Component 01

Philosophy of Religion

245 questions in the guide, across 14 subtopics. More from this topic

1. Aristotle: the four causes and the Prime Mover

   Apply Aristotle's four causes to a bronze statue.

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   The material cause is the bronze. The formal cause is the shape and proportions that make it a statue of that particular figure rather than a lump of metal. The efficient cause is the sculptor and the act of casting. The final cause is the purpose it serves, such as commemorating a hero or adorning a temple.

2. Soul, mind and body

   What is Descartes' argument from divisibility?

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   Bodies can always be divided: any physical object has parts and can in principle be cut. The mind, he argues, has no parts at all, since when a limb is lost nothing is subtracted from the thinking self. If one thing is divisible and the other is not, they cannot be the same thing, so mind and body must be distinct in nature.

3. Anselm and the ontological argument

   How does Anselm define God at the start of the ontological argument?

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   He defines God as that than which nothing greater can be conceived. This is deliberately not a list of attributes but a formula: whatever it would be greater to be, God is. Anselm thinks even someone who denies God's existence must understand this much, since otherwise there would be nothing for the denial to be about.

4. Kant's criticisms of the ontological argument

   What does Kant say about necessity in the ontological argument?

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   He argues that necessity attaches to judgements rather than to things. The most the argument establishes is a conditional: if such a being exists, then it exists necessarily. That leaves entirely open whether the condition is ever met, and no amount of analysis of a concept can settle whether anything instantiates it.

5. Omnipotence, omniscience and benevolence

   How does Aquinas answer the paradox of the stone?

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   That omnipotence extends only to what is logically possible, and a stone too heavy for an omnipotent being to lift is a self-contradiction rather than a thing.

Component 02

Religion and Ethics

227 questions in the guide, across 12 subtopics. More from this topic

1. Aquinas and the precepts of natural law

   Where does human law fit into Aquinas' four tiers, and what is it?

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   Human law is the actual legislation made by states and rulers: statutes, codes and customs. It should be a working-out of natural law for particular circumstances, filling in details that natural law leaves open, such as which side of the road to drive on. Its authority is derivative, not independent.

2. Aquinas and the precepts of natural law

   List the five primary precepts of natural law.

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   They are: protecting and preserving life; an orderly society; the worship of God; the education of children; and reproduction. Students often remember them with the mnemonic POWER. Aquinas presents them as goods that any rational person, reflecting on human nature, will recognise as worth pursuing.

3. Fletcher's propositions and working principles

   In situation ethics, what is meant by relativism as a working principle?

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   The absolute rules of Christian morality are made relative to the situation: they are relativised, not abolished. Fletcher is clear that this is not the claim that anything goes, because one thing stays absolute, namely love. Everything else becomes a variable measured against it.

4. Applying and evaluating situation ethics

   What is the consequentialist objection to situation ethics?

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   That predicting which outcome is most loving requires knowledge of the future that no one has.

5. Applying and evaluating situation ethics

   Give one strength of situation ethics.

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   It treats each situation and person individually, which avoids the harshness of applying a rule that does not fit the case.

Components 03–07

Developments in Christian Thought

205 questions in the guide, across 12 subtopics. More from this topic

Components 03–07

Developments in Islamic Thought

222 questions in the guide, across 12 subtopics. More from this topic

Components 03–07

Developments in Jewish Thought

250 questions in the guide, across 15 subtopics. More from this topic

1. Debate over the Principles and Jewish belief

   How do Orthodox and Reform Judaism differ on the authority of the Principles?

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   Orthodox Judaism treats them as a summary of binding belief, while Reform Judaism regards them as one medieval formulation rather than a test of Jewish identity.

2. Debate over the Principles and Jewish belief

   What is the argument that Judaism is defined by practice rather than belief?

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   That halakhah governs what a Jew does and Jewish identity rests on descent and observance, so a creed sits awkwardly with how the tradition actually works.

Components 03–07

Developments in Buddhist Thought

218 questions in the guide, across 12 subtopics. More from this topic

Components 03–07

Developments in Hindu Thought

217 questions in the guide, across 12 subtopics. More from this topic