Philosophy & Ethics (Religion)

In the first year you will study:
Philosophy

• Ancient Philosophical influences (Plato and Aristotle)
• Soul, mind and body
• Arguments for the existence of God
• The problem of evil

Ethics

• Religious ethical theories (Natural law and situation ethics)
• Secular ethical theories (Utilitarianism and Kantian ethics)
• Euthanasia
• Business ethics

Buddhism

• The Buddha’s life
• Religious practices and teachings
• The importance of meditation

In the second year you will study:

Philosophy

• Religious language
• Attributes of God

Ethics

• Meta ethics
• Conscience
• Sexual ethics

Buddhism

• Different development within Buddhism (E.g. Zen Buddhism)
• Buddhism in the west
• Engaged Buddhism and social activism
• Buddhism and gender

What will I be taught?

This course is mainly taught by exploring deep questions together. From the start of the course students are encouraged to question and look at a range of different perspectives on life. Sometimes flipped learning approaches are used so that students are asked to research a topic before class, allowing them to take responsibility for their own learning, and class time will be used to evaluate and apply this knowledge. Flipped learning is not the only approach though; sometimes new ideas are explored in class together allowing students to respond more spontaneously and without any previous knowledge. This helps develop critical thinking skills and helps them to think about philosophical problems on a deeper level and home work time can then be used to build on class knowledge or complete essay assignments.

Classroom activities will include:

• Knowledge based tests
• Essay based assessments
• Interactive online quizzes
• group work
• student led sessions

Based on research into how students learn best, each subject will set independent work to allow you to recap what you have done in the past, consolidate understanding for what you are studying in the present and develop the skills and experiences which will help you for the future. You can read more about the college’s approach to independent study here

The Past
Click here for the suggested ongoing revision activities in this subject which research has shown are most likely to boost your achievement

The Present
Each subject will set weekly homework tasks to help you consolidate your understanding and prepare for your next lesson. This work is typically set through Microsoft Teams, so you will have an electronic log of all your work, notes and feedback.

The Future
A key part of your independent work in this subject will be to prepare for a range of potential jobs and higher education courses when you leave us. To get started, look below at the top higher education courses and jobs which previous students of this course have gone on to do.

As part of a wider programme this course provides an excellent basis for progression to many careers or university courses. Former students of this college have gone on to study Philosophy and Theology, but also a very wide range of other degrees. The subject particularly prepares students for the following careers:

• Legal and medical services
• Journalism and publishing
• Education and social work
• Broadcast, film, video and media sector
• Politics