Detailed content breakdown

Module 2760: Foundation for the Study of Religion

Part 1: Philosophy of Religion

Part a: Ancient Greek influences on religious philosophy

Plato and the Forms
Influence of Socrates
The problem of the One and the Many
Plato's Theory of the Forms
The Allegory of the Cave
Plato on body and soul
Criticisms of Plato
The nature of man applied to the State

Aristotle
Aristotle on knowledge
Matter and Goal
Actualisation
Cause and purpose
Pure Forms
The Prime Mover or Unmoved Mover
Aristotle on body and soul
Contrast between Plato and Aristotle

Part b: Judeo-Christian influences on religious philosophy

The Judeo-Christian Concept of God
God as creator [Genesis 1-3]
The goodness of God [Exodus 20]
God's activity in the world - miracles [Joshua 10:1-15]

Part 2: Religious Ethics

Part a: Ethical language

Meta Ethics
Difference between meta ethics and normative ethics
Background to meta ethics
Ethical Naturalism [Cognitivist]
Intuitionism [Cognitivist]
Logical Positivists [Non cognitivist]
Emotivism [Non cognitivist]
Precriptivism [Non cognitivist]

Part b: An introduction into ethical theory

Moral Relativism
What is meant by a relativist ethical system?
Distinction between moral and cultural relativism
Relativist ethical approach - Situation Ethics
Virtue Ethics
Summary
Aristotle and virtue
The role of reason
The virtues
The Golden Mean
Doing well and doing what is right
MacIntyre - Virtue Theory revisited
The 18th century Enlightenment
Critique of Virtue Theory
Natural Law
The meaning of 'good'
Final cause
Primary precepts
Features of natural law
The cardinal virtues
The role of reason
Criticisms of natural law

Module 2761: Philosophy of Religion 1 (AS)

Part a: Traditional arguments for the existence of God

The Ontological Argument
Anselm's ontological argument
Rene Descartes' ontological argument
Criticisms of the argument
The Cosmological Argument
Aquinas' cosmological argument
Fredrick Copleston's reformulation of the cosmological argument
Copleston and Russell's BBC radio debate
David Hume's criticism
The Teleological Argument
The teleological argument of Aquinas
William Palley's argument
David Hume's criticisms
J. S. Mill's criticism
Darwinist challenges
The Moral Argument
Kant's moral argument
Proponents of the moral argument
Opponents of the moral argument
The Argument from Religious Experience
What is a religious experience?
Richard Swinburne's 5 types of religious experience
William James' varieties of religious experience
Other explanations for religious experience

Part b: Challenges to religious belief

The Problem of Evil
The nature of the problem
Different types of evil
Irenaeus' theodicy
Augustine's theodicy
The Freewill defence
Process Theodicy
Other solutions to the problem of evil
Psychology of Religion
Ludwig Feuerbach
Sigmund Freud
Carl Gustav Jung
Sociology of Religion
Functionalism
Marxism

Module 2762: Religious Ethics 1 (AS)

Part a: Ethical theory

Kant and the Categorical Imperative
Moral duty
Moral statements
Goodwill and duty
The categorical imperative
Freedom
Evaluation
Utilitarianism
Jeremy Bentham's Utilitarianism
John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism
Comparing Bentham and Mill
Act Utilitarianism
Rule Utilitarianism
Strengths of Utilitarianism
Weaknesses of Utilitarianism
Absolute and Relative Morality
The Euthyphro Dilemma - moral absolutism
'Theatetus' - moral relativism
Religious Ethics

Part b: Practical ethics

Medical Ethics
Syllabus outline
Abortion
Application of Ethical Systems
Syllabus outline
Religious Ethics approach to abortion
Three approaches to Catholic and Orthodox ethics
Conclusion