Year 8 End Of Year

Question 1

What are the types of actions?

Answer 1

• morally significant – they involve right and wrong.
• morally neutral – do not involve questions of right or wrong.

Question 2

What are the features of morally significant actions?

Answer 2

• It is performed by a moral agent – an intelligent creature that is capable of free choice
• It is the result of intention; the action was done on purpose with a particular motive.
• It has significant consequences for others e.g. causing harm or bringing about some benefit.

Question 3

What are the different ethical approaches?

Answer 3

• Deontological approach: there are absolute rules that should be followed at all times. We have a duty to follow these rules in all situations.
• Consequentialist approach: only the consequences determine whether an action is good or bad. What we should do depends on the situation. There are no fixed rules.

Question 4

What is a virtue?

Answer 4

• Virtue – an ‘excellence of character’. If it is a habit that we can learn to develop.
• Examples of virtues – honesty, generosity, courage, faithfulness, self-control

Question 5

What are the sources of moral authority for Christians?

Answer 5

• Bible – the holy book for Christians.
Contains the 10 commandments, teachings of Jesus (The Golden Rule; the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the Parable of the Sheep & the Goats etc.)
• Church – the hierarchy of the Christian religion.
May give guidance from priests/bishops, church traditions etc.
• Conscience – the ‘voice in our heads’ that tells us right from wrong

Question 6

What are the Christian moral principles?

Answer 6

• Do not steal
• Do not kill
• Do not lie
• The Golden Rule – ‘treat others as you wish to be treated’
• ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’
• Stand up for the weak, the poor and the excluded (taken from the example set by Jesus)

Question 7

What is situation ethics?

Answer 7

• A Christian consequentialist ethical theory.
• In each situation we should aim to do the most loving thing, even if this means breaking moral principles e.g. stealing or killing.
• We cannot say in advance what we will do – each situation is different.
• It is based on Jesus’ commandment to ‘Love your neighbour’.

Question 8

What is Christian love?

Answer 8

• Agape love (universal love for all humankind)
• A concern for people’s wellbeing whether we like them or not
• Being charitable
• Sacrificial love – doing things for others even if it may be detrimental to ourselves.

Question 9

What is Humanism?

Answer 9

Humanism - an approach to life based on humanity and reason. Humanists do not believe in God.
Humanist views on ethics:
• Do not think that moral rules need to be given to us by God – we can work them out using reason.
• Do not believe we will be rewarded or punished for our actions in the afterlife
• Believe we should still act morally as our actions have consequences for others
• Accept teachings like the Golden Rule

Question 10

What is Utilitarianism?

Answer 10

• Non-religious theory – does not rely on God/sacred writings to determine what is right. We can work out what we should do through reason.
• Consequentialist theory – suggests the outcomes of the action is what makes it right or wrong.
• We should always try to produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number. This means the most overall amount of pleasure spread amongst the most people.

Question 11

What is absolute poverty?

Answer 11

Severe deprivation of basic human needs

Question 12

What is relative poverty?

Answer 12

Lacking the minimum amount of income required to maintain the average standard of living in the society in which you live

Question 13

What are Christian teachings on wealth?

Answer 13

• “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil…’ (1 Timothy 6:10)
• Jesus said: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven… it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:21-24)
• Jesus and the tax collector Zacchaeus, who gives half of his possession to the poor and promises to repay four times what he dishonestly took from people. (Luke 19:1-10)

Question 14

What are Christian teachings on moral duty?

Answer 14

• ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ (Luke 10:27)
• The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37)
• The Golden Rule – ‘In everything do to others as you would have them do to you’ (Matthew 7:12)
• The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46)

Question 15

What are Christian charities that help the poor?

Answer 15

• Cafod
• Christian Aid
• Salvation Army
• Tearfund

Question 16

The Salvation Army help the poor by:

Answer 16

Shelter. …
Meal Assistance. …
Bill Pay Assistance. …
Employment Assistance.

Question 17

The salvation army are based in:

Answer 17

London and are focused on helping the poor locally. (Relative poverty)

Question 18

What is Peter Singers analogy?

Answer 18

drowning child analogy

Question 19

What is Garrett Hardin’s analogy?

Answer 19

lifeboat analogy

Question 20

What is the environment?

Answer 20

The surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives; the natural world.

Question 21

What is pollution?

Answer 21

Something that contaminates the environment and has a harmful effect.

Question 22

What are some forms of pollution?

Answer 22

• Global warming
• Water pollution
• Human waste
• Acid rain
• Radioactive waste

Question 23

What is creation?

Answer 23

the belief that the Earth was deliberately created by God.

Question 24

What is Dominion?

Answer 24

control over or responsibility for the earth

Question 25

What is Stewardship?

Answer 25

looking after something so that it can be passed on to the next generation.

Question 26

What are the biblical teachings that support stewardship?

Answer 26

• God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:28)
• God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. (Genesis 1:31)
• The LORD God took the man [Adam] and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. (Genesis 2:15)

Question 27

What are the uses of animals?

Answer 27

• Food (meat, eggs, milk
• Clothing (leather, fur, wool)
• Experimentation (medical, cosmetics)
• Hunting
• Entertainment (circuses, horse racing)
• Pets

Question 28

Why do some Christians think animals are less important than humans?

Answer 28

• God had created animals for the use of human beings and human beings are therefore entitled to use them in any way they want
• Animals are inferior to human beings because humans have souls and animals don’t, and humans have reason and animals don’t

Question 29

Why do some Christians think we should take animals under our moral consideration?

Answer 29

• Humans and non-human animals were both created by God
• God has the right to have everything he created treated respectfully - wronging animals is wronging God
• The example of a loving creator God should lead human beings to act lovingly towards animals
• In the Garden of Eden human beings lived in peace and harmony with animals, and this represents God’s ideal world
• Inflicting pain on any living creature is incompatible with living how Jesus taught us:
o Animals are weak compared to us - Christ tells us to be kind to them
o Jesus told human beings to be kind to the weak and helpless - in comparison to human beings, animals are often weak and helpless

Question 30

What do many utilitarians believe about animals?

Answer 30

• Many utilitarians believe that we should take animals into moral consideration because they can feel pleasure and pain

Question 31

What is that quote by Jeremy Bentham?

Answer 31

• Jeremy Bentham – ‘the question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?’

Question 32

Vegetarian

Answer 32

a person that does not eat meat or fish

Question 33

Vegan

Answer 33

a person that does not use any animal products (i.e. does not eat, meat, fish, dairy or eggs, and does not wear clothes that come from animal products .g. those made from leather or wool).

Question 34

Animal rights

Answer 34

the belief that animals have the right to live free from human exploitation and abuse

Question 35

Arguments for becoming vegan/vegetarian?

Answer 35

• Animals are capable of suffering /feeling pain
• It is wrong to kill animals for food when we don’t need to
• We can meet all our nutritional requirements from plants
• Meat production is very damaging to the environment

Question 36

What are the arguments against becoming vegetarian/vegan?

Answer 36

• Humans are more important than animals
• There are humane ways of raising and killing animals (e.g. free range)
• Humans have evolved to eat meat
• Meat/dairy can be produced sustainably
• God allowed humans to eat animals/animals were created for human use