Lesson video

Hi, there.

Welcome to the 13th and final lesson of non-religious views.

In this lesson, we're going to do some quick fire questions to see how much you remember.

We're going to learn some key theories, and we're going to explain those key theories.

You will need a pen or a pencil, a different coloured pen or pencil, and some paper.

The first thing that we are going to revise is philosophy of religion.

So some quick fire questions.

I would like you to point at the correct answer.

I'm going to do a three, two, one countdown for each one.

So a theory that the universe expanded from a dense single state.

Point at the correct answer after three, two, one.

That is the Big Bang Theory.

Very well done.

An argument that states God is the cause of the universe.

Three, two, one.

That's the First Cause Theory.

Well done.

A scientific theory on the origins of humanity.

Remember to point to the correct answer.

Three, two, one.

That's Evolution.

Well done.

I'm sure you're getting these right.

I'm absolutely sure of it.

Someone who believes that there is no God.

Three, two, one.

That is an atheist.

A group who put human beings at the centre of all decisions and not God.

Three, two, one.

They are the humanists.

We've had lots in that bottom corner, haven't we? Next one then.

The person or this person believe that religion oppresses the poor.

Three, two, one.

Remember to point at the correct answer.

It was Karl Marx.

This person believe that people need religion to feel comfort.

Three, two, one.

Point your finger.

It was Sigmund Freud.

Very well done.

So what I'd like you to do is now pause the video, have a look at my arguments for and against the existence of God.

Look at it, then close your laptop or turn your phone off, try and write as much as you can from what you can remember, then have another look and check how many you managed to get right.

And if you think, oh no, I forgot something, I forgot humanism, then add all the things that you missed when you re-cover it and then go through the whole process again.

So keep repeating it until have got the correct arguments for and against the existence of God.

Now, without looking at your notes, write down which ones you think are missing.

Now, do the same again, without looking at your notes, write down which ones are missing.

This is the Marxist Theory of Religion.

So it starts off, lots of religions offer false comfort to the poor and the powerless in society.

Lots of religious beliefs support the rich and powerful in society.

Therefore, religion has probably been created by the rich to control the poor.

Also, religious beliefs are unscientific.

You can't provide evidence from a repeatable experiment for the existence of God.

We should only believe what we have scientific evidence for.

Therefore, God doesn't exist.

Now, what I'd like you to do is copy and complete this with the missing words.

You've got the words on the side of the slide to help you.

When you're ready, you can resume the slide.

Again, I'd like you to copy, you've got less information now, and try and fill in the rest of the slides.

Now, we're going to look at equality.

Remember, equality is about being treated equally in rights and opportunities.

So a quick reminder, equality is being treated equally in rights and opportunities.

The opposite of equality is discrimination, which is being treated differently because of gender, ethnicity, religion, or disability, and human rights are basic rights and freedoms that actually belong to every person, but in some countries and some places, not everybody have their human rights upheld.

Let's see how well you remembered these then.

True or false, human rights are about being equal in rights and opportunities.

Is that true or false? Have a thumb up or a thumb down? It is true, well done.

Discrimination is about treating people differently.

That is also true, well done.

Human rights are a series of basic rights and freedoms. That is also true.

Equality is being equal in rights and opportunities.

Well done.

Now, if you remember when we did the lesson on equality, I talked about three different philosophers who had different views about equality.

What I'd like you to do is read through these.

And when you're ready, go on to the next slide.

Now, what I'd like you to do is pause the video, work out which words are missing.

Can you fill in those missing words please? Copy and complete.

Now try the same activity again.

So remove the notes that you've been writing on, copy and complete these quotes.

And now to look at our final topic, which is ethics.

Again, we're going to look at some of the key words.

Firstly, we're going to look at morals, which are personal rules about what is right or wrong; philosophy, which is a love of wisdom or a search for truth; and ethics, a type of moral philosophy that investigates what is right or wrong.

Now, what I'd like you to do to help you remember these words and their definitions, use look, cover, write, check, and repeat.

So write out these key words.

So what you need to do is if you've got a phone, turn the screen off or cover your laptop or computer, then write down as much of the key words and their definitions as you can, then uncover your screen and check whether you got it right or not and then repeat the process.

So if there were things that you didn't remember the first time round, you cover them again and try and write out some more.

Keep doing this until you have got the accurate key words and definitions.

Now, we're going to do the same with the other key words to do with ethics.

So we have consequentialist, which is someone or something that is deemed as moral based on the consequence; intentionalist, which is someone or something that is deemed as moral based on the intention; and virtue, which is behaviour that shows high moral standards.

Once again, I would like you to pause and use look, cover, write, check, and repeat to write out these key words.

When you are ready, you can resume the video.

So what I like you to do is decide for each statement whether it is utilitarianism, a virtue ethics, or the categorical theory.

What I'd like you to do is after I've counted down to three or counted down from three, you need to point your finger at the correct answer.

I have a very big finger here.

So utilitarianism, virtue theory, or the categorical theory, it doesn't make sense for everyone to steal.

