John Paul II Catholic High School The Journey: A Spiritual Roadmap for Modern Pilgrims by Peter Kreeft

Transcription

1 John Paul II Catholic High School Moral Theology The Journey: A Spiritual Roadmap for Modern Pilgrims by Peter Kreeft Welcome to the Junior year summer reading program! Our book for this summer prepares us for the study of moral theology this coming fall. In this entertaining but not always easy book, Peter Kreeft meets Socrates in an inside- out dream that reminds us of Dante s encounter with Virgil in the Divine Comedy. In it, Kreeft shows that right moral thinking is rooted foremost in logical philosophical reasoning and in an appreciation of the discovery that comes through right reasoning of the natural and the moral law. Philosophy, then, is an ally of theology, and moral philosophy can even be seen as a preparation for the gospel. As we saw in our Church History course last year, the early Church, starting with the Apostles and continuing with the Church Fathers, embraced philosophy as a preparation for the higher study of theology. One of the reasons for this was that the ancient moral and ethical philosophy rooted in Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and eventually the Greek and Roman Stoics was in large part consistent with the Scriptures, the gospel, and the natural law. Human reason could go a long way toward discovering the existence of right and wrong written on the heart. Divine revelation, especially and finally through Jesus, completed the human longing to discover the truth. Kreeft takes us on a philosophical journey with Socrates as he encounters many ancient philosophical fallacies that also constitute modern heresies. By understanding these fallacies, which logically contradict themselves, and often stop the discovery of truth by taking our minds down philosophical dead ends that lead us no closer to the discovery of truth, we can better see how the Church has preserved the whole of truth and the integrity of the human person. All philosophy roots itself in one kind or another of cosmology (assumptions about the nature of the world/reality) or anthropology (assumptions about the human person and the human good). Kreeft takes us on a journey to learn what the fruits and effects are of bad thinking and wrong choices, just as the Church has done so, by following its Master who is goodness, mercy and truth itself. The heresies/fallacies we encounter on this journey include: 1. Hedonism (Epicurus) 2. Skepticism (Protagoras) 3. Cynicism (Diogenes) 4. Nihilism (Gorgias) 5. Materialism (Democritus) 6. Relativism (Thrasymachus) 7. Atheism (Xenophanes, Epicurus, Democritus) 8. Pantheism/Deism (Parmenides, Aristotle)

2 The way toward the full truth 9. Judaism 10. Christianity Thanks for coming on this journey. It lasts for a lifetime, and we need a roadmap that helps to get on the right roads that fulfill our deepest human yearnings, and our final divine destiny. Study Questions Preface 1. How important are the ten questions Kreeft summarizes in the Preface? Why are they important? 2. The Sow a thought prose poem is a progression. Do you think it makes sense from your own experience? 3. Can we avoid having a philosophy? How does Kreeft answer this question? Chapter One To Question or Not to Question, That is the Question 1. What Shakespearean play does Kreeft allude to in the title of this chapter? 2. Why does Kreeft cite Dante? Where does he meet Socrates? What is implied by this meeting place? 3. What speech is Socrates referring to that he can still taste? (Hint, you read part of it in your freshman year). 4. What is the law of identity, or the law of logical consistency? 5. What is contentment? Happiness? How do they differ? 6. What does Epicurus recommend to Kreeft to prevent him from starting his journey? What assumption lies behind Epicurus recommendation? 7. What does the smiling skull in Epicurus/flower garden represent? 8. What does Kreeft mean by reindoctrination? How does this apply to Epicurus or modern hedonists? 9. What is the main problem with hedonist contentment? Why shouldn t we take that road? Chapter Two The Skeptic 1. What does a skeptic claim about truth? What is the only form of truth for them? 2. How does Socrates refute Protagoras claim that truth is only subjective? 3. How is logic employed in addressing the difference between subjective and objective truth? 4. Can subjective opinion actually be wrong, according to Socrates? Explain.

3 5. Can subjective truth admit of a standard by which to determine how a subjective claim to truth is false? 6. How does subjectivism logically refute itself? 7. How does Socrates distinguish between subjectivism and skepticism? 8. How does Kreeft show that skepticism is illogical? 9. Does showing that skepticism is self- refuting prove the existence of objective truth? 10. Are objective truths created or discovered? How do the examples of The Odyssey and The Lord of the Rings illustrate the point? 11. How does Socrates show that ideas differ from things? Are ideas real in the same way that things are? Are ideas real or only in the mind? 12. Is the world only in our mind or is it real and outside of the mind? 13. How does Socrates refute Protagoras argument that thinking about things causes later material and physical events, like meeting Socrates or bumping your toe on a rock? 14. What do you think is the main problem with skepticism? Why shouldn t we go down that road? Chapter Three The Cynic 1. Diogenes claims that truth is found only in objective science, not in philosophy or religion or morality. What is your initial reaction to his claim? Do you accept his claim that life has no meaning? 2. How does Diogenes steal the Socratic method? 3. What do Diogenes and Socrates finally agree about in Diogenes argument that the meaning of life cannot be found? 4. What is the purpose of debate, argument, and raising questions? 5. What is a straw man argument? 6. How does Socrates show that difficulty in discovery does not refute objective truth itself? And that disagreement doesn t disprove objective truth, but instead implies its existence? 7. Why don t people argue about subjective things, such as feelings? 8. Are thoughts only subjective, or can they be objective? Explain. 9. Is objective truth subject to proof? 10. Can Diogenes prove that we should doubt everything we cannot prove? If we cannot prove the necessity for doubting everything we cannot prove, do we refute ourselves? 11. Do most people start as skeptics and then prove that there is truth? Or do they start as believers and then begin to doubt? Why is this question important? 12. What do you think is the main problem with cynicism? Why shouldn t we go down that road?

