What are three models?

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Does morality depend on religion, is it independent of it, or are religion and ethics so connected that one cannot be understood without the other?

Component 3 the relationship between religion and morality: the autonomy, heteronomy and theonomy of ethics, whether morality needs God, and the views of Kant, Aquinas and secular critics, with strengths and weaknesses.

An Eduqas Component 3 (Religion and Ethics) guide to the relationship between religion and morality. Covers the autonomy, heteronomy and theonomy of ethics, whether morality depends on God, the Euthyphro problem, Kant's postulate of God, and secular accounts of morality, with the strengths and weaknesses the exam asks you to evaluate.

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The relationship between religion and morality can be understood in three ways. Heteronomy holds that morality depends on religion: ethics receives its rules from an external authority, God, so without God there would be no binding morality. Divine command theory is the strongest version of heteronomy. Autonomy holds that ethics is independent of religion: morality rests on reason, human nature or human agreement, and would hold even if God did not exist. Kant is the key figure here: he makes morality autonomous (we legislate the moral law for ourselves through reason) yet postulates God as a necessary presupposition of the highest good (so that virtue is finally united with happiness). Theonomy holds that religion and morality are intimately connected, neither simply reducible to the other: for Aquinas, the natural law is genuinely knowable by reason yet is grounded in God's eternal law, so the two are united without morality being mere obedience. The debate is sharpened by the Euthyphro problem (does God make things good by command, or recognise a good above himself?) and by secular accounts that ground morality in evolution, society or reason without any reference to God, supported by the obvious fact that atheists and non-religious societies are moral. Theists reply that a moral law seems to need a lawgiver, that without God moral claims may lack objective grounding and slide into relativism, and that historically religion and morality are deeply intertwined. AO2 marks come from judging whether morality is independent of, dependent on, or inseparable from religion, and concluding.

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What this dot point is asking

Eduqas Component 3 (Theme 1, Ethical Thought) studies the relationship between religion and morality. You learn the three models, the heteronomy of ethics (morality depends on religion), the autonomy of ethics (morality is independent of religion), and the theonomy of ethics (the two are intimately connected), together with the question of whether morality needs God, the Euthyphro problem, Kant's postulate of God, and secular accounts of morality. The exam rewards explaining the positions precisely (AO1) and evaluating whether morality is independent of religion (AO2).

The answer

Three models: heteronomy, autonomy, theonomy

Kant and the autonomy of ethics

Theonomy: Aquinas

The Euthyphro problem and secular ethics

The debate is sharpened by the Euthyphro problem: does God make things good by commanding them (then morality is arbitrary), or recognise a good above himself (then morality is independent of God)? Either horn threatens a simple dependence of morality on religion. Meanwhile secular accounts ground morality in evolution (cooperation aids survival), society (the social contract), or reason (Kant), with no appeal to God, supported by the plain fact that atheists and non-religious societies are clearly moral. Theists reply that a moral law seems to need a lawgiver, and that without God moral claims may lack objective grounding and slide into relativism.

Examples in context

Building an AO2 paragraph on whether morality is independent of religion

step 1 State the claim precisely

State, do not narrate: "The autonomy view holds that morality is independent of religion: atheists and secular societies are evidently moral, and morality can be grounded in reason (Kant's categorical imperative), human flourishing or the social contract without any appeal to God."

step 2 Put the strongest objection against it

Bring in the challenge: "Theists reply that a moral law seems to require a lawgiver, that without God moral claims may lack objective grounding and collapse into relativism (what makes anything really wrong if morality is just human convention?), and that historically morality and religion are deeply intertwined."

step 3 Weigh the exchange

Judge it: "The empirical point is decisive against strong heteronomy: people plainly can be moral without religious belief, so morality is not psychologically dependent on religion; but the grounding question is harder, since secular accounts must explain what makes morality objectively binding, and the theist's challenge that a law needs a lawgiver is not easily dismissed, even if divine command theory faces the Euthyphro dilemma."

step 4 Reach a justified conclusion

Close with a defended verdict: "Morality is independent of religion in practice but the question of its ultimate grounding is open: people can know and do right without God, which refutes strong heteronomy, yet whether morality has objective foundations without God remains contested, so the most defensible position is a theonomy in which reason can grasp morality while theists may still see God as its deepest ground." A reasoned conclusion reaches the top band.

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Q1. Explain Kant's view of the relationship between morality and God. [part (a), AO1, 20 marks]

What the marker wants. Accurate account of the autonomy of ethics (self-legislated reason), and God (and immortality) as a postulate of the highest good, organised and using specialist terms. AO1 band.

Q2. "Without God, there can be no objective morality." Evaluate this view. [part (b), AO2, 30 marks]

Cue. Weigh the theist's claim that a moral law needs a lawgiver and that secular ethics collapses into relativism against secular groundings in reason, evolution and society and the autonomy of ethics, then judge. AO2 band, the larger 30-mark tariff.

Exam-style practice questions

Practice questions written in the style of WJEC Eduqas exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.

Eduqas A120 2018 (style)20 marksExplain the different ways the relationship between religion and morality can be understood. [part (a), AO1, 20 marks]

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A part (a) AO1 question on the five-band scheme. Explain the positions accurately.

Three models. Heteronomy: morality is dependent on religion, receiving its rules from an external authority (God); divine command theory is a strong version. Autonomy: ethics is independent of religion; morality rests on reason or human nature and would hold even if God did not exist (Kant makes morality autonomous yet postulates God as a presupposition of the highest good). Theonomy: religion and morality are intimately connected, neither simply reducible to the other; for Aquinas, natural law is known by reason yet grounded in God's eternal law, so the two are united. Add the Euthyphro problem (does God make things good or recognise the good?) and secular accounts (morality from evolution, society, reason without God). A top band answer explains heteronomy, autonomy and theonomy precisely.

Eduqas A120 2021 (style)20 marks"Morality is independent of religion." Evaluate this view. [part (b), AO2, the full Eduqas tariff is 30 marks; the worked answer below is scaled to a 20-mark exemplar.]

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A part (b) AO2 question; the top band rewards balanced argument and a justified conclusion.

For independence (autonomy): atheists and non-religious societies are clearly moral; morality can be grounded in reason (Kant), human flourishing or social contract without God; the Euthyphro dilemma shows goodness cannot simply be God's command. Against: theists argue a moral law needs a lawgiver, that without God moral claims lack objective grounding (moral relativism follows), and that historically morality and religion are deeply intertwined; theonomy holds they cannot be cleanly separated. Weigh whether morality can stand without God or needs a religious grounding, and conclude. Links to divine command theory.

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Sources & how we know this

Eduqas A Level Religious Studies specification (A120QS) — WJEC Eduqas (2016)