One unit, one grid. Three ethical theories — natural moral law, situation ethics and virtue ethics — applied to ten moral issues, from theft and lying to abortion, euthanasia and the treatment of animals.
How far can any ethical theory decide a genuinely hard case — and what does it cost when it does?
Applied ethics is not ten separate topics. It is three theories applied to ten issues — and AQA sets one cell of that grid every year. Pick a sub-topic, then tap an approach to see what it claims and where it is strong or weak.
Tap a circle — or use Tab and Enter — to explore each approach.
Top answers don’t treat the four sub-topics separately. Three ideas run through all of them — spot the thread and you’re writing at the top of the mark scheme.
Natural moral law gives clear guidance but can look inhuman. Situation ethics responds to the case but is unpredictable. Virtue ethics builds character but won’t tell you what to do.
Personhood at the beginning of life, dignity at the end, moral status for animals. The verdict is always downstream of the line.
Aristotle wrote 24 centuries ago, Aquinas in the thirteenth. The textbook tells you to ask what they’d say now — examiners reward it.
The unit splits into four sub-topics. They look different, but each is really asking how far a moral theory can decide a hard case.
Aquinas lets a starving man steal — but will not let anyone lie to save a life. Is that asymmetry defensible?
Conception, 60–80 days, fourteen days, or ‘actual persons’? Every verdict follows from where the line goes.
Natural moral law forbids a dying person from choosing death — yet permits the state to execute. Can both be right?
Aquinas says they have instrumental value only. Sentience, Barad and the Catechism all push back.
Everything for the unit, in one place. Open a sub-topic’s lesson, booklet and podcast, and use the Philosopher Companion across all four.
LINKS list near the bottom, and paste each SharePoint share link once. Buttons with no link show as “Link not set”.
Use your resources in this order. The Philosopher Companion is where you learn to plan both question types.
One podcast per sub-topic — a teacher and student talk each approach through to a judgement. Annotate as you listen.
Read the given text, write the key claims in your own words, then decide the strength and weakness you’d give each approach.
In the Companion: match each term to its meaning, then use it in a sentence. RAG-rate the mastery checklist with the three faces.
Use the Companion frameworks and the guidance-left / your-turn-right scaffolds. Never evaluate what you haven't first explained.
A full review of Applied Ethics — theft and lying, the beginning of life, the end of life, and non-human life and death. Best watched before you start revising, then again to check your recall.
Teacher: paste the YouTube link in the VIDEO_URL line near the bottom of this file. The player then appears here automatically.
Flip a card to check yourself. Switch between key terms (term → meaning) and approaches (approach → claim, strength & weakness), and filter by sub-topic.