4 Chapter Four The Nihilist 1. What is Gorgias three fold argument about the ability to know the true meaning of life? 2. What does epistemology mean? 3. Why does Gorgias call Solomon a nihilist? 4. If a few smart people believe life is meaningless, does that really make it so? 5. Is an argument from authority conclusive about truth? 6. Must we be critical of all truth claims? How does a nihilist know there is no meaning to life, if he claims not to know? 7. What do you think is the main problem with nihilism? Why shouldn t we take that road? Chapter Five The Materialist 1. Why is Democritus a materialist? 2. Are ideas really the same as material things? 3. Is materialism a fact or a philosophy? 4. Can a materialist logically conclude that non- materialist philosophy is untrue? Why or why not? 5. What is a materialist not obliged to think about? 6. What are some examples of modern materialist philosophies? What are they unable to account for? 7. What do you think is the main problem with materialism? Why shouldn t we take that road? Chapter Six The Relativist 1. Why does Kreeft characterize relativism as an easy, broad and downward road? 2. Why does Thrasymachus treat liberty and law as contradictions? What do you think Socrates means by saying that law is the only road to liberty? 3. If one says there is no objective moral right or wrong, how can one justify the rightness or goodness of rebelling against a law? 4. If all law is only man- made and not God- given, what is the only basis for law? 5. Does the newness or oldness of an idea have anything to do with whether it is true? 6. How does the crime of rape help us to see that some things just can t be right because we say or think that they are? 7. Thrasymachus claims there is no such thing as good or evil, and yet he thinks it is good to convince Socrates that this relativist argument is good. Why is this illogical? What does it actually prove? 8. How does denying the moral truth affect people and society?

5 9. What is the main problem with relativism? Why shouldn t we take that road? Chapter Seven The Atheist 1. Is it possible, with logical certainty, to prove there is no God? 2. Is it possible, with logical certainly, to prove there is a God? 3. Is it unreasonable to believe there is a God? Why or why not? 4. What is belief or disbelief in God ultimately about? 5. If one chooses to believe in God s existence, what further choice must be made? 6. What is pantheism? 7. What is deism? 8. What do both pantheism and deism share in their teaching about intellectual elites and the masses of people? 9. What basis is there for the idea that God is love? Nature? History? Anything else? 10. Aristotle says God is beyond ; Parmenides that God is within ; What does Kreeft propose to both of them? 11. What is the problem with pantheism and deism? Why should we not go down those roads? Chapter Eight The Jew 1. How does Socrates show that philosophical reasoning and questioning is actually connected to theological faith and religion? 2. Who is it that Socrates has guided Kreeft to meet, so that he might begin to hold fast to what is true, after so much questioning? 3. The leader of the nomadic band quickly goes past Kreeft and Socrates, what decision does Kreeft make at this juncture in the road? Why? 4. Where does Kreeft s conversation with these nomads and their leader take place? Where are they trying to go? 5. What makes these nomads different from the Beautiful people they left behind? Why do they regard themselves as Chosen? Is this an arrogant claim? 6. Is the claim of being a Chosen people a racist claim? How might rejection of the Jewish claim to be the Chosen People itself be a form of racism? 7. Why does Socrates leave Kreeft at this point in the journey? 8. What is the purpose and role of the Jews as the Chosen people? 9. What do the Jews say about cosmology, that is, the source/cause of the world s existence? How is this both a question of philosophy and of faith? 10. Why are prophets or voices of God necessary to know him, if it is possible to reasonably deduce a created world?

6 11. What kind of proof does Moses offer about God s existence? Are these proofs stronger or weaker than philosophical arguments? 12. What are the historical arguments Moses uses to demonstrate the reality of the Jews claims about God? He gives five clues. What are they? 13. What are some secular clues he offers? 14. How is the Jewish idea of God different from any other religious tradition at the time of Moses? How is the Jewish idea of creation different from that of the Greeks? Completely unique in human history? (Hint: remember the word bara that we studied in our Old Testament class.) 15. What are the seven characteristics of the Jewish God that Moses identifies? 16. What are the two deepest instincts of human beings according to Moses? How do the Jews combine them? 17. How does the insight that God is love answer the questions of Aristotle and Parmenides? Chapter Nine The Messiah 1. How does the command choose life convince Kreeft to keep following Moses? 2. Who does Kreeft meet after Moses disappears? 3. What alternatives does Kreeft see to the unattractive option of following Jesus to the Cross? What is the Unholy trinity of signs he recognizes in his vision? What does he see when he looks back to the Cross of Suffering? 4. Who appears to lead Kreeft to an understanding of the Messiah? 5. In thinking about Jesus, his claim to be God and his gospel, and about his Apostles who proclaimed him as their Risen Lord and God, why is it not reasonable to think of him and them as liars or lunatics? 6. How does the claim of Resurrection appear as reasonable and not crazy? 7. Could something seem to be too good to be true? Is it quite possible that something that seems to be too good to be true could actually be true? If believing that truth produces great faith, hope, and love and many other good fruits, do these count for something in concluding that it is true? 8. What are the only two options we have in response to the gospel claim that Jesus IS the TRUTH? 9. This is the last turn in the road. What would happen if you said no to Jesus? What would you gain, and what would you lose? What would happen if you said yes to Jesus? Would it guarantee you comfort, material success or physical happiness? Why would you take HIS road? Epilogue 1. What cave had Socrates helped Kreeft get outside of? 2. What things has Kreeft acquired by getting outside of that cave? 3. What did Moses help him to get free of? And C.S. Lewis? 4. What does Kreeft claim that we gain when we place all of our trust in Jesus?

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