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Summary OCR Philosophy and Ethics A Level Knowledge Organisers DCT
Fully completed Knowledge Organisers for DCT (OCR board) with extra wider reading.
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THE CHALLENGE OF SECULARISM (3.11)Content Knowledge Ev
The rise of secularism and secularisation, and the views that society would be happier without Christianity as it is infantile, repressive and caus
God is an illusion Freud rejected the view that religious feelings and experiences come from God and instead Freud could be right that religion has a particular appeal
claimed that they come from within the individual's own mind. Freud said that religion is A non-supernatural explanation of religious feelings and
and the result of infantile and a 'mass delusion.' Freud thought that religion is a product of wish fulfillment. There is evidence to support Freud's view that people de
wish fulfilment - People who experience vulnerability as children, and those who remain infantile in adult men have given God male characteristics.
FREUD life invent a God as a kind of imaginary friend because they feel unable to cope with life on Many religious people have been particularly strong and
their own. The demands of leading a Christian life are difficult rathe
Freud related this to the Oedipus complex. He thought that male children secretly wanted Religious beliefs might be said to be more uniform than
to kill their fathers so that they could have their mothers all to themselves. They know,
however, that it is wrong to kill their fathers, so they over-compensate by inventing a
cosmic father-figure to worship. He thought that religious believers invent the idea that
there are absolute morals and a purpose to life and a goal at the end because they wish
that life could be like that. They transfer these wishes into beliefs. Religious believers
invent a God who seems stern but is actually loving and forgiving. They invent a life after
death that will begin a new existence, where the good will be rewarded and the wicked
punished, to compensate for the injustices of real life.
Religion represses human desires such as sexual violence, theft and murder.
Religion as a form Dawkins concentrates on explaining why belief in God is damaging for society and for Some Christians do see science and religion as opposites
intellectual progress. He argues that human life is meaningful without reference to Dawkins' views.
of repression and religious ideas. People do not need the idea of God in order to find meaning in their lives. Dawkins is right to say some acts of war and terrorism h
indoctrination - He argues that religion is responsible for division, war and conflict in society, both in the There is clear evidence to support his view that religion c
DAWKINS modern world and throughout history. He argues that religious belief discourages scientific claim that religion can be repressive for women.
enquiry by allowing a lazy mindset that says 'it's a divine mystery' rather than looking for Dawkins could be criticised for taking isolated, extreme e
answers. He claims that religions are repressive and singles out religious dress codes as an glosses over the many positive effects of religion such as
example for repression of women. Dawkins is particularly concerned about the poor and the pressure for social change.
indoctrination of children into religion giving examples of abuse of children by Christian He does not take account of the many scientists who hav
priests and nuns, including the Hell House. Dawkins considers bringing up children to be continue their scientific exploration. It could be argued t
religious as a form of psychological abuse. He says children have a right not to have their
minds confused by other people's nonsense.
Christianity should play no part in public life…
- Education Many schools in the UK have Christian foundations, often because they date back to times Dawkins argues against religious fundamentalism (such as taking
and schools. when the only free education was provided charitably by the Church. There are also 'faith
schools' for the children of other religious traditions in the UK.
scientific and harmful to young minds. Religious fundamentalism
religious schools teach children that unquestioning faith is a virtu
open-mindedness are good.
Church schools usually have state funding as well as sponsorship from the Church. When H
schools have Church funding, they are expected to have a 'Christian ethos' with an Churches originally built schools for the poor and own a lot of th
emphasis on Christian moral principles and assemblies of Christian worship. Preference the Church.
, When political leaders have firm religious beliefs. this can cause controversy, for example if an
MP's personal religious beliefs could influence a vote on abortion, people might object and say Lee vs Ashers – Supreme Court verdict? The ‘gay cake’ case.
that the MP should be representing the constituency and not allow religious beliefs to
determine the vote.
Rowan Williams (former Archbishop of Canterbury) - split secularism. Programmatic
Secularism - assumes that religious belief in public is offensive and assumes religious people
want to drown out opposing views. It equates a non-religious forum with a 'neutral' forum.
Procedural Secularism = allows public voices from all kinds of beliefs and none without
privileging any of those voices, which ensures a balanced discussion.
British Humanist Society, https://humanism.org.uk/
Organisations such as the British Humanist Association argue against 'faith schools' because: a diversity of faith and belief is better for children educationally. School time
into faith groups encourages division, intolerance and conflict. Faith schools give unfair privileges to children because of the religion of their families. Children should not
they argue that ‘we aim for a secular state guaranteeing human rights, with no privilege or discrimination on grounds of religion or belief, and so we campaign against fait
children and young people of all different backgrounds and beliefs can learn with and from each other. We challenge faith schools’ admissions, employment and curriculu
schools continue to open.
