Religion and Society Unit 2 AOS 1 - Ethical decision-making and moral judgment

What is Ethics?

The systematic study and critical evaluation of moral concepts, principles, and practical judgments.

What is Morality?

The specific codes, values, and beliefs about right and wrong held by individuals or communities.

What is Immorality?

Behaviour that violates established moral moral standards or is considered unjust.

Amorality

An indifference to or complete lack of awareness of moral standards or principles.

What is an ethical issue?

A matter or situation involving disagreement over what constitutes right or wrong human behaviour.

Ethical Dilemma

A choice between mutually exclusive decisions where differing moral duties or principles conflict.

Conscience

An internal psychological sense of right and wrong that guides personal moral judgment.

Intuition

An immediate instinct or gut feeling about right and wrong without relying on conscious reasoning.

Reasoning

The logical process of evaluating facts, duties, authority, and outcomes to reach an ethical conclusion.

Common Sense

Everyday sound judgment relying on practical logic rather than complex ethical theories or expert knowledge.

Assumptions

Underlying beliefs or ideas taken for granted when forming a moral judgment.

Worldview

A framework of ideas and beliefs that shapes how an individual or group interprets the world and morality

Idealised Values

The principles and standards that an individual, religion, or institution aspires to hold.

Practised Values

The moral principles actually expressed and demonstrated through real-world actions.

Ethical Authority

A recognized person, institution, text, or tradition that is trusted to guide moral decision-making.

Codes of Behaviour

Established rules or guidelines dictating acceptable conduct within a group, religion, or society.

Competing Rights & Responsibilities

The tension between an individual's personal entitlements and their duties to the broader community.

Normative Behaviour

Actions and choices that conform to accepted social, cultural, or moral standards in a society.

'Ought' Ethics (Deontology)

Deontology is the ethical framework where the morality of an action is determined by whether it follows a set of established rules and duties, regardless of the outcome.

Outcome Ethics (Consequentialism)

An ethical framework where the morality of an action is determined solely by its outcomes, regardless of the rules followed

Utilitarianism

An outcome-based theory stating the best action is the one that maximises overall happiness and minimises harm.

Virtue Ethics

An ethical framework where the morality of an action is determined by the character and virtues of the individual, rather than by rules or outcomes

Care Ethics

An ethical framework that prioritises empathy, compassion, and human connection, focusing on addressing the specific needs of vulnerable individuals.

Divine Command Theory

A religious ethical framework where the morality of an action is determined solely by whether it aligns with God's explicit commands, regardless of human reasoning or outcomes.

Natural Law Theory

The theory that moral principles are inherent in human nature and discoverable through human reason.

Absolutism

The belief that objective and universal moral principles apply in all circumstances without exception.

Relativism

The belief that moral truths depend entirely on culture, context, or period in history.

Subjectivism

The view that each individual has the right to make their own choices based entirely on their own judgment

The Common Good

Shared social conditions that allow all individuals and groups in a community to flourish.

Aspects of Religion in Ethics

Religious beliefs, texts, rituals, and authority structures that inform an adherent's moral decisions.

Who is Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945)?

A Lutheran theologian who argued that religious ethics demands active resistance against systemic evil like Hitler's regime, prioritising protection of human life over obeying state laws.

Who is William Wilberforce (1759–1833)?

An evangelical Christian leader who applied the principle of Human Dignity to argue that all humans have inherent worth, successfully leading the campaign to abolish the British slave trade.