Content and Exam Tips for OCR A Level Religious Studies
1. Philosophical Language and Thought
Learners will study significant concepts and issues in the philosophy of religion through the works of key thinkers
Plato and Aristotle
Content
the philosophical views of Plato, in relation to:
understanding of reality
the Forms
the analogy of the cave
the philosophical views of Aristotle, in relation to:
understanding of reality
the four causes
the Prime Mover
Key Knowledge
Plato’s reliance on reason as opposed to the senses
the nature of the Forms; hierarchy of the Forms
details of the analogy, its purpose and relation to the theory of the Forms
Aristotle’s use of teleology
material, formal, efficient and final causes
the nature of Aristotle’s Prime Mover and connections between this and the final cause
Dualism and Materialism
Content
the philosophical language of soul, mind and body in the thinking of Plato and Aristotle
metaphysics of consciousness, including:
substance dualism
materialism
Key Knowledge
Plato’s view of the soul as the essential and immaterial part of a human, temporarily united with the body
Aristotle’s view of the soul as the form of the body; the way the body behaves and lives; something which cannot be separated from the body
the idea that mind and body are distinct substances
Descartes’ proposal of material and spiritual substances as a solution to the mind/soul and body problem
the idea that mind and consciousness can be fully explained by physical or material interactions
the rejection of a soul as a spiritual substance