KEY TERMS SECTION A 2.2 PART 2

This key terms document is designed to support Leaving Cert Religious Education, Section A 2.2: The Tradition of Response, Part 2.

It explains the main words, concepts and ideas connected with spirituality, non-religious responses, humanism and modern scientific cosmology in clear and student-friendly language.

The document includes key terms linked with spirituality and the sacred, including pilgrimage, personal pilgrimage, meditation and mindfulness. It also covers humanism, secular humanism, scepticism, atheism, agnosticism and reductionism, including the different forms these viewpoints can take.

A further section explains the central ideas linked with Erasmus, Karl Marx and Albert Camus, including Christian humanism, the power of education, historical materialism, alienation, collective ownership, the absurd, existential humanism and human solidarity.

The final section covers key scientific and philosophical terms connected with modern cosmology, including the Big Bang Theory, the Expanding Universe Theory, entropy, the arrow of time, gravity, the Big Chill, the Big Crunch, fine-tuning and the anthropic principle.

Each term is explained in context so that students can understand both its meaning and its importance within the wider topic. This resource is suitable for vocabulary revision, classroom use, independent study and exam preparation.