Religious Studies

Course summary

The Ethics, Philosophy, and Religion A Level will enable students to develop a deeper understanding of answers to key ethical, philosophical, and religious questions. It will cover a range of issues that have been debated throughout history, and which are still relevant today. The A Level course involves the study of three modules from the OCR Religious Studies course. Philosophy of religion Learners will study: • Ancient philosophical influences on the philosophy of religion, including Aristotle and Plato • The nature of the soul, mind, and body • Arguments about the existence or non-existence of God • The nature and impact of religious experience • The challenge for religious belief of the problem of evil • Ideas about the nature of God • Issues in religious Religion and ethics Learners will study: • Normative ethical theories – theories that attempt to set rules for what is right and what is wrong, g. Utilitarianism and Natural Law • The application of ethical theory to two contemporary issues of importance – euthanasia and business ethics • Ethical language and thought • Debates surrounding the significant idea of conscience • Sexual ethics and the influence on ethical thought of developments in religious Developments in religious thought Learners will study the following issues in the context of Christianity: • Beliefs about human nature • Death and the Afterlife • Beliefs about God and Jesus • Christian morality and ethics • Religious pluralism – how Christians respond to other religions • Gender • Secularism • Liberation Theology and Marx