Religious Ethics and Moral Philosophy: Theories, Conscience and Freedom
This domain tests whether you can use a moral theory to reach and defend a judgement. Answers must state the theory's structure, apply it to the case, and then evaluate it. Applied topics recur: abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, just war, corruption and genetic engineering.
Frameworks
- Natural law (Aquinas): eternal law, synderesis as the habit of first principles, primary precepts (preservation of life, reproduction, ordered society, worship, education), secondary precepts, real versus apparent goods, doctrine of double effect.
- Divine command: the Euthyphro dilemma; strong and weak versions; Adams' modified command theory.
- Situation ethics (Fletcher): love is the only absolute, with the working principles of pragmatism, relativism, positivism and personalism; justice as love distributed. Critique: agape can be used to justify anything.
- Utilitarianism: Bentham's hedonic calculus; Mill's distinction between higher and lower pleasures and his harm principle; act versus rule.
- Kantian ethics: universalisability, the humanity formula, duty and the good will.
- Virtue ethics: Aristotle's eudaimonia and the golden mean; MacIntyre on practices and tradition.
Conscience
Aquinas: conscience is reason applying knowledge, synderesis being the habit of first principles - so conscience can err. Butler: conscience is the God-given superior principle. Newman: the voice of God in the soul. Freud: the superego, internalised parental and social authority. Kohlberg: moral development in stages.
Free will
Libertarianism, hard determinism and compatibilism (Hume, Frankfurt). Theologically: Augustine on grace cooperating with free will; Calvin's predestination; Pelagius condemned in 418; Islamic qadar and the Ash'arite doctrine of kasb; ATR destiny alongside human responsibility.
Worked example
"Voluntary euthanasia should be legalised." Evaluate. Natural law reasons from the primary precept of preserving life and the double effect distinction between killing and relieving pain, concluding that the prohibition is absolute. Situation ethics asks which act serves love in this particular case and may permit it. Kant tests universalisability: a law permitting killing on request undermines the trust on which medicine depends. Then weigh: does the sanctity of life admit exceptions, and can safeguards prevent abuse? A grade depends on that weighing, not on the conclusion.
Traps
- Describing a theory without applying it to the named case.
- Ignoring the command word - "evaluate" is not "describe".
- Offering "the Bible says" as the whole argument.
- Confusing determinism (everything is caused) with fatalism (nothing you do matters).