AS Level Philosophy

AS Level Assessment Guide

A2 Level Assessment Guide

Module 6.1 – Introduction to Philosophy

Plato’s analogy of the cave; the concept of Forms; the body/soul distinction. Jewish influences: the concepts of creation, goodness and miracle.

Module 6.2 – Introduction to Ethics

Metaethics: the use of ethical language (good, bad, right, wrong) Concepts within Ethical Theory: moral relativism (eg situation ethics); virtue ethics and natural law.

Module 6.3 – Arguments for the existence of God

Traditional arguments for the existence of God:
- the Ontological argument (Aquinas, Descartes, Kant)
- the C
osmological argument (Aquinas, Hume)
- the Argument from Design (teleological) (Aquinas, Paley, Hume, Mill)
- the Moral argument (Kant)
- the Argument from Religious Experience (Otto, James)
The 1948 BBC debate between Copleston and Russell.

Module 6.4 – Arguments against the existence of God

Psychology (Freud and Jung)
Sociology (
Marx, Weber, Durkheim)
Science (Darwin and Dawkins)
Theodicy - the problem of evil (Irenaeus and Augustine)

Module 6.5 – Ethical Theory and Ethical Language

Kant and the Categorical Imperative; utilitarianism (Bentham and Mill); absolute versus relative morality; natural law revisited

Module 6.6 – Practical Applications of Module 5

Medical ethics: abortion, euthanasia, the right to life, the right to a child: genetic engineering.
The usefulness or otherwise of the module 6.5 theories when applied to the above ethical issues.