Chapter 2: Aristotle

Dialogue (2001) Issue 17

Contains a useful article introducing Aristotle’s thinking.

Raeper, William and Smith, Linda. A Beginner’s Guide to Ideas. Oxford: Lion Publishing, 1991.

This contains some good and very readable sections on Aristotle.

Magee, Bryan. The Story of Philosophy. London: Dorling Kindersley, 1998.

A good general reference book is an excellent introduction to philosophical ideas and it contains a very helpful section about Aristotle. It is also a beautifully illustrated book.

Chapter 3: Soul, mind and body

Aristotle. 1986. De Anima (translation, introduction and notes, Lawson-Tancred, H.).

London: Penguin.

Geach, P. 1969. God and the Soul. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Plato. 2000. ‘Life After Death: An Ancient Greek View’, in Philosophy of Religion:

A Guide and Anthology, Davies, B. (ed.), Oxford: OUP.

Ryle, G. (1949) 2002. The Concept of Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Swinburne, R. 1997. Evolution of the Soul. Oxford: Clarendon Press

Williams, B. 1978. Descartes: The Project of Pure Enquiry. Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey: Humanities Press.

Chapter 4: Arguments based on observation

The cosmological argument remains really popular as a topic in modern philosophy. If you would like to extend your reading beyond what the OCR specification requires, you could look at some of the following books:

Swinburne, Richard. Is There a God? Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.

— The Existence of God. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004 [1991, 1979].

The philosopher Richard Swinburne has put forward what has become a well-known defence of cosmological arguments that avoids some of the weaknesses of Aquinas’s arguments.

Davies, Paul. The Mind of God: The Scientific Basis for a Rational World. London: Simon & Schuster UK, 1993

This covers the Big Bang and cosmology from a scientific perspective.

Mackie, J.L. The Miracle of Theism: Arguments for and against the Existence of God. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982

This presents a modern philosopher’s rejection of the cosmological argument in all its forms. Mackie examines the different forms of cosmological argument and explains some of the weaknesses found in them.

This chapter has explored what you need to know for the OCR AS Religious Studies examination. However, there are many other important developments and ideas in modern writings about the teleological argument. Some areas for investigation are suggested below:

Palmer, Michael. The Question of God. London: Routledge, 2002 [2001]

This is an excellent source of information if you would like to examine the debate concerning Darwin, Hume and Paley in greater depth. Have a look at the chapter on the design argument (pp. 92–179). The book is a great introduction to detailed study of arguments for God’s existence and it also contains extended extracts from the original authors’ writings.

Think (2003) Issues 5 & (2004) Issue 6 (London: Royal Institute of Philosophy) contain some short, well-written philosophical articles from today debating the teleological argument

Dawkins, Richard. The Blind Watchmaker. London: Penguin, 1991 [1986, 1988].

This gives a modern biologist’s view of natural selection and evolution. This book is eloquently written and sets out in clear terms the theory of evolution as well as Dawkins’ own reasons for rejecting teleological arguments and Paley in particular.

Dawkins, Richard. River out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life. London: Phoenix, 1996 [1995]

This a general introduction to Richard Dawkins’s thinking.

Chapter 5: Arguments based on reason: The ontological argument

Dialogue (2003) Issue 20, Frye, J. ‘The Ontological Argument’

This provides an excellent overview of the mistakes students often make when answering questions about the ontological argument. It is written for advanced level students and is well worth reading.

Vardy, Peter. The Puzzle of God. London: Fount Paperbacks, 1995 [1990]

This provides a very readable account of the ontological argument, particularly Anselm’s argument and Gaunilo’s response. It also provides an easy-to-read explanation of analytic and synthetic statements.

Swinburne, Richard. The Existence of God. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004 [1991, 1979]

This provides a detailed and well-articulated examination of arguments in favour of God’s existence. Richard Swinburne examines both arguments for God’s existence and some of the responses these arguments have drawn.

Mackie, J.L. The Miracle of Theism: Arguments for and against the Existence of God. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982

This presents a stimulating account of the ontological argument and the main philosophical debates about its validity. Mackie attempts to answer the arguments for God’s existence put forward by Richard Swinburne.

On Behalf of the Fool provides a clear analysis of Anselm’s argument and includes some other analogies apart from those mentioned in this chapter.

Philosophy of Religion: The Big Questions, ed. Stump, E. and Murray, Michael J. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999

This contains a readily accessible extract from Gaunilo’s writings.

Chapter 6: Religious Experience

There is a wealth of information about religious experiences available on the Alister Hardy Trust website http://studyspiritualexperiences.weebly.com/

James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience. London: Collins, Fontana, 1960 [1902].

— The Varieties of Religious Experience. London: Penguin Classics, 1983. Jerusalem Bible Popular Edition. London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1974.

Palmer, Michael. The Question of God. London: Routledge, 2002 [2001].

This has a very useful overview of James essay ‘The Will to Believe’.

Raeper, William and Smith, Linda. A Beginner’s Guide to Ideas. Oxford: Lion Publishing, 1991 covers religious experience in general.