Three, two, one.

That is categorical theory, very well done.

The greatest happiness principle.

Three, two, one.

It's utilitarianism, well done.

Highest moral behaviour, so it's an idea about having the highest moral behaviour.

Three, two, one.

That is virtue theory, well done.

A mixture of intentionalist and consequentialist ideas.

Three, two, one.

That was, of course, the virtue theory.

Do the most logical thing if everybody did it.

So the rule is to do the most logical thing if everyone followed that.

Three, two, one.

Categorical theory.

So the three theories that we've just looked at are utilitarianism, the categorical theory, and virtue ethics.

Have a read through those.

Hopefully, this is helping you remember.

Now, I would like you to pause the video to complete your task.

Resume the video when you are finished.

Now, I would like you to please pause and copy and complete the three theories.

And finally, I would like you to please pause and copy down these three theories.

Please don't look at your previous notes because the whole point is that you are deliberately trying to practise and memorise these theories without looking at your notes.

Finally, I would like you to categorise these theories.

And what I mean by this is, can you decide are they absolutist, relativist, consequentialist, or intentionalist? So utilitarianism is relativist and consequentialist because the decision depends on that particular unique situation, but this decision is always about the greatest consequence.

Categorical theory is absolutist.

It's about always following the same rule and it is about your intentions, being the most important point morally.

And virtue ethics is both relativist, intentionalist, and consequentialist because it considers the intention, which is obviously about an intentionalist.

It's about the consequence, which is relative and consequentialist.

Now, what I'd like you to do is pause the video.

I'd like you to copy out the following table, thought experiments that we looked at in the previous lessons on virtue theory, utilitarianism, and categorical theory.

What I'd like you to do is as I go through the different thought experiments, I want you to write down in each column what you think a person following that theory would do in each scenario.

Scenario one is Jim and the Indians.

If you can remember, Jim is walking through the woods when he finds some Indians surrounded by a group of soldiers.

They are about to kill them.

Jim steps in to try and make this better, but unfortunately what happens is the soldiers say that if he doesn't kill one of the Indians, then they will kill all of them.

Jim must decide whether to kill an Indian to save the rest of them or to stand back and do nothing which will result in everyone dying.

What I'd like you to do now is pause the video and write down each column what you think a utilitarian, a Kantian, and a virtue ethicist would do in each situation.

We will go through the answers at the end of the thought experiment.

The second thought experiment is the train dilemma.

Once again, you might remember this from previous lessons.

There was a train driver.

She's going on a long journey, and she suddenly notices when she gets to a fork in the tracks, where it could go one direction or the other, the direction she's supposed to be going in, there are five people tied to the tracks.

On the other direction, there is one person tied to the tracks.

She can press the lever, which means that she will change the direction that she goes in.

What should she do? Should she continue on the route that she was already going and kill five people? Or does she go and change route and kill one person? Once again, pause the video, read through the table and write your answers, what would a utilitarian do, what would a Kantian do, and what would a virtue ethicist do? The final thought experiment is the Nazi at the door.

You imagine that you are born in Germany and it is now the late 1930s so the Nazi Party are in charge.

The family that lives next door to you, the Jewish family, have had to go into hiding because if they don't, they will be arrested and more than likely taken to a concentration camp or an extermination camp.

You allow them to hide in your attic.

The very next day, a member of the secret Nazi police, the Gestapo, knocks on the door and asks if you know of their whereabouts.

What do you do? What do you think a utilitarian would do, what would a Kantian do, and what would a virtue ethicist do? Pause the video and write down your answer.

When you're ready, please resume the video and we will go through the answers.

So what I'd now like you to do is pause the video in a second to go through the answers.

So for Jim and the Indians, the virtue theorist would kill one of the Indians to save the lives of the others, so would a utilitarian.

Somebody following categorical theory, however, would not kill because they are intentionalists and intentionalists wouldn't do something like killing because of the intention.

Also remember in the categorical theory, it is about whether something would work if everybody did it and it is not logical to kill anybody because if everybody were to kill, there would be no people.

For the train dilemma, a virtue theorist would move the lever, a utilitarian would move the lever and therefore kill one person rather than five.

But once again with the categorical theory, the train driver would not move the lever if they were following categorical theory because their action would result in the death of a person.

And finally, for the Nazi at the door, somebody following virtue theory would lie, so would a utilitarian.

And once again, the categorical theory, they would not lie because it doesn't make sense for everyone to lie.

Whereas for the other two, the consequence of lying would save peoples' lives.

So that would be seen as the greater good or the most virtuous and compassionate thing to do.

As it is your final lesson, I would just like to say a big bye.

Thanks so much for watching my videos.

I really hope you've learned something.

And if you've enjoyed having a taste on philosophy and ethics, don't forget this is what usually the religious studies A-level is all about.

So we do these kinds of things but in more detail.

I think there are so many people that would learn so much and enjoy so much from it.

And please, if this is the first time you looked at one of my videos, then go back and look at some of the others.

Thank very much for watching.

Bye.

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