Introduction
Board: OCR
The exploration of Ethics and Philosophy has been said to be a mind set, but the skills that are learnt throughout this course are invaluable as they enable the learner to think and execute dilemmas with rationality and empiricism. Philosophy is the foundation of all knowledge, in fact it tries to answer the question what is knowledge? Ethical discourse enables humans to understand to greater degree ‘what is the right course of action’ and even to the point of asking what is meant by right and wrong.
Those who enjoy debating and analysing and interpreting information will thrive on this course as we teach learners how to delve deeper into the argument or text and either enhance or refute, you will also be encouraged to formulate your own arguments and ideas about the modules we study.
Ethics and philosophy are diverse areas of study which offer individuals an almost boundless educational field.
In the first year of the course you will look at the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle and how these thinkers’ ideas have influenced the metaphysics of the Christian religion. You will investigate, deliberate and reformulate some of the traditional arguments from philosophy of religion including the debate between religion and science. Within ethics you will study the main ethical theories and apply them to cases from experience.
For the A2 year you will investigate more complex ethical theories and compare, contrast and apply them to issues: for example the environment, business and sex. You will explore the phenomena of consciousness and how it applies to freewill and determinism. Within philosophy you will study the use of religious language and experience as proofs of God’s existence and be given the opportunity to investigate issues surrounding life and death.
If you like the idea of enlightenment and lively conversation and you are ready to engage with lots of brilliant dead people spanning over 8,000 years of thought, and glimpse the workings of the human mind, then Religious Studies is the course for you.
