\input{../include.tex} \begin{document} \title{RS Philosophy and Ethics GCSE Notes} \author{Pietro Miozzo 5A 5.1} \maketitle \tableofcontents \setcounter{tocdepth}{3} \pagebreak \section{The Nature of God} \subsection{Christianity} \subsubsection{Christian beliefs about the nature of God} \begin{itemize} \item Christians are monotheists \item God is unlike any other things that exist and he is very difficult to describe: \begin{multicols}{2} \begin{itemize} \item Eternal \item Not limited to physical time and space; can be everywhere at once \item Creator of everything and there is a purpose for it \item Perfectly good and perfectly loving \item Interested in how people behave and wants them to treat each other properly \item All-knowing (omniscient) and all-powerful (omnipotent) \item God will judge each individual \end{itemize} \end{multicols} \item The Trinity shows that God can be regarded in three different ways by humans, but he is still the same single and only God: \begin{itemize} \item God the Father \begin{itemize} \item Creator of all that exists \item Personal and rational \item ``God of the Old Testament'' \item An abyss of sentient being \item Called ``Father" to show that he is creator'' \end{itemize} \item God the Son \begin{itemize} \item The incarnation of God (Jesus) \item Jesus is God, but God is not all Jesus \item The knowledge/consciousness (Logos) came into human form; the divine mind in human God/Jesus \end{itemize} \item God the Holy Spirit \begin{itemize} \item The eternal part of Jesus within all humans (or all sentient beings?) \item Comes from when Jesus ascended into heaven (\textbf{ascension}) and God sent the Holy Spirit to live on in the lives of Christians/people \item A reminder of your duty and also your motivation \item Only ``active" in Christians \item Often portrayed as a dove in Christian art, also sign of peace and hope \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \item Quotes/stories \begin{itemize} \item Psalm 136: ``His love endures forever" \item Psalm 130: ``But with you there is forgiveness" \item Psalm 130: ``For with the Lord there is unfailing love" \item Lord's Prayer: ``Forgive us from our trespasses" \item \textbf{Abraham and Isaac:} God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Isaac realizes that something is not right, but Abraham continues. Just as he is about to slit his son's throat, an angel arrives and tells him to stop and not sacrifice him. \textbf{This story shows God's forgiveness, his ability to command, his power, him as a provider, perhaps cruel as well?} \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \subsubsection{Why do Christians believe in God?} \begin{itemize} \item Christians believe in God because of two factors: \textbf{reasons stemming from reasoning} and \textbf{causes not directly involving reasoning} \item Reasoning all follows a pattern: something needs explaining, and eventually the best explanation for existential and moral questions is the existence of God (for Christians) \item Arguments for the existence of God: \begin{itemize} \item Cosmological argument \item Teleological argument \item Moral argument \item Argument from experience \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \section{Religion and Science} \subsection{Christianity} \subsubsection{Christian beliefs about the origins of the world and of humanity} \begin{itemize} \item Book of Genesis: ``In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth". \textbf{God is the creator} \item Book of Genesis: ``God said, `let there be light' and there was light". \textbf{God is powerful and there was a purpose for everything: God} \item Genesis describes in two stories how God made the world for all people to live in \begin{itemize} \item Planned everything, made it exactly according to plan (in 7 days and rested on 7th) \item Everything in the world exists for a reason and God has a purpose for it \end{itemize} \item All of the different species were there on earth from the beginning (therefore no evolution) \begin{itemize} \item ``God made the wild animals according to their kinds" \end{itemize} \item Men and women were created as a special creation, made in the image of God, and given the Garden of Eden to live in \begin{itemize} \item ``God created man in his own image" \end{itemize} \item Some Christians regard this story as myth, others as truth: recent Gallup Poll across the whole US found that 45\% of Christian Americans believe that the world was created in 7 days 10000 years ago by God (these are Creationists) \end{itemize} \subsubsection{Christian views about people and animals} \begin {itemize} \item People are different from the rest of the animal world, according to Christianity. \begin{itemize} \item People have souls whereas animals do not \item Animals are made just as plants are made: with no soul \end{itemize} \item ``God created man in his own image" \item When Adam is created: ``God \ldots Breathed he breath of life into his nostrils" \item Humans made from dust (all the same thing?): ``from dust you came and to dust you