Moral Philosophy: overview of SQA Higher Philosophy ethics

Moral Philosophy is the ethics area of SQA Higher Philosophy. It asks how we ought to act, and examines two great rival answers: utilitarianism, which judges by consequences, and Kantian ethics, which judges by duty. This page maps the area and how to master it.

What the area covers

The course specification frames Moral Philosophy around moral decision-making and the assessment of moral theories. Four clusters of content recur, each with its own answer page.

The nature of moral decisions

Moral versus non-moral decisions, the key moral concepts, and the normative and consequentialist distinctions.

Utilitarianism

The greatest happiness principle, Bentham's act utilitarianism and the hedonic calculus, Mill's higher and lower pleasures and rule utilitarianism, and the objections.

Kantian deontology

The good will and duty, categorical versus hypothetical imperatives, the two formulations of the categorical imperative, and the objections.

Applying and evaluating

Using both theories on moral issues, weighing their strengths and weaknesses, and a comparative judgement.

How the area is assessed

Moral Philosophy is examined in the question papers through questions that ask you to explain the theories (the greatest happiness principle, the categorical imperative) and, for the higher marks, to apply and evaluate them on moral issues and to compare them, reaching a supported judgement. As across the course, the Arguments in Action skills apply: you analyse the theories' arguments and assess them by acceptability, relevance and sufficiency, and you argue to a conclusion rather than describing.

How to study Moral Philosophy

1. Fix the vocabulary. Moral versus non-moral, normative versus descriptive, consequentialist versus non-consequentialist; precise terms earn marks.
2. Learn utilitarianism in detail. The greatest happiness principle, Bentham's calculus, Mill's higher and lower pleasures and rule utilitarianism, and the objections.
3. Learn Kant in detail. The good will, the two kinds of imperative, the two formulations of the categorical imperative, and the objections.
4. Practise applying both to cases. Run dilemmas (lying to save a life, the trolley case) through each theory and show where they diverge.
5. Rehearse evaluation and comparison. Weigh strengths and weaknesses and reach a defended judgement, using SQA past papers to learn the command words.

For the official course specification

The SQA (now Qualifications Scotland) publishes the full Higher Philosophy course specification, specimen question papers and past papers at sqa.org.uk. Always revise from the current specification and SQA past papers, because the question style and terminology are board-specific.