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EnglandReligious Studies

Religion and Ethics (Paper 2)

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do ethical theories apply to real issues such as war and medical ethics, and what do moral words like 'good' actually mean?

Paper 2 The application of ethical theories and ethical language: applied ethics in war, sexual ethics and medical ethics, and meta-ethics including naturalism, intuitionism and emotivism.
An Edexcel A-Level Religious Studies Paper 2 guide to applied ethics and meta-ethics. Covers the application of ethical theories to war and peace, sexual ethics and medical ethics, and the meta-ethical debate over the meaning of moral language (ethical naturalism, Moore's intuitionism and the naturalistic fallacy, and Ayer's emotivism), with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
16 min answer →

How do religious and ethical theories respond to beginning-of-life and end-of-life medical issues such as abortion and euthanasia?

Paper 2 Medical ethics: beginning and end of life issues: the sanctity and quality of life, personhood, abortion and embryo research, fertility treatment, euthanasia and assisted dying, analysed through natural moral law, situation ethics and utilitarianism.
An Edexcel A-Level Religious Studies Paper 2 guide to medical ethics at the beginning and end of life. Covers the sanctity and quality of life, personhood and autonomy, abortion, embryo research, fertility treatment, euthanasia and assisted dying, analysed through natural moral law (and double effect), situation ethics and utilitarianism, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
15 min answer →

What is the relationship between religion and morality, and does goodness depend on the command of God?

Paper 2 Significant concepts in issues or debates in religion and ethics: the relationship between religion and morality, divine command theory and the Euthyphro dilemma, the autonomy of ethics, and concepts such as duty, virtue, conscience and the good.
An Edexcel A-Level Religious Studies Paper 2 guide to significant concepts in moral debate and the relationship between religion and morality. Covers divine command theory and the Euthyphro dilemma, the autonomy of ethics (Kant, the secular challenge), whether morality depends on God, and key concepts such as duty, virtue, the good and conscience, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
15 min answer →

How do natural moral law, situation ethics and virtue ethics each decide what is right, and how convincing is each?

Paper 2 A study of three ethical theories: natural moral law (Aquinas), situation ethics (Fletcher) and Aristotelian virtue ethics (Aristotle, Foot, MacIntyre), their key features, applications and criticisms.
An Edexcel A-Level Religious Studies Paper 2 guide to the three prescribed ethical theories. Covers natural moral law (Aquinas, the precepts and double effect), situation ethics (Fletcher, agape and the four working principles) and Aristotelian virtue ethics (eudaimonia, the golden mean, Foot and MacIntyre), with their applications and criticisms and the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
17 min answer →

Should we judge actions by their consequences (utilitarianism) or by universal duty (Kant), and which is more convincing?

Paper 2 Utilitarianism and deontology: Bentham's act and Mill's rule utilitarianism with later developments, and Kant's deontological ethics (the categorical imperative, duty and the good will), with applications and criticisms.
An Edexcel A-Level Religious Studies Paper 2 guide to utilitarianism and Kantian deontology. Covers Bentham's act utilitarianism and the hedonic calculus, Mill's rule and qualitative utilitarianism, preference and negative utilitarianism, and Kant's good will, duty and the three formulations of the categorical imperative, with applications and criticisms and the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
17 min answer →