Religious Studies
We follow OCR Religious Studies (Philosophy and Ethics).
‘We are discussing no small matter here,
but how we ought to live.’
(Socrates in Plato’s Republic)
Philosophy of Religion and Religious Ethics are no small matter. Poets, musicians, philosophers and saints have, throughout the centuries, sought to communicate the reality of God to the world but today we live in a rational age and their voices are muted. Still the eternal questions remain to challenge us. Is there a God? Who is God? What are the arguments for God's existence? Why is there evil in the world? Can miracles really happen? What happens when a person dies? Philosophy seeks to provide an answer to these questions. Ethics poses the key questions of today. Is the life of a baby worth more than a pensioner? Do humans have rights and if they do might animals have rights too? Is abortion ever acceptable? Is euthanasia the first step down the slippery slope to legalised state murder?
You do not have to have studied Religious Studies at GCSE to do A-level. An understanding of the ethical issues we cover is required in many professions… law, accountancy, banking, medicine, anything involving people, and so on. The ability to think logically and analytically is a vital skill for all career paths. Medical Ethics is covered in the Lower Sixth, making the subject a useful balance to those taking a scientific route in their studies. Universities are often very impressed with candidates who have done Religious Studies because it shows they have the ability to think. In each year girls attend an A level Study Day held by Dr Peter Vardy, the vice-principal of Heythrop College, University of London. He is an internationally recognised academic who combines rigorous teaching with great clarity. His talks always stimulate and stretch students, helping them to reach their potential.
In Philosophy you will study
- some aspects of the thinking of the Greek Philosophers Plato and Aristotle;
- the origins of the Judaeo-Christian concept of God;
- the traditional arguments for the existence of God .
- religious language – exploring questions such as, is it meaningful to say anything about God using human language?
- religious experience, miracles and ways in which people believe God reveals himself
- the nature of God – the variety of philosophical views and the problems that arise from them
- issues of life and death – what happens at death?
In Ethics you will study
- a variety of ethical theories about morality, such as Natural Moral Law, the Categorical Imperative and Utilitarianism;
- how religion and morality are linked and how far morality may be seen to be dependent on God;
- you will apply your understanding of the theories studied to issues such as the right to a child, abortion, euthanasia, genetic engineering and war and peace.
- ethical language and what different scholars mean when they use terms such as ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘right’ and wrong’.
- ideas such as free-will and determinism, the nature and role of conscience.
- you will apply the different ethical theories you have studied to environmental and business ethics and to sexual ethics.
Sixth Form News
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AS/A2 results
Thursday 19th August