AS Philosophy and Ethics Welcome Booklet
Welcome to Philosophy and Ethics Religious Studies offers you an interesting and intellectually challenging A Level that will help develop your understanding of spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues.this is your opportunity to ask some of the big questions of life such as: Is it ever right to kill a human being? Should there be rules to ensure that countries trade fairly with each other? Where does our understanding of morality come from? Is Genetic Engineering playing God? Should those responsible for the holocaust have known better? Does the Foetus deserve the rights of a Person? What is love? Is beauty an illusion? What is a human being? Is science the enemy of religion? Is there life after death? Why does evil exist? How did the Universe begin? Can we prove God s existence? Studying Philosophy and Ethics will also develop a variety of skills, including those of discussion and debate. The valuable skills of logical argument and critical evaluation are also developed and can be transferred to other areas of study. It will even help you get where you want to go. The Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Service and employers believe that graduates in Religious Studies, Philosophy and Theology are prepared for the following careers: Broadcast, film, video and interactive media sector Education sector Financial services sector Law Politics Medicine Social care sector Voluntary sector Community work Journalism
H173/01: AS Philosophy of Religion The Syllabus Ancient Greek Influences on Philosophy of Religion What might be represented in the Analogy of the Cave by the prisoners, the shadows, the cave itself, the outside world, the sun, the journey out of the cave and the return to the prisoners What Plato meant by Forms The relationship between concepts and phenomena The concept of Ideals The relation between the Form of Good and the other Forms Aristotle s understanding of material, efficient, formal and final cause Aristotle s concept of the Prime Mover Candidates should be able to discuss critically these concepts and their strengths and Traditional Arguments for the Existence of God Ontological Argument The ontological argument from Anselm and Descartes Challenges to it from Gaunilo and Kant Anselm s understanding of God his understanding of the differences between contingent and necessary existence Descartes understanding of existence as a perfection which God cannot lack Gaunilo s analogy of the island in On behalf of the Fool Candidates should be able to discuss critically these views and their strengths and Cosmological Argument The cosmological argument from Aquinas and Copleston The arguments put forward by Copleston in the 1948 radio debate with Russell and Russell s counter-argument Hume s criticism of the cosmological argument. Candidates should be able to discuss critically these views and their strengths and Teleological Argument The teleological argument from Aquinas and Paley The challenges to it from Hume, Mill and Darwin
Candidates should be able to discuss critically these views and their strengths and Moral Argument The moral argument from Kant, including his concept of the summum bonum and his inferences of moral awareness The psychological challenges from Freud to the moral argument, his view that moral awareness comes from sources other than God Candidates should be able to discuss critically these views and their strengths and Religious experience Candidates will look at the nature of religious experience, exploring; Mystical experience Conversion Other ways that God can be experienced Candidates will examine whether religious experiences can be used to prove the existence of God The Problem of Evil The problem of evil: the classic theodicies of Augustine and Irenaeus The nature of the problem of evil and the possible differences between natural and moral evil How each theodicy understands the responsibility of God for the existence of evil in the world The origins of evil and the role of human free will Candidates should be able to discuss critically these approaches and their strengths and H173/02: AS Religious Ethics Ethical Theory The concepts of absolutist and relativist morality; What it means to call an ethical theory absolutist and objective; What it means to call an ethical theory relativist and subjective: The terms deontological and teleological.
Candidates should be able discuss critically these concepts and their strengths and Natural Law The origins of Aquinas Natural Law in Aristotle s idea of purpose; Aquinas ideas of purpose and perfection; The use of reason to discover Natural Law; The primary and secondary precepts. Candidates should be able to discuss critically these views and their strengths and Kantian Ethics The difference between the Categorical and the Hypothetical Imperatives; The various formulations of the Categorical Imperative; Kant s understanding of the universalisation of maxims; Kant s theory of duty; Kant s ideas of the moral law, good will and the summum bonum. Candidates should be able to discuss critically these theories and their strengths and Utilitarianism The classical forms of Utilitarianism from Bentham and Mill; The principle of Utility; The differences between the Utilitarianism of Bentham and of Mill; The Hedonic Calculus, higher and lower pleasures, quantity v. quality, and Act and Rule Utilitarianism; The Preference Utilitarianism of Peter Singer. Candidates should be able to discuss critically these issues and their strengths and Situation ethics Candidates should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the theory associated with Joseph Fletcher: How moral decisions can best be made based on application of Agape The six basic principles The four working principles The nature of conscience Applied Ethics
Euthanasia Difference between voluntary and non-voluntary euthanasia The concept of the Sanctity of Life and how it applies to euthanasia; The concept of the Quality of Life and how it applies to euthanasia; The right to life as applied to euthanasia; The application and the different approaches of the ethical theories listed above to euthanasia. Candidates should be able to discuss critically these issues and their strengths and Business ethics Candidates will look at what is meant by good business ethics; Responsibilities of employers Responsibilities of employees Effects on the environment Globalisation of companies and its effects H173/03: AS Developments in Christian thought Insight; Candidates will examine Augustine s view of human nature; Humans as creations by God The fall and original sin Salvation through the death of Jesus Concept of life after death Foundations; Candidates will look at how humans know about God; Through innate knowledge of God Through revelation through the holy books and through Jesus Looking at the person of Jesus as the Son of God Living; Candidates will look at how Christianity is put into practise; Looking at basic Christian principles known through the Bible Looking at Christians in action Dietrich Bonhoeffer Whether revelation has relevance today Assessment At the end of the year you will sit three exams: one Philosophy and one Ethics and one on the development of Christian thought. All exams are 1hr 15mins. All exams
