Philosophy and Ethics


	Introduction to Philosophy and Ethics The Access to Religion and Philosophy Series Where next?


	Select by title: *The new editions* Philosophy and Ethics Philosophy of Religion Ethical Theory Medical Ethics Religion and Science Issues of Life and Death Social Ethics Christian Theology The existing titles Theory of Knowledge Sex and Relationships Environmental Ethics Religious Experience Foundation for the Study of Religion


Back Now in a new (2nd) edition - revised and enlarged! This is a handbook for students preparing for Philosophy of Religion and Ethics papers at AS level, now revised to match the requirements of the new examinations. It is a practical guide for teachers and students, complementing rather than replacing other books in the series. It includes advice on preparing and revising from notes, and on examination techniques. A detailed contents list is given below the 'suggestions for further reading'. Suggestions for further reading Whether you are working from the existing edition, or planning to move over to the revised one, the following is a selection of additional material that is valuable for students. Anthologies and reference books: For a detailed work of general reference, covering all aspects of philosophy: Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Routledge, 2000 Davies, Brian (ed) Philosophy of Religion: a guide and anthology, OUP, 2000. this is particularly useful students looking for appropriate passages from classic texts. Helm, Paul (ed) Faith with Reason, OUP, 1999. This is one of the ‘Oxford Readers’ giving a useful collection of extracts from key thinkers in the philosophy of religion, with introductions to each section, setting the context for the passages included. This is a very useful collection for getting students into an exploration of the original texts, and therefore the style of philosophical argument. Quinn & Taliaferro (eds) Companion to the Philosophy of Religion, Blackwell, 1999 Sterba, James P (ed) Ethics: The Big Questions, Blackwell, 1998 This is a substantial and valuable anthology for both students and teachers, covering meta-ethics, moral theories, and challenges to ethics. Johnson, Oliver (ed) Ethics: selections from Classical and Contemporary Writers (7^th edition), Harcourt Brace, 1994. Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary readings, Wadsworth, 1999 Other useful titles, including titles recommended to me by AS level teachers as useful for teaching Philosophy and Ethics Appelbaum, D and Thompson, M (eds) World Philosophy, Vega, 2002 This is a large format illustrated book on philosophy, designed for the general reader but suitable for students. It sets out the issues with illustrations to stimulate an imaginative appreciation of what philosophy is about, and includes sections on the Philosophy of Religion, and Ethics. Blackburn, Simon Being Good, OUP, 2001 An attractive little book, giving a clear and lively introduction to some of the puzzles of ethics and their relationship to fundamental principles and beliefs. For revision purposes, Greg Dewar’s Religious Studies: Philosophy and Ethics through diagrams, OUP, 2002, provides a concise but very brief outline of all major topics. Hick, John The Existence of God This may be an old book, but it is very useful, particularly in its very clear summary of the Ontological Argument. J.L. Mackie’s The Miracle of Theism, OUP, 1982, a very interesting critique of the arguments for the existence of God. The title hints at Mackie’s general conclusion, namely that it is a miracle that people continue to believe in the God of traditional theism MacIntyre, Alasdair A Short History of Ethics, Routledge, 1998 (second edition) MacIntyre, Alisdair After Virtue: a study in Moral Theory, 1984. Magee, Bryan The Story of Philosophy, London, Dorling Kindersley, 1998. This book is particularly useful for getting the background, both culturally and in terms of philosophy, for the various thinkers – with wonderfully lucid summaries of their work. Pojman, L P has a good number of textbooks suitable for students on a range of issues in ethics (e.g. Ethics: Discovering Right and Wrong, Wadsworth, 2001) and philosophy of religion. He comes with the recommendation of several experienced teachers. Singer, Peter Practical Ethics, CUP, 1993 A very influential book; in general Singer takes a preference utilitarian approach to ethical issues. Singer, Peter Writings on an Ethical Life, Fourth Estate, 2002 (a range of extracts from his other books) Smart, Ninian World Philosophies, London and New York, Routledge, 1999 Stone, Martin, 'Philosophy of Religion' in Philosophy 2 ed. A.C.Grayling (OUP, 1998) Taliaferro, Charles Contemporary Philosophy of Religion, Blackwell, 1998 For those wanting to do further work on religious experience, there's no better staring point than going to the classic texts themselves... Otto The Idea of the Holy Schleiermacher Speeches on Religion James The Varieties of Religious Experience Contents Introduction 1. Objectives at AS level – moving beyond GCSE 2. Selecting and demonstrating knowledge 3. Sustaining a critical line of argument 4. Looking at the context 5. Handling source material Chapter 1: Influences of Ancient Greek Philosophy 1. Plato a. The Allegory of the Cave b. The Form of the Good c. The implication of these ideas for religion 2. Aristotle a. The Four Causes b. The Prime Mover c. The implication of these ideas for religion Study guide and Revision checklist Chapter 2: Arguments for the Existence of God and their Critics 1. Concepts of God a. The Judaeo-Christian Idea of God i) as Creator ii) as personal and loving d. Terms used of God and belief in God i) Eternal and Everlasting ii) Key Words Describing the God of Theism c. ‘Basic beliefs’ 2. The Ontological Argument a. Anselm v Gaunilo i) Anselm’s argument ii) Gaunilo’s objection and Anselm’s answer b. Descartes v Kant i) Descartes’ version of the argument ii)Kant’s criticism (given in his Critique of Pure Reason) c. Some modern debates 3. The Cosmological Argument a. Aquinas Cosmological Arguments i) the Unmoved Mover ii) the Uncaused Cause iii) The Possible and the Necessary b. Some challenges to the Arguments i) David Hume ii) Bertrand Russell’s response to Copleston’s argument 4. 