(OCR A Level Religious Studies) A* Religious Ethics Notes + Essay Plans Ranked 1st in Cohort | Full Normative Theories, Applied Ethics & Metaethics | AO1 Knowledge Chains + AO2 Thesis–Counter–Rebuttal Frameworks

Authored by a student who achieved an A* in A-Level Religious Studies and ranked 1st in cohort at a top London sixth form, this masterclass provides a complete, exam-tested revision blueprint for the entire A-Level Ethics syllabus (OCR, AQA, Edexcel). Complete Table of Contents (All 9 Topics Included) Utilitarianism (Act & Rule): Bentham’s Consequentialism, Hedonic Calculus, Egalitarianism & Rights as "Nonsense on Stilts"; Mill’s Qualitative Shift (Higher/Lower Pleasures, Competent Judges, Swine Ethics Reply); Rule Utilitarianism, the Harm Principle, Fletcher’s Ethical Idolatry, Barclay’s Human Weakness, and Sartre’s Conflicting Rules. Kantian Ethics: Autonomy vs. Heteronomy, Categorical vs. Hypothetical Imperatives, Good Will & Shopkeeper Analogy; The Three Formulations (Universal Law, End in Itself, Kingdom of Ends); Postulates of Reason (Freedom, Immortality, God); Hume’s Motivation Critique, Williams’ Spouse Analogy ("One Thought Too Many"), and Ross’ Prima Facie Duties. Natural Law Theory: Aquinas’ Four Tiers of Law (Eternal, Divine, Natural, Human), Telos, Ratio, and Synderesis; Primary & Secondary Precepts; Real vs. Apparent Goods and Natura Vulnerata; Doctrine of Double Effect (DDE); Critiques from Dawkins, Foot’s Oak Tree, Sartre’s Waiter (Facticity vs. Transcendence), and Augustine’s Total Depravity. Situation Ethics: Joseph Fletcher’s Agape (Disinterested Benevolence); Four Working Principles (Pragmatism, Relativism, Positivism, Personalism); Six Fundamental Propositions; Conscience as a Function; Critiques from William Barclay (Self-Deception) and Pope Pius XII (Creeping Relativism/Antinomianism). Conscience: Freud’s Psychological Approach (Id, Ego, Superego, Psychosexual Development, Guilt, Popper's Falsifiability) vs. Aquinas’ Theological Approach (God-given Ratio, Synderesis, Conscientia, Vincible/Invincible Ignorance, Mencius' Child in the Well, Mackie's Cultural Relativism). Metaethics: Emotivism (Ayer’s Verification Principle, Hume’s Moral Sentiments); Naturalism (Foot’s Neo-Aristotelian Human Flourishing, Mill’s Hedonic Naturalism); Intuitionism (Moore’s Yellow Analogy & Open Question Argument, Prichard’s Obligations); Hume’s Is-Ought Gap, Searle’s Bridge, and Mackie’s Error Theory. Business Ethics: Milton Friedman (Shareholder Primacy, CSR as "Window Dressing"); Adam Smith (Invisible Hand & Competition); Kantian Condemnation of Exploitation and False maxims; McAskill (Effective Altruism & Sweatshop Labour); Whistleblowing (Kant vs. Bowie's Loyalty vs. Ross' Duties). Euthanasia: Sanctity of Life (Catholic Church, Aquinas, Archbishop Fisher’s Slippery Slope) vs. Quality of Life (Fletcher, Peter Singer’s Empirical Dutch Data, Jonathan Glover’s Extrinsic Value) vs. Autonomy (Mill’s Harm Principle, Nozick’s Self-Ownership, Sartre’s Freedom); DDE & James Rachels (Smith vs. Jones / Killing vs. Letting Die). Sexual Ethics: Aquinas (NLT Precepts on Reproduction & Education); Karl Barth (Neo-Orthodox Adam & Eve Archetype); Rosemary Ruether (Feminist Theology & The Biblical Golden Thread); Mill (Consensual Autonomy); Nozick (Body Ownership / Car Analogy); Fletcher (Bergmeier’s Sacrificial Adultery, Patriotic Prostitution); Bentham & Kant on Marriage and Objectification. Bonus Exemplar Essay Matrices: Full comparative breakdowns on Homosexuality, Business Profits vs. Rights, and Euthanasia Safeguards.