Religious Studies

Course summary

Since all subjects begin with a philosophical question, Religious Studies (Philosophy and Ethics) is cross-curricular and will complement any other courses you might choose. In times when the rich did little to no work, many spent their time discussing everything from ‘Why do volcanoes explode?’ to ‘Why do some people get fevers?’ and ‘What makes an action good or bad?’. Over time many of these were answered and became their subjects like Geography or Medicine. The questions that are left are philosophical: Philosophy strives to answer the unanswerable. To translate the world, it means a love of wisdom. The Philosophy section of the A-Level covers issues such as the examination of ideas to prove and disprove God’s existence, issues concerning life after death and how reliable religious experiences can be. In the Ethics section of the A-Level, you will examine several major theories on how to decide a moral dilemma. Ethics also covers topical issues, for example: 'Are we determined?', genetic engineering and wider political issues like justice and law.