shall return" is said on Ash Wednesday \item Soul does not die when body dies: it can live on after death \begin{itemize} \item Human life is sacred because it is eternal \item Humans have special rights and duties, which animals do not share \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \subsubsection{Christian ideas about stewardship} \begin{itemize} \item Christians and Jews believe that humans were put on earth to act as ``stewards" \begin{itemize} \item A steward is someone who takes care of others \item Humans were given this caretaking role as soon as they were created: ``Let us create humankind in our image\ldots and let them have dominion\ldots over every creeping thing\ldots upon the earth" \end{itemize} \item This means that Christians believe that they should take responsibility for the earth and all the species on it \begin{itemize} \item They should recognize that the earth belongs to God, that they are looking after it for God, and that it is just "on loan" to them from God \begin{itemize} \item Psalm 24: ``The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it" \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \item Christianity teaches that people should not take more than what is necessary from the earth. \begin{itemize} \item They should not be greedy \item They should concentrate on God and caring for the poor \& needy rather than judging success in life by the amount they consume \item ``Life is more than food and the body more than clothing" Jesus (Luke 12) \end{itemize} \item People in rich countries consume far more than they need to even though the Bible teaches against greed, and are using up the world's natural resources much faster than they can be replaced \end{itemize} \subsubsection{Christian responses to environmental issues} \begin{itemize} \item Christians have not always been worried about environmental issues \begin{itemize} \item Some people even blame Christianity forgiving people the impression that they have the right to do whatever they want with the world because of the Biblical teaching that people should rule over other species \end{itemize} \item In general, the Church has not encouraged people to be more aware of environmental issues, and the organizations that have done the most to help protect the environment have not been Christian \item Recently, Christians have become much more aware that the environment is in danger \begin{itemize} \item Many Christians now believe that they have a duty, as ``stewards" to take better care of the world \begin{itemize} \item Join organizations such as Greenpeace or the WWF \item Recycle or reuse rather than throwing away or buying new \item Public transport instead of cars \item Campaigning or voting for candidates with an environmentally-aware agenda \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \subsection{Hinduism} \subsubsection{Hindu ideas about the origins of the world and humanity} \begin{itemize} \item Hinduism teaches that the origins of the world and of humanity are mysterious \item The writer of the Nasadiya Sukta assumes that there must have been a time when there was absolutely nothing: ``There was neither non-existence nor existence then" \item It is possible that God created the world, but then it is possible that not even God knows: ``Only he knows--or perhaps he does not know" (Nasadiya Sukta) \item The Nasadiya Sukta expreses feelings of awe and wonder, but does not try and give any suggestions to what could have happened \item Purusha Sukta explains the creation by using a mythical story about a ``Cosmic Man" \begin{itemize} \item He is sacrificed in order to make the world \begin{itemize} \item This is why Hindus make sacrifices within their homes as well as in temples \item Sacrifice is thus seen as the other side of creation \end{itemize} \item Different parts of the ``Cosmic Man" make up different parts of the universe: ``His mouth became the Brahmin\ldots" \item This hymn shows how the formation of the social classes--\textbf{varnas}--were formed. \item Hymn suggests that people were formed as we know them today: no change from Neanderthal \&c \item All species were formed as well: no suggestion of evolution, {\sc but} the cyclical ideas of life in Hinduism fit well with the theory of evolution that everything is changing (Hindus: things come into being, grow, change, fade away and die, then the cycle starts again) \end{itemize} \item Hindus generally do not have problems with scientific theories on the creation of the world \&c as Christians might because in Hinduism, people do not have to follow a set of beliefs: because there are no rules about what Hindus have to believe, they can choose which beliefs to follow, and can mix scientific and religious beliefs without any problems (unless they are against them) \item Hindu writings do not agree on the creation of the world, and many of them are regarded as myths to explain something very difficult (especially for children) \begin{itemize} \item Some say that the world was created by God \item Some say that after the world was \emph{formed} the