Click the link here to discover more free lessons or to subscribe. Free will and determinism is a major philosophical problem that has bewildered some of the most famous thinkers of all time. In brief, the problem is probably best articulated like this: experience suggests all events are caused by prior events (in other words, they’re determined by things that happened in the past), but if they’re determined before they happen then people can’t act freely. And yet we feel free. This lesson covers what the problem is, how it works, and why it’s important. Click the link here to access the lesson Prezi presentation.

Click the link here to discover more free lessons or to subscribe. The allegory of the cave can be roughly divided into two halves. The first half involves the character of Socrates painting a mental picture for his conversational sparring partner, Glaucon, and involves the most famous imagery from the passage: the prisoners in the cave. The second half of the allegory involves a prisoner escaping the cave to discover the outside world. According to Plato, the escapee is finally seeing reality. This lesson covers what the allegory is, how it works, and why it’s important. Click the link here to access the lesson Prezi presentation.

Click the link here to discover more free lessons or to subscribe. First and foremost, Plato’s theory of Forms is a theory, but it’s hotly debated because he never systematically outlined it. Plato divulged the theory of Forms in a piecemeal fashion, scattering references throughout his works (e.g. Meno, the Phaedo, and the Republic) whenever the need arose. Consequently, scholars of Plato have to follow a trail of breadcrumbs to reconstruct his theory. This lesson covers what the theory is, how it works, and why it’s important. Click the link here to access the lesson Prezi presentation.

Click the link here to discover more free lessons or to subscribe. One of John Stuart Mill’s most gripping claims is that everyone’s a utilitarian because every normative ethic was originally founded on the principle of utility; just as we can’t escape our human nature, we can’t escape utilitarianism. Of course, critics range several robust objections against it, but none have proved fatal to its popularity. This lesson covers the arguments for and against utilitarianism, how they work, and why they’re important. Click the link here to access the lesson Prezi presentation.

Click the link here to discover more free lessons or to subscribe. Eternalism is the belief that the past, present and future exist in some way that’s theoretically accessible; we may not be able to get at them, but they’re out there. Just as objects occupy height, width and depth, and events happen within space, eternalists argue that objects and events occupy time in just the same way; and some scholars argue that Anselm of Canterbury held this position. This lesson covers what this position is, how it works, and why it’s important. Click the link here to access the lesson Prezi presentation.

Click the link here to discover more free lessons or to subscribe. This is a lesson on John Robinson’s groundbreaking book, Honest to God, and the key ideas it contains on situation ethics. Although only a single chapter is specifically dedicated to ethical decision-making, John Robinson’s wider ideas on the nature of God and Jesus underpin his opinion on morality and carve out a niche for situation ethics within the Christian tradition. This lesson covers what John Robinson’s key ideas are, how they work, and why they’re important. Click the link here to access the lesson Prezi presentation.

Click the link here to discover more free lessons or to subscribe. Explanatory essay writing is an important skill beyond both A Level as a qualification and Religious Studies as a course. In A Level Religious Studies, explanatory essays are sometimes referred to as “AO1 essays”, which is a reference to the first of Ofqual’s assessment objectives in the subject: to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of religion and belief. This lesson covers what explanatory essays are, how they work, and why they’re important. Click the link here to access the lesson Prezi presentation.

Click the link here to discover more free lessons or to subscribe. Evaluative essays (or AO2 essays) are usually considered more challenging than explanatory essays. Still, they shouldn’t be because they require what is a well-practised skill for most people: the ability to argue. Many of the techniques people use to convince their friends and family of their opinions can be redeployed here with different subject matter. This lesson covers what evaluative essays are, how they work, and why they’re important. Click the link here to access the lesson Prezi presentation.

Click the link here to discover more free lessons or to subscribe. This lesson is all about rebuttals, which are written into evaluative essays to persuade readers of a particular judgement or opinion. A well-written rebuttal achieves this by defending the judgement of the essay writer against specific criticisms and providing counterarguments against them; however, although it defends an opinion, it does so by attacking alternative perspectives. This lesson covers rebuttals are, how they work, and why they’re important. Click the link here to access the lesson Prezi presentation.

Click the link here to discover more free lessons or to subscribe. Cognitivism is the belief that ethical statements make claims about reality so can be categorised as either true or false. The essential thing about cognitivism is that its proponents claim that when people make ethical statements, they’re declaring things about the nature of reality. In other words, they’re saying there are things in the world or in their minds that are actually there. This lesson covers what cognitivism is, how it works, and why it’s important. Click the link here to access the lesson Prezi presentation.

Click the link here to discover more free lessons or to subscribe. This lesson is all about Peter Singer’s take on effective altruism, which is something of a philosophical phenomenon. Although it first arose in the 1970s as a counter-cultural response to consumerism and individualism, it has built real momentum as a movement over the last couple of decades through philanthropic millennials who have been contemplating the age-old question of how to live the good life. This lesson covers what it is, how it works, and why it’s important. Click the link here to access the lesson Prezi presentation.

Click the link here to discover more free lessons or to subscribe. Situation ethics can be loosely described as a teleological ethical theory, which promotes context-specific actions that produce the most loving outcomes for those affected by them. The essential thing to emphasise is this: it’s teleological, which means it’s concerned with the consequences of actions (rather than the actions themselves). This lesson covers what this situation ethics is, how it works, and why it’s important. Click the link here to access the lesson Prezi presentation.