Philosophy & Ethics

Philosophy and Ethics (Religious Studies) is a unique subject at A Level, and this is because it can give pupils an insight into the world around them. It helps develop their critical thinking skills and ideas. In a systematic way, the subject helps pupils to engage and answer some of the deepest and most fundamental questions about the nature of reality, including personal identity, how one should live, what a just society looks like, etc. This qualification allows students to apply a wide range of concepts enabling them to confidently interpret, contextualise and analyse the expression of religions and worldviews they encounter. The course comprises of three components: Philosophy, Ethics, and the Study of Religion.

Paper 1: Philosophy of Religion

The content for this paper helps students explore some of the main contemporary philosophical issues and questions about religion, such as belief in God or the conviction that life has both meaning and purpose. Pupils will engage with arguments and debates on various topics on religious and non-religious views of life, such as the problem of evil and suffering, religious experience, whether religious and scientific language is compatible, whether ideas about life after death are tenable in the modern world.

Paper 2: Ethics

This paper is focused on exploring both common ground and controversy in dealing with issues that arise in the area of morality and religion in the context of the modern world. Pupils will study issues and practical problems such as equality, environment issues, sexual ethics, war and peace and medical ethics. These issues and problems provide a sufficient balance of breadth and depth for pupils to acquire the skills they need to address a wide range of contemporary moral dilemmas and to progress to further study. Pupils will also study a range of ethical theories such as utilitarianism, situation ethics, and natural law – not just as a way of understanding how they have influenced our past but their central role in our future.

Paper 3: Study of Religion

This section comprises of a focused and in-depth study of the Sikh faith. It allows pupils to build a foundation for understanding key beliefs and values of the Sikh faith. Pupils will explore various and diverse ways in which religious believers express their sense of identity through sacred rituals and codes of behaviour. Furthermore, you will broaden your understanding through works of scholars who have made significant contributions – historically or modern – and look at how an aspect of the religion has changed or developed over history.

Assessment:

Student progress is measured through a variety of methods. Essay writing is a key component, and a large part of the course is effective note taking and discussion based tasks. Alongside this, we would benefit from external visitors, group presentations, videos and text analysis.

• Paper 1 – Philosophy (2 hour written exam)
• Paper 2 – Ethics (2 hour written exam)
• Paper 3 – Study of Religion (2 hour written exam)

An A Level in Philosophy and Ethics can be extremely beneficial. The explorative, reflective, analytic, and evaluative skills gained are what we call transferable skills, and can be used in a wide range of careers. They will analyse texts and scholarly work in depth, think critically and philosophically, which can enable them to pursue successful careers in areas such as education, law force, legal service, social work, journalism, civil services, politics and much more. Philosophy is a key component in the degrees studied by many of our political leaders.

Students must achieve a grade 6 at GCSE RS or English.