and
responsibility related to morality?
2) What is true freedom and how is it
related to happiness?
Grading Rubric
____(#) of missing assign.
x 2 pts per each = _____
____(#) of incomplete
x 1 pt per each = _____
11 (9/19)
12 (9/20)
13 (10/1 or 2)
14 (10/2 or 4)
Read Genesis chapters 3 & 4;
Read CCC #1749-1761. In your SJ
take notes on the following
questions: 1) What does the Genesis
account reveal about what original
sin is and what its consequences are?
2) What is required for a human act
to be considered morally good?
3) Describe each of the three
aspects/elements of a human act; try
to think of examples.
Read Principle of Double Effect
handout, CCC 2263, and Summa
Theologica by St. Thomas Aquinas,
Second Part of the Second Part (IIII), Question 64, Article 7. In your
SJ take notes on the following
questions: 1) Describe an example in
which the principle of double effect
would apply. 2) What errors in
moral judgment can result from
failing to consider all three aspects of
a moral act?
Read Summa Theologica by St.
Thomas Aquinas, First Part (I),
Question 81, Articles 1, 2, 3; First
Part of the Second Part (I-II),
Question 23, Articles 1, 2, 3, 4. In
your SJ take notes on the question
asked as the title of each article. Try
to answer the question in your own
words based on what Saint Thomas
says.
Read Gaudium et Spes Part I Ch. 1
paragraphs #11 – 22 and in your SJ
take notes on the following
questions: 1) What are some of the
chief characteristics of the human
person, both positive & negative? 2)
What is the foundation for the
dignity of the human person? 3)
How does Christ “fully reveal man to
himself”?
Total pts deducted = _____
(max. = 28)
100 - ______ = ______
(pts. deduct.)
(SJ grade)
The Socratic Journal grade is averaged in with the other class participation grades for the quarter. Class participation is weighted 65% of the quarter
grade.