Summary
Summary Knowledge Organiser for OCR A-Level Religious Studies Ethics
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- G582 - A2 Religious Ethics
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- OCR
Full Knowledge Organiser for OCR A-Level Religious Studies Ethics
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Natural Law = a deontological theory based on behaviour that accords with given laws or moral rules (e.g. given by God) that exist ------ THE F------------------- independently of human societies and systems
o Aquinas thinks about morality in terms of law
→ the idea that there are absolute (eternal, unchanging) God-given natural laws ruling moral behaviour o he says law is ‘a certain rule and measure of acts where
→ that actions are either intrinsically (in themselves) ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ o there are different kinds of laws that are made known t
• Deontological: from the Latin for ‘duty’, ethics focused on the intrinsic rightness and wrongness of actions
The Eternal Law: is the absolute and eternal part of natural
• Telos: the end, or purpose, of something
• Synderesis: to follow the good and avoid the evil, the rule which all precepts follow • this is the reason God’s law is unchanging and universa
• Secondary Precepts: the laws which follow from primary precepts → whatever the culture, society, political situation, th
• Primary Precepts: most important rules in life: to protect life, reproduce, live in community, teach the young, and believe in God → it is absolute, and not relative to different people o
• Practical Reason: the tool which makes moral decisions • God plants the eternal law in every person’s rational so
• Eudaimonia: living well, as an ultimate end in life which all other actions should lead towards → in Aquinas’ view the eternal law is in God and not a
Natural Law Thinkers: there are moral laws found in nature and these can be distinguished by the use of reason
Divine Law: the commands and teachings of divine revelatio
• using reason, certain laws are perceived → includes the commandments, the Beatitudes, the S
→ the first of which is ‘good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided’
• this sacred scripture, revealed by God, is God teaching
→ all other precepts of the natural law are based upon this
• God sends out information about eternal law through t
• human reason is the way to distinguish morality, to find out how to live according to the will of God
→ humans have a choice to obey laws that govern the universe, but they need to use reason to understand and decide to obey Natural Law: allows humans to perceive the eternal law thro
• Aristotle argues that, besides the particular laws that people have set up, there is a ‘higher law’ that is found in nature
• marks human beings apart from animals and makes Go
• Aquinas developed and theologised (fitted in with the Christian idea of God) the ideas of Aristotle • makes it possible for all human beings to perceive God’
THE TELOS/ULTIMATE END Human Law: is our response to the message from God in rea
Aristotle: argues every agent acts for an end of some kind, and the human being acts to acquire happiness or eudaimonia • many societies come up with the same kinds of laws – l
• Aquinas is clear human law is only a proper law if it is g
• for Aristotle something is good if it fulfilled its end
→ a practice that is wrong is no law at all and breakin
→ he also thought there was a Prime Mover in the universe responsible for setting it in motion
→ human law does not have to cover all moral wrong
→ Aquinas developed this idea, seeing God as the Prime Mover
WE CAN ONLY BECOME FULLY SATISFIED WHEN WE ACHIEVE THE ULTIMATE GOOD: THE KEY PREC
• for Aquinas, properly moral acts are free acts, which come from a freely acting rational person Key Precept = to do good and avoid evil
→ we are only fully satisfied when we achieve the ultimate end, the universal good → reason directs us to do good and avoid evil, and all
• this universal good is not just physical pleasure because this only satisfies the body, not the whole person
• natural law may appear to be exclusively about followin
→ For Example: you may have a satisfying breakfast but still be troubled about news on the radio, or trouble in your relationship making that Aquinas is concerned about – natural law i
• Aquinas law is ‘an ordinance of reason for the common
THE ULTIMATE GOOD CAN ONLY BE FOUND IN GOD: restrained from acting … and the rule of measure of hu
, PRIMARY PRECEPTS AND SECONDARY PRECEPTS: REAL AN
• is thought that in all human beings, ‘there is first of all an inclination to good’ because ‘every substance seeks the • Real Goods = those which are in accordance with th
preservation of its own being’ • Apparent Goods = things that tempt us, but don’t fu
→ therefore, whatever is means of preserving human life, and warding off obstacles, belongs to natural law → e.g. giving to charity: real good = giving to help
→ therefore made preservation for life the first of five primary precepts, things that are good and absolute and
describes human flourishing
• according to Aquinas, immoral actions or ‘sin’ are
PRIMARY PRECEPTS: → the reason behind immoral action is confusin
• we get things morally wrong in the mistaken beli
1) To Worship God: God is source of eternal law, and God has sent this law to humanity through divine and natural law → we need to use our reason and our experienc
2) To Live In An Ordered Society: a lawful one where it is possible to follow all of the primary precepts → the right use of reason must determine and d
3) To Reproduce: to ensure life continues as is God’s intention and as is necessary for continuation of society
4) To Learn: to teach people about God, his eternal law, natural law, divine law, and the primary precepts