have the same format. You will be given a choice of three questions and you will have to answer two. Below are examples of the exams you will sit: Philosophy Answer two questions. 1 Assess the effectiveness of Aristotle s four causes in explaining the world. [30] 2 Individual religious experience does not make sense of belief in God. Discuss. [30] 3 Evaluate the success of Augustine in resolving the problem of evil. [30] Ethics Answer two questions. 1 The strengths of natural law outweigh its Discuss. [30] 2 Assess the view that Fletcher s Situation Ethics gives no useful guidance for making moral decisions. [30] 3 Assess the view that euthanasia is always morally wrong. [30] Developments in Christian Thought Answer two questions. 1 Critically assess Augustine s teaching on Original Sin. [30] 2 To what extent can God be known through the natural world? [30] 3 The Bible is the only authority for Christian ethics. Discuss. [30] Attendance The school attendance target is 94% and it is expected that you will achieve at least this level. If you know that you will be absent it is your responsibility to make sure that you make good any notes missed. Your teacher will be able to help with this if you require assistance. If there is any extended period of absence, please contact the member of staff. If there is absence without notice, then we shall contact home. Home tasks Home tasks are set in order to practice skills needed for success in the subject. There will be a variety of tasks; research, note taking, essay planning, essay writing, evaluative pieces. Completion of tasks is a necessity. Reading List
Ethics Essential Reading Tyler, S.K. and Reid, G. Advanced Religious Studies Vardy, P. The Puzzle of Ethics Wider Reading Oliphant, J. OCR Religious Ethics for AS and A2 Macquarrie, J. (Ed.) A New Dictionary of Christian Ethics Pojman, L. Ethics: Discovering Right and Wrong Singer, P. Practical Ethics Thompson,M. Teach Yourself Ethics Philosophy Essential Reading Taylor, M. OCR Philosophy of Religion for AS and A2 Wider Reading Vardy, P. The Puzzle of God Davies, B. Philosophy of Religion; a Guide and Anthology Dawkins, R. The God Delusion McGrath, A.The Dawkins Delusion Vardy, P. The Thinker s Guide to God Vardy, P. The Thinker s Guide to Evil Journals RS Review Dialogue Philosophy Now Think Useful Websites www.rsrevision.com www.philosophicalinvestigations.co.uk www.philosophyonline.co.uk/pages/intro.htm http://www.thatreligiousstudieswebsite.com/ http://www.iep.utm.edu/ Blogs http://prosblogion.ektopos.com/ http://www.beretta-online.com/wordpress/ http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/
Online Lectures/Podcasts http://academicearth.org/lectures/motives-and-morality http://www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/podcasts http://www.philosophybites.com/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_philosophy.shtml Other Sources There are often television and radio shows broadcast that are relevant to the study of philosophy and ethics. Your teacher will let you know when this happens. You should try to read a newspaper each week. You will often find articles that are relevant to what you are studying in philosophy and ethics. Make sure you choose a broadsheet such as the Guardian, the Independent or the Times. Skills in Philosophy and Ethics Note Taking:You will need to take notes from Power Points your teacher uses and the things he or she says. You will also need to make your own revision notes for each unit of study. Annotation:You will need to able to annotate your booklet or other reading. This means making notes around the text. These notes could be definitions, explanations, links to other parts of the course or issues that arise.
Using Expansive Vocabulary:You will need to be able to use lots of new technical terms. Using philosophical and ethical terms are really important for getting high grades. Your teacher may test you on the new words you have learnt! Evaluation:This means finding strengths and weaknesses of points of view. Critiquing: This is more than evaluation. You must be able to say why something is a strength, for example: It is flexible (strength) and therefore this is helpful in decision making because However the problem with flexibility is that and therefore.. Essay Writing:You will be assessed in this course through essays. Your teacher will spend time helping you to find the best way to plan and structure your essays. You will need to make sure you know the syllabus and the levels of response. The most important thing is that you answer the question and not just tell the examiner everything you know about a particular topic. Presentation:In order to help your learning your teacher may ask you to give a presentation. Giving presentations will become an important part of your future at university and in whatever field you work in. Your teacher will help you to learn what makes a good presentation. Reading:There are lots of different ways of reading. Studying is reading in detail. Skimming is read quickly to get the gist. Scanning is looking for particular information to help with a specific task. Listening:There will be times when you may have to listen for a lot longer than you would have needed to lower down the school. It s important that you are able to concentrate through this as when you get to university your lecturer may not have a PowerPoint or handout and might just talk to you for an hour! Make sure you sit where you can focus (don t look out of the window!) and bring water to class. Discussion:You will need to be able to express your own views and listen respectfully to the views of others even if they are very different to your own. You will need to have the courage to ask questions when you don t understand. Top Tips! We asked AS Philosophy and Ethics students to give us their top tips for success. Here s a selection of their wise words! Revise effectively use a technique that suits you best! Never be afraid to ask questions. Your teachers are there to help. Apply your new skills to other subjects.
Don t lose your booklets and printed notes! Teachers have spent ages making these in order to make your life easier! And they really do help. File them away and keep them neat! Have fun! You picked this subject because you wanted to and you get out of the course what you put into it. Use the resources provided on the Portal. Make use of the recommended reading. It will help you understand the topic and raise your interest in the subject. Make your revision notes, posters and flash cards as soon as you finish a topic so that it is all ready when revision time comes. Contribute! You have a brain and thinking on your toes is like being in the exam. Being able to do it will really save your life in the exam. Buy some highlighters. You can use them to highlight key terms and ideas in the booklet but also in your own notes. Read over what you have done in class that day when you get home even if it s just for 10 minutes. Set up a study group with a few people from your class. It really helps you to understand the course and revise.