Global Ethics

What Global Ethics covers

Global Ethics is examined in A2 7, one of the two A2 units chosen — area of study: Religion and Ethics. Worth 30% of the A level. A student may not take two units from the same area of study.. It covers Aristotle and the origins of virtue ethics, modern virtue ethics and the challenge of ethical relativism, free will, compatibilism and incompatibilism, determinism, causation and moral responsibility, the evolution of human rights: Hobbes, Locke, Paine and Bentham, the UDHR, cultural and religious critiques, and animal rights, sexual identity, same sex relationships, marriage and parenthood, the rights of women, contraception and feminist views, just War: jus ad bellum, jus in bello and jus post bellum, non-combatant immunity, weapons of mass destruction and pacifism, the purpose of punishment and religious perspectives, capital punishment, diminished responsibility, compassion and mercy, conscience, moral duty and the prisoner of conscience and the role of the state, the common good and religious tolerance.

The 14 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Aristotle and the origins of virtue ethicsThe function argument, eudaimonia, the doctrine of the mean and the place of practical wisdom.Open →
• Modern virtue ethics and the challenge of ethical relativismAnscombe's revival of the tradition, Foot and MacIntyre, and whether virtue can be defined across cultures.Open →
• Free will, compatibilism and incompatibilismHard determinism, libertarian freedom and the compatibilist middle way, and what each implies for moral responsibility.Open →
• Determinism, causation and moral responsibilityPrinciple of causality, hard determinism and soft determinism.Open →
• The evolution of human rights: Hobbes, Locke, Paine and BenthamHuman right, hobbesian social contract and bentham's objection to natural rights.Open →
• The UDHR, cultural and religious critiques, and animal rightsUniversal Declaration of Human Rights, cultural relativist critique of universal rights and central claim of the animal rights position.Open →
• Sexual identity, same sex relationships, marriage and parenthoodTraditional Christian position on same sex sexual relationships, secular liberal argument for equal treatment and argument that marriage equality strengthens marriage.Open →
• The rights of women, contraception and feminist viewsGender justice, liberal feminist programme and case that access to contraception is a matter of justice.Open →
• Just War: jus ad bellum, jus in bello and jus post bellumPurpose of Just War theory, three conditions Aquinas gives for a just war and jus ad bellum.Open →
• Non-combatant immunity, weapons of mass destruction and pacifismPrinciple of non-combatant immunity, weapons of mass destruction and doctrine of nuclear deterrence.Open →
• The purpose of punishment and religious perspectivesProtection as a purpose of punishment and restorative justice.Open →
• Capital punishment, diminished responsibility, compassion and mercyRetributive argument for capital punishment, deterrence argument for capital punishment and diminished responsibility.Open →
• Conscience, moral duty and the prisoner of conscienceCatholic tradition, erroneous conscience and moral duty.Open →
• The role of the state, the common good and religious toleranceCommon good and personal liberty.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Global Ethics further

The same content, four other ways.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What question does virtue ethics ask instead of asking which acts are right?

   Model answer

   Virtue ethics asks what sort of person one should become, treating character rather than the isolated act as the primary subject of moral assessment.

2. 2

   In which work does Aristotle set out his account of the virtues?

   Model answer

   Aristotle sets out his account of the virtues in the Nicomachean Ethics.

3. 3

   Define eudaimonia.

   Model answer

   Eudaimonia is human flourishing, the condition of living well and doing well that Aristotle identifies as the final end of human life.

4. 4

   What is the function argument?

   Model answer

   The function argument holds that the good for a thing lies in performing its characteristic activity well, and that the characteristic activity of a human being is activity of the soul in accordance with reason.

5. 5

   Distinguish intellectual from moral virtues.

   Model answer

   Intellectual virtues such as wisdom and understanding are developed by teaching; moral virtues such as courage and generosity are developed by habit and repeated practice.

6. 6

   Explain the doctrine of the mean.

   Model answer

   The doctrine of the mean holds that each moral virtue lies between an excess and a deficiency, so courage stands between recklessness and cowardice.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Global Ethics revision questions

What does Global Ethics cover in CCEA A-Level Religious Studies?

14 subtopics: aristotle and the origins of virtue ethics, modern virtue ethics and the challenge of ethical relativism, free will, compatibilism and incompatibilism, determinism, causation and moral responsibility, the evolution of human rights: hobbes, locke, paine and bentham, the udhr, cultural and religious critiques, and animal rights, sexual identity, same sex relationships, marriage and parenthood, the rights of women, contraception and feminist views, just war: jus ad bellum, jus in bello and jus post bellum, non-combatant immunity, weapons of mass destruction and pacifism, the purpose of punishment and religious perspectives, capital punishment, diminished responsibility, compassion and mercy, conscience, moral duty and the prisoner of conscience and the role of the state, the common good and religious tolerance. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Global Ethics organised?

By the CCEA 4610 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.