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Essay Plans for ALL examinable topics in Yr12 Ethics in Religious Studies A level
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A* essays covering all the key themes examinable in the Ethics paper of Religious Studies A level.
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Possible AO1 questionsTheme 1
Explain Divine Command Theory.
Meta-ethical, absolutist and ontological theory in which morality is dependent on
God; moral goodness occurs when moral agents are obedient to God’s commands.
Ethical behaviour = God’s word, sacred texts, messengers/prophets, religious leaders.
Brunner: “the good consists in always doing what God wills at any particular
moment.” Unethical behaviour = ignoring God’s commands.
God created us through His word and since He is perfect, His creations are also
perfect. Therefore, Christians should respect God’s creation. Everything belongs to
God. Conservative. Non-negotiable; reason plays on part as God has absolute
authority. Similar view to modern Evangelical Christians.
Literal reading of the Bible; live according to the Bible. The Decalogue – e.g. “Do not
murder,” “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not worship any other Gods.”
Explain the challenges to Divine Command Theory.
The Euthyphro dilemma: “is that which is holy loved by the Gods because it is holy, or
is it holy because it is loved by the God.” Euthyphro’s prong: God commands
something because it is good (God is an enforcer, goodness does not originate from
Him, undermines his omnipotence, goodness is a standard independent of God, the
arbitrariness problem: bases morality on the whims of God). Socrates’ prong:
something is good because God commands it (God is a divine dictator, the problem
of abhorrent commands: if God made something intrinsically wrong ‘good’ we would
have to follow His command). Counter: still provides an objective moral system not
based on human emotions or consequences.
The pluralism objection – religions give conflicting accounts of the nature and
commands of God. Counter: fits in with the Christian idea that God his omnipotent;
divine sovereignty, and the creator so we should take care of His environment.
Following commands out of fear of punishment – acting out of self-preservation,
Immanuel Kant argued this should not be motivation for moral goodness. Counter:
emphasises virtue of obedience – Ephesians: “slaves of Christ.”
Explain why the Euthyphro Dilemma is an issue for the Divine Command Theorist.
, Explain Modified Divine Command Theory.
Robert Adams’ proposed that it would be unthinkable for God to command cruelty,
because it is inconsistent with His “unchanging, omnibenevolent nature.” We should
have faith in God’s existence as well as His goodness.
“It is logically possible that God should command cruelty for its own sake, but it is
unthinkable that God should do so” – God could command cruelty because He is
omnipotent thus could theoretically command anything He wills, but He would not
because of His omnibenevolence.
Refutes problem of first prong of the Euthyphro dilemma, because morality is rooted
in the fixed all-loving nature of God, so He will not command an immoral act.
Explain Aristotle’s Virtue Theory.
Aristotle believed one could acquire the ability to be moral through habituation
(moral virtues) and education (intellectual virtues). Agent-centred theory –
emphasises the tole of character and virtue (moral excellence promoting collective
and individual well-being) rather than doing one’s duty or acting in order to bring
about good consequences. A virtuous person has ideal character traits deriving from
natural internal tendencies but need to be natured over a lifetime to be established
as stable and become natural within one’s character when they reach Eudaimonia =
point of human flourishing - “Eudaimonia is an end in itself.”
Doctrine of the mean – cultivating virtues is the balance between two extremes. “It is
not an easy task to be good. For in everything it is no easy task to find the middle.”
Vice = characteristics that do not promote well-being. Intellectual virtues = intuition,
knowledge, resourcefulness. Moral virtues: courage (vice of deficiency: cowardice,
vice of excess: foolishness), temperance (deficiency: insensibility, excess:
intemperance), modesty (deficiency: shamelessness, excess: bashfulness). Situational
- every situation is different, so the virtue would be different too. 4 types of people:
virtuous = enjoys doing good and does not face any moral dilemmas, continent =
virtuous most of the time when they overcome moral dilemma, incontinent = usually
chooses the vice in moral conflict, vicious = does not attempt to be virtuous and
always chooses the vice.
Jesus’ beatitudes = blessings listed by Jesus in the sermon of the Mount. Peter Vardy
proposed: every human action has an aim, there are superior and subordinate aims
in life, the end aims of humans is happiness. Aristotle singled out 5 intellectual
virtues: prudence/practical wisdom = common sense, intuitive intelligence = good
predictions, wisdom, scientific knowledge, craft/art-productive.
Explain the Christian teaching on Virtue Theory.
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