What is the Medical Ethics area of Advanced Higher RMPS?

Medical Ethics is one of the two optional areas of Advanced Higher RMPS (the other is Religious Experience); candidates take one of them alongside the mandatory Philosophy of Religion. It applies ethical theories and principles to medical issues, abortion, euthanasia and organ transplantation, using utilitarianism, Kantian ethics, the sanctity-of-life and quality-of-life debate, and the four principles of biomedical ethics. It is assessed by an extended essay in the question paper.

Which ethical frameworks are used in Medical Ethics?

Utilitarianism (judging by consequences, the greatest wellbeing for the greatest number), Kantian ethics (judging by duty and universal rules, treating people as ends not means), the contrast between the sanctity of life (life is intrinsically valuable and not to be intentionally ended) and the quality of life (a life's value depends on the person's wellbeing), and the four principles of biomedical ethics: autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice. You apply these to each issue and evaluate the conclusions.

What are the main issues in Medical Ethics?

Three. Abortion turns on the moral status of the embryo and foetus (personhood, viability) and the rights of the foetus against those of the woman. Euthanasia turns on the types (active and passive, voluntary, non-voluntary and involuntary), the acts and omissions distinction and double effect, autonomy and the slippery slope. Organ transplantation turns on consent (opt-in versus opt-out), the definition of death, the allocation of scarce organs and the sale of organs. The sanctity-of-life versus quality-of-life contrast runs through all three.

ScotlandReligious, Moral & Philosophical Studies

Medical Ethics overview: SQA Advanced Higher RMPS

A guide to the Medical Ethics optional area of SQA Advanced Higher RMPS: the ethical frameworks (utilitarianism, Kant, sanctity and quality of life, the four principles) applied to abortion, euthanasia and organ transplantation, and how to write the extended essay.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.89 min readAdvanced HigherUpdated 2026-06-16

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The ethical frameworks
Abortion
Euthanasia
Organ transplantation
How to use this module

Medical Ethics is one of the two optional areas of Advanced Higher RMPS, taken alongside the mandatory Philosophy of Religion. It is applied ethics: real medical issues reasoned about with ethical theories and principles, assessed by an extended essay. This guide maps the area; the dot points take the frameworks and each issue in detail.

Medical Ethics applies ethical frameworks to medical issues. The frameworks are utilitarianism (consequences), Kantian ethics (duty and treating people as ends), the sanctity of life versus the quality of life, and the four principles of biomedical ethics (autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice). The issues are abortion (the moral status of the foetus and the rights of the woman), euthanasia (active and passive, voluntary and non-voluntary, acts and omissions, double effect, autonomy and the slippery slope), and organ transplantation (consent and opt-in versus opt-out, the definition of death, allocation and the sale of organs). The sanctity-of-life versus quality-of-life contrast runs through all three. The area is assessed by an extended essay that applies and evaluates rather than describes.

The ethical frameworks

Every issue is reasoned about with the same toolkit: utilitarianism, Kantian ethics, the sanctity of life versus the quality of life, and the four principles (autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice). The key skill is to apply these to a specific case and show how each yields a conclusion, then evaluate which is most convincing.

Abortion

Abortion turns on the moral status of the embryo and foetus (personhood, potentiality, viability) and the conflict between the rights of the foetus and the rights of the woman, with sanctity-of-life and religious arguments against, and quality-of-life and autonomy arguments for. Thomson's violinist argument tests whether status alone settles the issue.

Euthanasia

Euthanasia turns on the types (active and passive; voluntary, non-voluntary, involuntary), the acts and omissions distinction and double effect, and the clash between autonomy and quality of life (for) and the sanctity of life and the slippery slope (against). Rachels's challenge to the acts and omissions distinction is central.

Organ transplantation

Organ transplantation turns on consent (opt-in versus opt-out / presumed consent), the definition of death (brain-stem death), the allocation of scarce organs (justice), and the sale of organs (autonomy and supply against exploitation, dignity and justice).

How to use this module

Master the frameworks first, then learn each issue as a structured debate, the positions, the key arguments and the strongest objections. Practise applying the frameworks to specific cases and evaluating them in an extended essay, since description does not reach the top bands. Always revise from the current SQA course specification, specimen and past papers, because the essay wording and marking are board-specific.

Sources & how we know this

Advanced Higher Religious, Moral and Philosophical Studies Course Specification — SQA (2019)