Gods were \emph{created} \item Some say that the world is eternal and has always existed \item \textbf{The central message of Hindu teaching is that the origins of the world are a mystery and that this question can nor will be ever completely answered} \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \section{Death and the Afterlife} \subsection{Christianity} \subsubsection{Christian beliefs about the soul} \begin{itemize} \item Christians believe that a person is not just made from their mind and body: they also have an immortal soul \begin{itemize} \item In Genesis God created humanity and set them apart from all other living creatures: ``God created man in his own image" \item When animals were made, God just formed them ``out of the ground" \begin{itemize} \item Animals have no soul, and this is why most Christians are fine with eating meat \end{itemize} \item When Adam was made, God formed him ``from the dust of the ground and breathed into hist nostrils the breath of life" \end{itemize} \item As early Christian teachings developed, Greek ideas from philosophers such as Plato were included \begin{itemize} \item Idea that soul is separate from the body \item Idea that soul does not perish with the body and mind \end{itemize} \item St. Paul: the body and the soul are often in conflict \begin{itemize} \item Soul wants to be with God and do the right things, but sometimes the body gets in the way \item The body is only interested in material pleasures such as foods and luxuries, sometimes preventing the soul from doing the right thing \item When a person's body dies, their ``spiritual body" lives on forever \begin{itemize} \item This is like Jesus, who lives on forever after having been raised from the dead: the \textbf{resurrection} was a proof of life after death for Paul \item When Christians die, they can expect to be raised back to life by the power of God in Jesus's example: ``the body that is sown perishable, it is raised imperishable" and ``if there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body" (physical bodies are imperfect and will die, whereas the spiritual bodies will be raised from the dead) \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \subsubsection{Understanding of heaven, hell, and purgatory} \begin{itemize} \item In the past, Christians have concentrated a great deal on teachings of heaven and hell but nowadays, Christians tend to focus on the belief of life after death in heaven \item Hell \begin{itemize} \item Modern beliefs: a poetic way of describing a life without God, and are not to be taken literally as they are symbolic \item Middle Ages: very preoccupied with hell, as they believed it to be a place of eternal torture for the abandoners of Christianity and the wrong-doers \item Middle Ages: Used hell as a way of getting people to join the church; if they did not join they would burn in the fires of hell \item Although there are still some Christians today who choose to focus on the beliefs of an eternal fiery afterlife in hell, most Christians choose to concentrate on the message of a loving and forgiving God \end{itemize} \item Heaven \begin{itemize} \item The soul goes to eternal life with God in heaven \item \textbf{Apostles Creed} states the Christian hope of life after death: ``I believe in\ldots the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting" \item At the end of life, the soul is raised from the dead and lives on in a new existence with God in heaven \item Some Christians believe that one day, the world will begin to end and come into its Last Days, and then people's bodies will also be brought back to life \begin{itemize} \item This is why these Christians prefer to be buried rather than cremated \begin{itemize} \item Most others believe that they should be cremated, since heaven is perfect they will live with new, perfect bodies and will not need their old ones anymore \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \item Christians accept that it is difficult to describe heaven with words \begin{itemize} \item The kind of existence there would be completely different from existence here \item They accept that they will not know until they see it, but are sure that it will be a place free from evil and suffering, and eternal with God (they find this belief of heaven comforting despite not knowing what it actually is) \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \item Purgatory \begin{itemize} \item Roman Catholic teaching says that purgatory is a state for people who are not completely ready to go into heaven after death \item Their souls stay there until they are free from sin \item Roman catholics often pray for the souls of people who have died that they sot have to stay too long in purgatory (sometimes a matter of years, sometimes thousands of years) \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \subsubsection {God as judge} \begin{itemize} \item Christians believe that God knows people better that they even know themselves \item They believe that God will judge them in accordance to their actions \begin{itemize} \item