CCEA A2 7 Global Ethics: a complete overview of war and peace, the environment, world poverty and human rights

CCEA A2 7 Global Ethics is the Religion and Ethics unit at A2 in the A-Level Religious Studies course, building directly on AS 7 Foundations of Ethics. It takes the ethical theories learned at AS and applies them to the great global issues of the modern world. This overview maps the unit and how to study it.

War and peace

The unit examines whether and when war is justified.

• Just war theory: the conditions for going to war (jus ad bellum) and for conduct in war (jus in bello).
• Pacifism and its forms (absolute, contingent and nuclear).
• Modern issues: nuclear weapons and deterrence, terrorism and asymmetric warfare.

Environmental ethics

The unit examines human duties towards the natural world.

• Anthropocentric, biocentric and ecocentric approaches.
• The religious ideas of dominion and stewardship.
• Christian and secular responses to the environmental crisis.

Global economics and world poverty

The unit examines the duties of the rich towards the global poor.

• The causes of poverty and inequality.
• The distinction between justice and charity.
• The duty of aid debate (Singer and Hardin), and fair trade and debt.

Human rights

The unit examines the nature, basis and limits of rights.

• The nature and basis of rights, and the religious (imago Dei) and secular foundations.
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• Conflicts and limits of rights.

Applying the ethical theories

Throughout the unit, the AS theories are applied to each issue: Natural Moral Law, Situation Ethics and Utilitarianism. A recurring task is to compare how the theories handle a global issue and to assess which is most convincing.

How A2 7 is assessed

A2 7 is a synoptic written paper testing two assessment objectives.

• AO1 (knowledge and understanding). Explain the issues, positions and thinkers, and how the theories apply.
• AO2 (analysis and evaluation). Build a sustained argument and reach a substantiated judgement on a global ethical issue.

How to study A2 7 Global Ethics

This unit rewards confident use of theory and sustained evaluation.

1. Master the AS theories. Global Ethics applies Natural Moral Law, Situation Ethics and Utilitarianism, so know them thoroughly.
2. Learn each issue and its key positions. Just war and pacifism, dominion and stewardship, Singer and Hardin, the foundations of rights.
3. Apply every theory to every issue. Practise saying how each theory handles war, the environment, poverty and rights.
4. Rehearse sustained evaluation. A2 questions reward developed argument and a clear judgement.
5. Practise with CCEA past papers. The synoptic A2 question style is board-specific.

The module, dot point by dot point

Each issue has a specification-level page with worked questions and cross-links, plus a quiz. Browse the full set at /ccea-a-level/religious-studies/syllabus.

For the official specification

CCEA publishes the full specification, past papers and mark schemes at ccea.org.uk. Always revise from the current CCEA specification and CCEA's own past papers.