Dawson, C. (1956) - ‘The Challenge of Secularism’ in Catholic World, also online:
That is to say a general introduction to the world of religious truth and the higher forms of spiritual reality has been lost. By losing sight of this world, modern secular cult
Christian cultures, for those cultures agreed in recognizing the existence of a higher supernatural or divine world on which human life was dependent.
Now the Christian world of the past was exceptionally well provided with ways of access to spiritual realities. Christian culture was essentially a sacramental culture which
architecture; music and poetry and drama, philosophy and history were all used as channels for the communication of religious truth. Today all these channels have been
been deprived of its natural means of outward expression and communication.
, D
GENDER AND THEOLOGY (3.10) SIMILARITIES:
REUTHER’S RECONSTRUCTIONIST FEMINIST Goddess: Both agree that calling God ‘she’ is not enough because a female
pronoun won’t change the patriarchal perception of the divine.
THEOLOGY
Praxis: Both agree that feminism properly deals with humanity’s relationship with
Da
the environment. Patriarchy assumes a dominance over nature which is challenged
for
by feminism.
Ruether’s discussion of the maleness of Christ and its implications for salvation:
She
Jesus’ Challenge to the male warrior messiah expectation: Ecology: Both argue the purpose of feminist theology should be to transform
The Messiah that Jews expected was one who would liberate them and bring about ima
society, and that women have a unique role to play in that.
peace. However, this would only come about by a process of war – the Messiah Da
would fight to destroy God’s enemies. As warriors were at the time thought of as fem
men, the Messiah came to be thought of as a male figure. Jesus didn’t fit into the DIFFERENCES: diff
expected idea of a Messiah. His ways of fighting were very different. This leads us to re-
the view that the list of warrior characteristics isn’t important but instead, virtues God: Reuther maintains the existence of God known in spirit and wisdom. Another by
such as self-sacrifice and forgiveness. The point is that in order to be the Messiah, strand where God’s femininity has been retained is in wisdom. It used to be universally wo
Jesus did not need to be male. Ruether argues that, if Jesus did not need to be understood as the divine source of knowledge and life. She is always presented in wo
male, priests in the Catholic Church do not need to be male. female terms, like the Greek Goddess Sophia. is o
Daly rejects God and replaces him with nature. She liked Nietzsche’s ideas on reusing pro
Ruether’s thinking makes it easier for women to feel connected with Jesus and to
pray to him – and therefore to be saved by him. The argument is that women are and rediscovering archaic meanings of words and she used this to uncover this Nie
likely to feel alienated by having to pray to a male figure who cannot understand relationship with nature, and she used language to shift consciousness. She believes Da
what it’s like to be a woman. these doctrines have been developed by men to favour men, so much that even calling cas
God female would not change his male essence. She wanted the transvaluation of rej
God as the female wisdom principle: Christianity. ‘pr
Reuther maintains the existence of God known in spirit and wisdom. Another
strand where God’s femininity has been retained is in wisdom. It used to be Separatism: Reuther thinks there is no advantage to Daly’s lesbian separatism. Daly
universally understood as the divine source of knowledge and life. She is always believes only women have the sensitivity to transform the world. On the issue of
sexuality, Daly argues that true friendship can only be lesbian. She is deeply critical of Da
presented in female terms, like the Greek Goddess Sophia.
male imitating forms of lesbianism (butch women). For Daly, the notion of pat
Reuther considers the experience of God in gender terms as ancient and preserved heterosexuality is an example of a patriarchal ideas which the church developed enc
in Christianity. Reuther’s argument is that the roots of Judaism were not because it has such a clear difference between genders, but she believes that biological sym
monotheistic or male-oriented. It has retained its respect for nature by maintaining difference is not destiny, and all relationships are valid if they work within the holy egg
the idea of the goddess as the source of life. For example, Isaiah depicts God as the whole trinity of radical feminist values. ma
mother goddess going through the pains of childbirth. He uses the mother analogy rev
to express God’s suffering love for the people. Goddess/God: Reuther considers the experience of God in gender terms as ancient and thr
preserved in Christianity. Reuther’s argument is that the roots of Judaism were not The
Jesus as the incarnation of wisdom: monotheistic or male oriented. It has retained its respect for nature by maintaining the dem
In the Old Testament, God’s wisdom is often described in human form. When this idea of the goddess as the source of life. soc
happens, often the characteristics described are feminine. Ruether concludes from
the Proverbs passage that the maleness of God is not fundamental to who God is. Daly completes rejects that God can be female or male and says that the patriarchy will
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