• Interior Acts = intentions/thoughts
5) To Defend The Innocent Life: life is most precious
• Exterior Acts = physical actions
• our interior acts are most important:
• because human beings out of reason, are inclined towards their destiny, to do the good they have ‘a natural inclination
→ an act may be good in itself but done for the
to know the truth about God, and to live in society’
→ a real good is where the interior action and t
→ as a result, humans should, ‘shun ignorance, to avoid offending those among whom one has to live, and other
the right use of reason
such things regarding the above inclination’
• a moral act leads towards the divine or cosmic intention for humanity THE DOCTR
→ these acts fit the purpose humans were made for and are in line with the primary precepts and so are good
→ acts which aren’t in accordance with primary precepts don’t fit the purpose humans were made for and so are bad • Doctrine of Double Effect = situations where a singl
→ an otherwise legitimate (allowed, permissible) a
SECONDARY PRECEPTS:
obliged to avoid (one that is usually not permiss
Secondary Precepts = deduced from primary precepts
• intention is important
→ they are applications of the primary precepts into certain situations → if the intention was to do something good, th
→ natural law and primary precepts say human beings were made to live, murder and euthanasia end life so are wrong result as one of the effects
→ human beings were made to live in society, so antisocial behaviour is wrong
• for an act to be ethically permissible Aquinas foc
→ it is possible for secondary precepts to vary as they are based on the application of primary precepts into
circumstance that may differ
, Situational Ethics = ethics focused on the situation rather than fixed rules FLETCHER’S APPROACH TO MORAL THINKING:
• Justice = justice ordinarily refers to notions of fair distribution of benefits for all • how moral an action is depends on the situation
→ Fletcher: specifically sees justice as a kind of tough love; love applied to the world → the situationist enters the moral dilemma with the
• Pragmatism = acting, in moral situations, in a way that is practical, rather than purely ideologically • however, the situationist is prepared to set aside rules i
• Relativism = the rejection of absolute moral standards, such as laws or rights → the situationist is more interested in loving people,
→ good and bad are relative to an individual or a community or, in Fletcher’s case, to love
• Positivism = proposes something as true or good without demonstrating it, Fletcher posits love as good • situation ethics agrees that reason is the instrument of
• Personalism = ethics centred on people, rather than laws or objects nature of things or the love of things
• Conscience = the term ‘conscience’ may variously be used to refer to a faculty within us, a process of moral reasoning, --------------- → for the situationist, all moral decisions are hypothe
---insights from God or it may be understood in psychological terms → we may never come to a conclusion about the righ
→ Fletcher described it as function rather than a faculty
• moral decisions should depend on what best serves lov
• Teleological Ethics = moral goodness is determined by the end or result
• Legalistic Ethics = law-based moral decision-making • situationism presents itself as a principled approach to
• Antinomian Ethics = antinomian ethics do not recognise the role of law in morality (‘nomos’ is Greek for law) rules about actions
• Agape Love = unconditional love, the only ethical norm in situationism
• situationism is heavily influenced by Christian theologia
• Extrinsically Good = good defined with reference to the end rather than good in and of itself
rather than looking for rules or principles, moral proble
→ Fletcher argued only love was intrinsically good
→ the Christian response should be a flexible message
→ Fletcher was influenced by the theologians Bultma
Joseph Fletcher: argued morality should serve love
• Rudolf Bultmann: argued against the idea that Jesus soug
• someone making a moral decision should be prepared to set aside rules if it seemed that love would be better served
-------------------------immutable legalism or idealism, a law
• “the situationist follows a moral law or violates it according to love’s need”
• developed six fundamental principles that the situationist should apply, and also four working propositions • Karl Barth: God’s commanding can only be individual, con
• divides moral thinking into three basic kinds: legalistic, antinomian, situational ethics → was not opposed to the idea of morally wrong action
→ Legalistic Ethics = law-based moral decision-making → there is an outside chance that it could be right to br
→ Antinomian Ethics = do not recognise the role of law in morality
→ Situational Ethics = how moral an action is depends on the situation • Dietrich Bonhoeffer: thought determining the will of God
--------------------------- neighbour, and the model of Jesus o
• for the situationist, conscience describes the weighing up of the possible action before it’s taken, a kind of moral deliberation, rather → all we can do is act according to these two things and
than a faculty within a human being
→ the process of moral reasoning, that is conscience, is informed by the situation and love
Agape Love = unconditional love
A TELEOLOGICAL CHRISTIAN ETHIC • christianity is a religion based on love, a God that is lo
→ it is the love that is referred to in the commandment
o religious ethics tend to be thought of in terms of moral rules, which should not be broken, or certain behaviours or virtues that → such love is held by many christians as the principle
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