WJEC/Eduqas RS for A2/Yr2: Religion and Ethics (DRAFT)

WJEC / Eduqas Religious Studies for A Level Year 2 and A2 Religion and Ethics

For instance, Pelagius stated in his religious free will doctrine: ‘Our most excellent creator (God) wished us to be able to do either (be good or bad)’. Pelagius is saying that God has given humanity the free will to do good works or to sin. This is a point Pelagius argued when he stated: ‘this very capacity to do evil is also good – good, I say, because it makes the good part better by making it voluntary and independent’. Therefore, Pelagius is clearly arguing that human ideas of moral responsibility are not an illusion. Jacobus Arminius made a similar point when he stated: ‘God has limited his control in correspondence with man’s freedom’. Arminius is arguing that God does not force his ‘will’, via the Holy Spirit, onto people. This is because the vital part of morality, for God, is that the person makes a free-willed choice to decide not to sin and instead follow the path of righteousness. Therefore, Arminius is clearly arguing that human ideas of moral responsibility are not an illusion. However, it could be argued that Arminius’ argument is watering down the worth of human moral responsibility because the Holy Spirit acts as the person’s moral guide, it does not come from their own ‘will’. Again, the worth of human responsibility is also emphasised by the libertarian philosopher Sartre. Human ideas of moral responsibility are vital because in essence, according to Sartre, it is all humanity has. People cannot blame their values on anything other than their own free will; otherwise this would be just an example of ‘bad faith’. As Sartre stated: ‘man is not free not to be free’; moral value is purely the result of the person’s own ‘willed’ moral choice . Sartre is clearly arguing that human ideas of moral responsibility are not an illusion. This is supported further by humanist psychologists like Carl Rogers. Rogers makes it clear that all people can self- actualise and therefore achieve their full potential, including developing their own free willed ideas on moral responsibility. Therefore, further supporting the idea that moral responsibility is not an illusion. Another line of argument to support that moral responsibility is an illusion can be a consideration of how the law courts judge actions. For example, American lawyer Clarence Darrow defended two intelligent university students, from affluent backgrounds, who had been charged with the murder of a boy from a much less affluent background. Darrow stated in the trial: ‘Punishment as punishment is not admissible unless the offender has the free will to select this course’. Darrow’s line of deterministic argument appears to have been successful because the killers’ sentences were life imprisonment and not the death penalty. The defence lawyer at the murder of case of James Bulger, in 1993, used a similar line of defence. He argued that the two defendants had been predetermined to carry out the murder because they had been allowed to play violent video games and watch violent films from a young age. They were just repeating what they had seen. Therefore, it can be argued that moral responsibility is just an illusion because people just repeat behaviour they are taught from a young age. The above point can be countered because the idea that people have free will, and therefore that people have moral responsibility, is enshrined in the UK legal system. The criminal courts accept what is known as ‘ rational choice theory ’, unless there is a very specific reason not to, as for example, certified mental illness. Rational choice theory is the belief that people are reasoning agents who freely weigh up means and ends, costs and benefits, and make freely willed rational choices when committing an illegal act. Therefore, a court is considered right to punish such people when found guilty of an illegal act. For example, after the 2011 riots in several British cities, in response to the death of Mark Duggan, 1566 people were punished by the British justice system. This is because it was accepted by the courts that each of these individuals acted rationally through their own free will. This can be seen from the comments made by Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, when he was considering appeals against the lengthy jail sentences for some of the people involved in the riots: ‘Those who deliberately participate in disturbances of this magnitude … are committing aggravated crimes’, i.e. the people were committing crimes that they were fully

Key quotes For to act by necessity and in such a way that one cannot avoid the act does not seem to be meritorious or blameworthy…it is not only contrary to faith but it overturns all the principles of moral philosophy. (Aquinas) …. man must rely upon his own fallible will and moral insight. He cannot escape choosing. (Sartre) Punishment as punishment is not admissible unless the offender has the free will to select this course. (Darrow) Key term Rational choice theory: the legal theory that people are reasoning agents who freely weigh up means and ends, costs and bene ts, and therefore make freely willed rational choices when committing an illegal act

DRAFT

2011 British riots

AO2 Activity List some conclusions that could be drawn from the AO2 reasoning from the above text; try to aim for at least three different possible conclusions. Consider each of the conclusions and collect brief evidence to support each conclusion from the AO1 and AO2 material for this topic. Select the conclusion that you think is most convincing and explain why it is so. Try to contrast this with the weakest conclusion in the list, justifying your argument with clear reasoning and evidence.

Overmatter

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