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WalesReligious StudiesQuick questions
Religion and Ethics (Units 2 and 4)
Quick questions on Ethical thought: divine command, virtue theory and egoism - WJEC A-Level Religious Studies
5short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is ethical egoism?Show answer
Egoism can be defended as psychologically realistic and as the basis of a rational, productive society (each pursuing their own good can benefit all). But it faces strong objections: it seems to license harming others when convenient, it conflicts with ordinary moral convictions about altruism and justice, and it may be self-defeating, since a society of pure egoists would struggle to cooperate or trust one another.
What is model paragraph?Show answer
The force of the Euthyphro dilemma is that it appears to leave the believer with two unattractive options, and a strong evaluation tests whether the standard reply genuinely escapes both. On the first horn, if an act is good simply because God commands it, then morality is arbitrary: had God commanded torture, torture would be good, which most believers find intolerable and which seems to empty "God is good" of content. On the second horn, if God commands an act because it is already good, then goodness is a standard independent of God, and divine command theory is false as an account of the source of morality.
What is q1?Show answer
State the Euthyphro dilemma. [2 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
What does Aristotle mean by the "golden mean"? [2 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Evaluate the view that morality must be grounded in God's commands. [20 marks]
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