God will judge them based on how much concern they have shown for the less well-off \end{itemize} \item There will be a Day of Judgement when God will divide people into two groups (Parable of the Sheep and Goats) \begin{itemize} \item Those who have cared about the poor and the needy will be rewarded with eternal life with God \item Those who have been selfish and have ignored the needs of others will be punished and sent away from God to hell \item ``They will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life" (Matthew 25) \end{itemize} \item Christianity still teaches that God is perfectly loving and forgiving \begin{itemize} \item If they have done something wrong and are truly sorry about it, they will be forgiven because of their faith in Christ Jesus \item St. Paul assured the new followers of Christianity that they would not be harshly judged, as they believed in the Christian Faith: ``There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8) \end{itemize} \item Christians believe that moral behavior is linked to life after death \item Christians believe that the death of Jesus Christ gave people the opportunity to be forgiven, but only if they have acknowledged their wrongdoings and promise to make up for it in the future with better behavior \end{itemize} \subsubsection{Christian funerals} \begin{itemize} \item Christians see death as a time for sadness \item Christian funeral service reminds people that death is not the end: there is still the possibility of eternal afterlife with God: service starts with ``\textbf{I am the resurrection and the life}" \item Most churches have a short service \begin{itemize} \item Bible passage read (often chosen to emphasize the hope of eternal life \item Prayers are said asking for comfort for the bereaved, and to give thanks for the life of the deceased \item There is sometimes a brief talk remembering the life and character of the deceased \item Hymns might be sung (about resurrection, a hymn reminding people of the presence of God, or a hymn of particular personal significance to the family and friends \item Although it is a sad occasion, the minister tries to emphasize the good things in life rather than let the occasion get too downbeat \item The deceased might be cremated or buried in a coffin after the service, and the minister will pray that God be merciful to the person's soul and reminds the congregation that God gives life \emph{and} takes it away \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \subsection{Hinduism} \subsubsection{Hindu beliefs about Atman and karma} \begin{itemize} \item Within each person, there is an eternal ``soul": \textbf{Atman} \item Each person has a physical body that grows old and dies, but the Atman lives on eternally and is reborn into a different body as new life \item The Atman is perfect: cannot be killed, does not age, cannot be damaged, and cannot fall ill \item The Atman can be reborn thousands of times over many many years \item The behavior of a person throughout their life will influence whether they get good or bad \textbf{karma} \item The Atman is born and reborn again and again as long as the cycle of \textbf{samsara} continues: the Atman is \textbf{reborn}/\textbf{reincarnated} \item Hindus say that the feeling of ``d\'{e}j\`{a} vu" or a prodigious child is the result of a past life \begin{itemize} \item These experiences are faint memories of the past lives/places visited/people met/skills learnt \item Those who develop a skill in meditation and concentration can sometimes bring back much clearer memories of past lives \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \subsubsection{Samsara and rebirth} \begin{itemize} \item \textbf{Samsara refers to the way in which the Atman wanders from one body to the next in a long series of different lives} \item This is a long cycle \item Non-Hindus still enjoy the idea of an endless series of lives, but Hindus believe that the cycle of samsara is tiring and that their ultimate ideal is to escape from it and reach \textbf{moksha} \begin{itemize} \item \textbf{Moksha is the release of the Atman from samsara: rather than becoming another person, the soul rejoins and becomes a part of God} \item Moksha can be achieved by devotion to God and by trying to gain wisdom and understanding \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \subsubsection{Rebirth and moral behavior} \begin{itemize} \item Everyone's behavior in this life affects what will happen in the next \item Every action has ``fruits" or consequences: this is the \textbf{law of karma} \item Good deeds bring rewards for the person, bad deeds bring punishment \begin{itemize} \item This does not always happen in the same lifetime: punishment or reward can happen later on in samsara since karma can be carried on from life to life \item The punishment could be a disability or severe depravity, or to be reborn into a different caste, or into a plant/animal \begin{itemize} \item Some have argued that this would make Hindus treat the poor or disabled badly, as they have earned their misfortunes through