Edexcel A-level Religious Studies (9RS0) · Religion and Ethics: Significant Concepts
Mini-Lesson
Significant Concepts in Ethics
Before studying particular theories you need the toolkit of ethics: the vocabulary that lets you classify and compare any moral argument.
This lesson maps meta / normative / applied ethics, the deontological vs teleological divide, and absolutism vs relativism. Answer the questions and collect ⭐.
The map
Three levels of ethics
Meta-ethics asks what moral words mean and whether moral facts exist (e.g. what does "good" mean?).
Normative ethics proposes standards for right action (e.g. natural law, utilitarianism).
Applied ethics uses those standards on concrete issues (e.g. abortion, war).
Deon vs teleo
Deontological and teleological
Deontological ethics judges an act by the act itself — its rightness lies in duties, rules or intentions, not results (e.g. Kant, aspects of natural law).
Teleological / consequentialist ethics judges an act by its end or consequences (e.g. utilitarianism, situation ethics).
Check
Teleological ethics
1A teleological ethical theory judges an action by:
Absolute vs relative
Absolutism and relativism
Moral absolutism: some acts are right or wrong for everyone, always, regardless of circumstances (e.g. natural law’s core precepts).
Moral relativism: right and wrong depend on culture, situation or individual (e.g. situation ethics is relativistic — only love is fixed).
Check
Relativism
2Which statement best expresses moral relativism?
Approaches
The major approaches
Natural law (Aquinas): reason discerns God-given precepts — largely deontological/absolutist.
Kantian deontology: act only on maxims you could will as universal law — deontological/absolutist.
Virtue ethics (Aristotle): focus on character rather than acts or rules.
Check
Classifying a theory
3Which of these is a deontological, absolutist theory?
Meta-ethics preview
Cognitive and non-cognitive
In meta-ethics, cognitivists think moral statements can be true or false (they describe something); non-cognitivists think they express attitudes or commands rather than facts. You will study this in detail under Ethical Language.
Sort it
Classify each approach
Sort each item by the concept it illustrates.
🔒 Absolutist
🔁 Relativist
🔤 Meta-ethical
Match
Term to definition
Match each concept to its definition.
Statement
Answer
Recap
The big ideas to know
Three levels: Meta-ethics (meaning), normative (standards), applied (issues)
Deon vs teleo: Act itself (duty/rule) vs consequences/end
Absolute vs relative: Fixed for all vs dependent on situation/culture