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OCR AS Philosophy and Ethics Exam 16th May 2012

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Reply 40

Jadalyn

Original post by ManPowa

Not saying dont revise that (very risky) but Id suggest read a bit more about euthanasia and kants theoryy :smile:

Haha of course I'll still revise that too. Okay thanks! :biggrin:

Reply 41

Id and Ego seek

Can somebody explain the link between Good Will, Duty, the Categorical Imperative and the Summum Bonum in their own words?

Reply 42

KitKatTime

Hi! I saw this post after a mini-freak out this morning. I'm doing the paper on Wednesday, too, and was just wondering if anyone knew what seemed the most unlikely to come up on the Philosophy and the Ethics paper? Thank you! :smile:

Reply 43

anniema

Original post by Id and Ego seek

Can somebody explain the link between Good Will, Duty, the Categorical Imperative and the Summum Bonum in their own words?

Sounds like you want something to memorise for the exam :L

Reply 44

DomPugh

Original post by Id and Ego seek

Can somebody explain the link between Good Will, Duty, the Categorical Imperative and the Summum Bonum in their own words?

For Kant moral action is acting out of duty and good will alone. To work out our duty we must act according to the categorical imperative (3 Parts). If we act in such a way, our virtuous behaviour will be rewarded with the highest happiness / good, the summum bonnum.

Hope that helps

Reply 45

Id and Ego seek

Original post by anniema

Sounds like you want something to memorise for the exam :L

Nah, I genuinely know it, but - this is hard to explain - I find it particularly hard to write down coherently without feeling like I've missed something!

Reply 46

OohNana

Original post by KitKatTime

I don't know, but I'd say that one thing that is very unlikely to come up is Utilitarianism

Reply 47

lornarose

Original post by Id and Ego seek

Can somebody explain the link between Good Will, Duty, the Categorical Imperative and the Summum Bonum in their own words?

We all share an innate sense of duty to act virtuous. These are formed by the CI which basically outline what is good will and what is not. True virtue should be rewarded by happiness in the Summom Bonum. :smile:

Reply 48

lornarose

Does anyone think Moral argument will come up? I'd really like that. :smile:

Reply 49

KitKatTime

Original post by OohNana

I don't know, but I'd say that one thing that is very unlikely to come up is Utilitarianism

Ah, thank you! :smile:

That's narrowed it down a bit more, haha.

Reply 50

okonomiyaki

Original post by KitKatTime

Ah, thank you! :smile:

That's narrowed it down a bit more, haha.

Applying the hedonic calculus would make me want to run away D8

Reply 51

EricEdwardSelvaraj

Original post by Id and Ego seek

Can somebody explain the link between Good Will, Duty, the Categorical Imperative and the Summum Bonum in their own words?

Kant's starting point is good will which he believes is the best reason for morality. It is on this basis he rejects hypothetical imperative. The application of good will demands moral duty, that is, if I think that something is good to do, then I must do it. This basically summarises his autonomy of free will and moral duty. Also we have a duty to do the highest good if we have two options that are good, we always choose the highest good.

The categorical imperative is what we should use when making moral decisions. It has three formulae: Formula of Universal law, Formula of End in itself, Formula of the Kingdom of Ends.

In our moral awareness we see that good things out to be rewarded and evil punished, this is our innate sense of moral law. The Summum Bonum is the ultimate state where virtue and happiness coexist. (read up more about this from the Moral argument)

Hope this helps

Reply 52

Quafflewing12168

I'm pretty terrified for the exam on Wednesday!! I feel like the moral argument was rushed over, so I'm hoping its not likely to come up :frown:

Same for euthanasia... I could say a couple of sentences on how a Kantian might respond, but no way a whole essay!! What kind of additional scholars could you include for this??

Thanks! xx

Reply 53

EricEdwardSelvaraj

Here's a quick checklist:

PLATO
*Analogy of the Cave
*Theory and Hierarchy of Forms and the Form of the Good
ARISTOTLE
*Theory of Four causes
*Prime mover
BIBLICAL GOD
*as creator
*as craftsman
*as lawgiver and judge
*Creation stories and creatio ex nihilo, imago dei, etc.
ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
•Anselm and Descartes;
• challenges to it from Gaunilo and Kant;
COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
*Aquinas' three ways
*Radio debate (Copleston and Russell)
*Criticisms of Hume
TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
*the teleological argument from Aquinas and
Paley;
• the challenges to it from Hume, Mill and
Darwinism.
MORAL ARGUMENT
*Kant
*Freud's criticisms
PROBLEM OF EVIL
*nature of the problem: inconsistent triad, etc
*Theodicies of Irenaeus and Augustine
RELIGION AND SCIENCE
*Challenges and theories of Big bang and Evolution
*Creationism and its evaluation
ABORTION
• ‘Sanctity of Life’
• personhood
• the right to life; right of the mother
• the issues of infertility and the right to a child;
• the status of the embryo;
• whether a child is a gift or a right;
EUTHANASIA
*Quality vs sanctity of life
*Involuntary, voluntary, passive and active
*Right to life vs. right to die
GENETIC ENGINEERING
*Embryo research (involving destruction of spare embryos)
*GM foods
*Gene therapy (stem cells from spare embryos vs. individual)
*Genetic screening, 'designer' babies and 'saviour' children
WAR AND PEACE
*Just war theory
*Pacifism (religious, preferential, contingent, and absolute)
*Realism - not on specification but good to use in evaluation

The topics marked in bold have never come up fully before in exams.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 54

sophieashley

anyone know whats likely to come up in philosophy?

Reply 55

KitKatTime

Original post by okonomiyaki

Applying the hedonic calculus would make me want to run away D8

Same, I can never remember all of the steps to it and it drives me mad.. I get confused between Act and Rule sometimes too, which is completely silly of me xD

Reply 56

AishaTara

how much work is philosophy and ethics in comparsion to biology for instance, I want to pick it up next year, for AS but dont want something which requires excess work load.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 57

anniema

Original post by AishaTara

how much work is philosophy and ethics in comparsion to biology for instance, I want to pick it up next year, for AS but dont want something which requires excess work load.

I do both and I'd say it depends where your strength lies. Personally I've probably done equal work for biology and philosophy & ethics- but those who struggle with concepts of philosophical thinking do need to spend more time on it. It's not an easy subject though!

Reply 58

missemma1

Original post by KitKatTime

Same, I can never remember all of the steps to it and it drives me mad.. I get confused between Act and Rule sometimes too, which is completely silly of me xD

i fink act and rule utilitarianism r quite easy nw dat ive learnt wat dey r about. Act utilitarianism is proposed by Jeremy Bentham and it looks at the consequences of each individual act each time it is and calculates the utility (usefulness) each time that act is perfomed.
according 2 act utilitarianism when determining whether the act is right it is the value of the consequence that counts. Bentham's theory is quantitative.

Whereas, Rule utilitarianism is proposed by J.S.Mill. This looks at the consequence of having everyone follow a particular rule and calculates the overall utility of accepting or rejecting the rule. Rule utilitarianism focuses on general rules that everyone should follow to bring about the greatest good for the community. John Stuart Mill's theory is qualitative as he thinks that the quality is more important than quantity when it comes to pleasure