bad deeds: other people's problems are their own fault \item Generally, Hindus would say that it is still wrong to treat them like that, and that you could earn good karma by helping them \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \item Moral behavior affects life after death because a person's fate depends on their karma (thus influencing where they are born into) \begin{itemize} \item This is why Hindus try and build up good karma \item They can build up good karma by \begin{multicols}{2} \begin{itemize} \item Performing prayers properly \item Being kind to others \item Giving to charity \end{itemize} \end{multicols} \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \subsubsection{Hindu funeral rites} \begin{itemize} \item Funeral happens on same day of death if possible: Hinduism originated in desert/hot climates, so the body would decompose quickly \item Undertakers are of same sex as deceased \item Dead are cremated unless they are a pregnant woman, a child under the age of puberty, or a person regarded as a saint: these people are thought to have sacred qualities so their Atman does not need to be released \item There is a funeral procession until the cremation ground, led by the eldest son (if not available, other arrangements are made) \item Pyre is filled with scented woods and perfumes, the deceased is palced with feet facing south (to represent Yama) and the fire is lit by the son \item The mourners stay until the body is completely cremated, and the ashes are scattered, preferably in the Ganges \item After the ceremony there are 10 days of religious ceremonies with offerings given to help the soul through to the next life \item Hindus believe that although death is a sad and painful thing, the funeral ceremony helps the family and friends of the deceased come to terms with death because they can see for themszelves that the person really has died and that the body has become an empty shell which is no longer needed \end{itemize} \section{Good and Evil} \subsection{Christianity} \subsubsection{Why is there evil in the world?} \begin{itemize} \item This question has always presented problems for Christians \item Even though God is omnibenevolent and omnipotent, bad things still happen in the world \item There are two kinds of evil (that then lead to suffering): \begin{itemize} \item \textbf{Moral evil} \begin{itemize} \item The kind of wrong that happens because of human wickedness \end{itemize} \item \textbf{Natural evil} \begin{itemize} \item Natural causes, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, disease, or earthquakes \item Can cause a great deal of suffering even though they do not seem to be directly linked to human fault \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \item Many questions are raised: \begin{itemize} \item Why do some people who do good in their lives have terrible things happen to them while those who care about no-one but themselves sometimes lead long and prosperous lives? \item How can Christians continue to believe in an all-loving all-powerful God if there is so much wrong in the world? \item Why does it seem that God does nothing to prevent evils? \item Was evil created by God when he created the world, or did someone/thing else? \item Is God even able to prevent evil (especially if it might have been created by someone/thing else)? \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \subsubsection{Different beliefs about God and the Devil} \begin{itemize} \item Some Christians believe that there is evil in the world because of the \textbf{Devil} (sometimes called Beelzebub or Satan) \item The Devil is believed to be God's enemy, and he rules in hell to make humanity shun all things good \begin{itemize} \item According to early Christian doctrine, the Devil was created good but then became jealous of God and decided to fight against him instead of being obedient (similar to the ``fallen angel" story) \end{itemize} \item The Devil is prominent in several Bible stories \begin{itemize} \item \textbf{Creation story:} Adam and Eve were tempted to eat the forbidden apples by the serpent, widely thought to portray the Devil \item \textbf{The Book of Job:} The Devil causes Job all sorts of suffering but Job does not give up his faith \item \textbf{Luke 4:} Jesus was tempted by the Devil, who said that he would give him ``authority and splendor", but Jesus refused \end{itemize} \item The devil is traditionally shown in pictures as being red, with horns, and a forked tail \item Some Christians believe that suffering and wrong-doing in the world is because of the devil's power of encouragement \item \textbf{Not all Christians believe that the Devil is a real person}, they say that it is a poetic way of describing why people do not always do the right thing \item The concept of the Devil does not provide a good or definitive answer to Christians to the problem of evil (if God really is omnipotent, why would he let the Devil behave like he does, or even exist?) \end{itemize} \subsubsection{Some Christian responses to the problem of evil} \end{document}