4. The Teleological Argument (from Design) a. Aquinas and Paley i) regularity and purposeurpose b. Hume, Mill and Darwinist challenges i) Hume’s objections ii) Mill’s objections iii) Darwin and The Origin of Species iv) The impact of genetics c. The Anthropic Principle d. Intelligent design and irreducible complexity e. Swinburne’s approach 5. 5. The Moral Argument a. Kant’s argument b. Other approaches c. A psychological alternative Study guide and Revision checklist Chapter Chapter 3: Revelation and Religious Experience 1. The nature of religious experience a features of religious experience b. mysticism c. near-death experiences d. Conversion e. Group experiences f. Meditation 2. Can religious experiences be deemed revelation? a. Revelation in Scriptures 3. The Argument from Religious Experience a. James and Swinburne b. Challenges from Freud and Marx c. Some conclusions Study guide and Revision checklist Chapter 4: Challenges to Religious Belief 1. The problem of Evil and Suffering a. Irenaeus b. Augustine c. Some Key differences between Irenaeus and Augustine d. Other approaches to the problem 2. Issues raised by Psychology and Sociology a. Freud b. Jung c. Durkheim d. Weber e. Marx 3. Alternative philosophies a. Atheism b. Humanism c. Postmodernism 4. Religion in a multicultural environment Study guide and Revision checklist Chapter 5: Religious Language 1. Some Basic Features of Language a. Cognitive and non-cognitive b. ‘Believing in’ c. ‘Experiencing as’ 2. Verification and Falsification a. Logical Positivism b. Falsification 3. Via negativa (Apophatic Way) 4. Types of Religious Language a. Analogy i. Models and Qualifiers b. Symbol c. Myth Study guide and Revision checklist Chapter 6: Issues Raised by Science 1. Historical Perspectives 2. The Origin of the Universe a. Dimensions b. Big Bang theory c. Religious views i) Creatio ex nihilo ii) Deism iii) Creationism iv)Non-literal interpretations of creation d. Implications for ‘God’ i) Does Our Perception of the World Need a ‘God’? 3. Freedom and Determinism a. The ‘God’ Hypothesis? b. hard and soft determinism i) God’s Action and Prayer 4. Miracles a. Hume’s Criticisms i) Inductive arguments ii) Limitations of Hume’s criticism b. Regularity and particular events i) Timing is everything… ii) The Unlikelihood of Everything c. Interpreting miracles i) The Unfairness of miracles d. Miracles and Prayer Study guide and Revision checklist Chapter 7: Body and Soul 1. Greek Concepts a. Plato b. Aristotle 2. Some modern thinkers a. Descartes i) later Dualist theories b. Ryle and language c. Richard Dawkins 3. Life beyond death a. reincarnation b. re-becoming c. immortality i) heaven and hell d. resurrection i) disembodied existence e. The Logical Options Study guide and Revision checklist Chapter 8: Ethical Arguments 1. Why be moral? 2. Some Key Terms 3. Presenting an ethical argument 4. Meta-Ethics a. ethical naturalism b. ethical non-naturalism i) intuitionism c) ethical non-cognitivism 5. The Meaning of Ethical Language a. Logical Positivism i)Threat and response b. Emotivism c. Prescriptivism 6. Absolutism and Relativism a. A relativist starting point i) Multiculturalism b. Alternatives to relativism and Consequentialism c. Tolerance Study guide and Revision checklist Chapter 9: Ethical Theories 1. Natural Law a. Aristotle b. The Stoics c. Aquinas d. Rules and Situations e. A key Problem f. Advantages of the Natural Law approach 2. Utilitarianism a. Origins and development b. Bentham: Act Utilitarianism c. Mill: Rule Utilitarianism i) ‘Strong’ and ‘Weak’ d. Preference utilitarianism e. Limitations of a Utilitarian Approach f. Advantages of a Utilitarian Approach g. Ethical Egoism 3. Kant’s Ethical Theory a. Duty b. The Categorical Imperative c. Kant and the Real World d. Evaluating Kant’s Theory 4. Situation Ethics 5. Virtue Ethics a. Aristotle’s view of the virtues b. Modern approaches Study guide and Revision checklist Chapter 10: Religious Ethics 1. The Divine Command theory of Ethics a. The Euthyphro dilemma 2. Judaism 3. Christianity 4. Islam 5. Hinduism 6. Buddhism 7. Sikhism Study guide and Revision checklist Chapter 11: Free Will and Conscience 1. Freedom will and moral responsibility a. How free? b. Compatibilism c. Freedom and God 2. Conscience a. Aquinas b. Hume c. Butler d. Freud e. Innate or Acquired? Study guide and Revision checklist Chapter 12: Practical Ethics I 1 Abortion and euthanasia: the right to life a. Applying ethical theories b. Religious responses 2 The right to a child a. Applying ethical theories b. Religious responses 3 Genetic Engineering and Embryo Research a. Applying ethical theories b. Religious responses Study guide and Revision checklist Chapter 13: Practical Ethics II 1. Environmental Ethics a. Applying ethical theories b. Religious responses 2. Equality in the Modern World? a. Applying ethical theories b. Religious responses 3. War, Peace and Justice a. Applying ethical theories b. Religious responses Study guide and Revision checklist Chapter 14: Preparing for the Examination 1. Revising from your notes 2. Checking the specifications 3. Essay outlines: advantages and disadvantages 4. On the day… Issues of space and time Further Reading Glossary Back
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