AQA A-Level Religious Studies 3.2 Ethics and religion: a complete overview of normative theories, applied ethics, meta-ethics, free will and conscience

What the Ethics and religion section demands

Ethics and religion is the second half of Component 1. It asks how we should decide what is right: by following rules grounded in human nature, by calculating consequences, by cultivating virtue, or by obeying duty. It then tests those theories against real moral problems, probes the meaning of moral language itself, and examines whether we are free and responsible and what conscience really is. The examiners test precise recall of named theories and thinkers (AO1) and the confident weighing of those theories to reach a justified conclusion (AO2).

This guide walks through all six topics in specification order, then sets out the exam patterns AQA repeats. Each topic has a matching dot-point page with practice questions; this overview ties them together.

The normative theories

The three core normative ethical theories are natural moral law (Aquinas: reason discerns the primary precepts grounded in human nature, applied through secondary precepts and the doctrine of double effect), situation ethics (Fletcher: agape is the only intrinsic good, applied through the four working and six fundamental principles), and virtue ethics (Aristotle: eudaimonia achieved through the golden mean and practical wisdom).

Alongside these, AQA studies utilitarianism (Bentham's hedonic calculus and the greatest happiness principle, refined by Mill's higher and lower pleasures) and Kantian deontology (the good will, duty, and the categorical imperative with its three formulations). Together they give a teleological, deontological and agent-centred spread of approaches.

Applied ethics and meta-ethics

The application of ethical theory takes these theories to concrete issues: theft, lying and deception, war (the Just War tradition and pacifism) and the use of computer-generated and virtual life. The skill is to show how each theory reaches a verdict and to judge which is most convincing.

Meta-ethics steps back to ask what moral words mean. Cognitivist theories (ethical naturalism; Moore's non-naturalist intuitionism, with the naturalistic fallacy and open-question argument) hold moral claims can be true or false; non-cognitivist theories (Ayer's emotivism, Hare's prescriptivism) deny this, treating moral language as expressing feeling or prescribing action.

Free will and conscience

Free will and moral responsibility contrasts hard determinism (every choice is caused, so no real responsibility), libertarianism (genuine free choice and full responsibility) and compatibilism (Hume's soft determinism, where freedom is acting on one's own desires), with the religious problem of predestination (Augustine, Calvin).

Conscience contrasts the religious accounts of Aquinas (synderesis and conscientia, conscience as reason) and Newman (the voice of God) with Freud's psychological account (the super-ego), framing the debate over whether conscience is innate or learned.

How the Ethics and religion section is examined

A typical AQA profile:

• AO1 explanation. Explaining a named theory: Aquinas's precepts, Bentham's hedonic calculus, Kant's categorical imperative, or Freud on conscience.
• AO1 application. Showing how a theory judges a set issue, for example how a utilitarian or a Kantian treats lying or war.
• AO2 evaluation. A 25-mark essay assessing a claim, such as "Situation ethics is the most useful approach to moral decisions" or "Conscience is no more than the product of upbringing".
• Synoptic links. Connecting ethics to philosophy of religion (e.g. conscience and the existence of God) and across theories (e.g. comparing Kant and utilitarianism on the same case).

Check your knowledge

A mix of recall and evaluation prompts covering the Ethics and religion section. Attempt them under timed conditions, then check against the solutions.

1. State Aquinas's five primary precepts. (5 marks)
2. Explain what Fletcher means by agape and its role in situation ethics. (3 marks)
3. State the seven criteria of Bentham's hedonic calculus. (4 marks)
4. State Kant's three formulations of the categorical imperative. (3 marks)
5. Explain Moore's naturalistic fallacy. (3 marks)
6. Distinguish emotivism from prescriptivism. (3 marks)
7. Explain how compatibilism differs from hard determinism. (4 marks)
8. Distinguish synderesis from conscientia in Aquinas's account of conscience. (3 marks)