Religion, Philosophy and Ethics

Course summary

This new A Level course is designed to give our students a grounding in the key concepts and methods of philosophy, theology and ethical study. Students will explore and evaluate a wide variety of philosophical questions, including how we know what is good, why people are moving away from religion in the western world, can euthanasia ever be ethical, whether all religions are paths to the same God. Students will be expected to study the writings of many influential scholars including Plato, Aristotle, George Berkley, David Hume and Immanuel Kant. From the evaluation of these scholarly texts students will begin to generate their own arguments. Students will apply secular ethical theories to the moral issues of business ethics, euthanasia and sexual ethics. This is a thought provoking subject that results in lively discussion and dialogue that often continues beyond the classroom, and results in students who are confident in their essay writing and ability to construct solid, persuasive arguments.