Vardy, Peter. The Puzzle of God. London: Fount Paperbacks, 1995 [1990].

This clearly presents and explores the argument from religious experience.

Chapter 7: The Problem of Evil

There is a wide range of books available on the problem of evil. A few areas you might follow up are suggested below.

When thinking about the problem of evil in an academic way it is always important to consider the reality of being the victim of great evil and how this relates to any theodicy. You can watch any number of news articles reporting atrocities committed in our world. If you wish to read some books that raise profound questions about humanity’s capacity for evil, read the following:

Wiesel, Elie. Night. London: Penguin, 1981

This the story of Elie Wiesel in the concentration camps of the Second World War.

Hukanovic, Rezak. The Tenth Circle of Hell. Foreword: Wiesel, E. New York, Little Brown, 1997.

This is the story of Hukanovic’s imprisonment during the Bosnian–Serbian conflict of the 1990s.

Swinburne, Richard. Providence and the Problem of Evil. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.

This a detailed and thoughtful examination of the problem of evil. It also sets out his own approach to the problem of evil, which provides a good example of the way one modern Christian philosopher has tackled the problem of evil.

Phillips, D.Z. The Problem of Evil and the Problem of God. London: SCM Press, 2012.

This an excellent attempt to discuss the problem of evil, showing how it is linked to our idea of God.

Stump, E. and Murray, Michael J. (eds). Philosophy of Religion: The Big Questions. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999.

This contains an extract from the great Islamic philosopher Al-Ghazali on the problem of evil.

Dialogue (1998) Issue 11 has a very interesting short article by S. Brichto about Jewish responses to the problem of evil.

Vardy, Peter and Arliss, Julie. The Thinker’s Guide to Evil. Alresford: John Hunt Publishing, 2003. This is an eloquently written examination of the problem of evil and various ways in which people have responded to it. It is a good book to develop your knowledge of this topic for advanced level studies, as it covers many different approaches to the problem of evil.

Chapter 8: What is ethics?

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2005 rev. 2011. Aquinas’ Moral, Political and Legal Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aquinas-moral-political/

Chapter 9: Moral absolutism and moral relativism

Macquarrie, J. and Childress, J. 1986. A New Dictionary of Christian Ethics. London: SCM.

Chapter 10: Natural moral law

Aquinas, T. 1997. ‘Summa Theologiae’, in Basic Writings of Thomas Aquinas, Pegis, A.C. (ed.), Hackett, Indiana: Random House.

Aristotle Physics II 3. http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/physics.2.ii.html (accessed 5 August 2017)

Copleston, F.C. 1955. Aquinas, ch. 5. Middlesex: Penguin.

Hughes, G. 1998. ‘Natural Law’, in Christian Ethics: An Introduction, Hoose, B. (ed.), London: Cassell.

Macquarrie, J. and Childress, J. 1986. A New Dictionary of Christian Ethics. London: SCM.

Pojman, L.P. 2002. Ethics: Discovering Right and Wrong. Toronto: Wadsworth.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 1954–1960. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM (accessed 5 August 2017

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2005 rev. 2011. Aquinas’ Moral, Political and Legal Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aquinas-moral-political/

Chapter 11: Situation ethics

Cook, D. 1983. The Moral Maze. London: SPCK.

Fletcher, J. 1997. Situation Ethics. Westminster: John Knox Press.

Gill, R. 2001. The Cambridge Companion to Christian Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Macquarrie, J. and Childress, J. 1986. A New Dictionary of Christian Ethics. London: SCM.

Messer, N. 2006. Christian Ethics. London: SCM.

Chapter 12: Kantian ethics

Kant, I. 2005. ‘Groundwork of a Metaphysics of Morals’, in The Moral Law, Paton, H.J. (trans.), London: Routledge.

MacIntyre, A. 1968. A Short History of Ethics. London: Routledge.

Norman, R. 1998. The Moral Philosophers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

O’Neill, O. 2013. ‘Kantian Approaches to Some Famine Problems’, in Ethical Theory: An Anthology, Shafer-Landau, R. (ed.). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Pojman, L.P. 2002. Ethics: Discovering Right and Wrong. Toronto: Wadsworth.

Ross, W.D. 1930, 2002. The Right and the Good. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Scruton, R. 1982. Kant. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Ward, K. 1972. The Development of Kant’s View of Ethics. Oxford: Blackwell.

Chapter 13: Utilitarianism

Bentham, J. 1948. An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (ed. Harrison, W.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Gensler, H., Earl, W. and Swindal, J. 2004. Ethics: Contemporary Readings. New York: Routledge (contains original writings of many classic and contemporary philosophers).

Mill, J.S. [1861, 1863], 2002. Utilitarianism. Indianapolis: Hackett.

Norman, R. 1998. The Moral Philosophers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Pojman, L.P. 1989. Ethical Theory. Toronto: Wadsworth.

Pojman, L.P. 2002. Ethics: Discovering Right and Wrong. Toronto: Wadsworth.

Pojman, L.P. 2006. Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong (5th ed.). Belmont, California:

Thomson/Wadsworth.

Singer, P. 1993. Practical Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Smart, J.J.C. and Williams, B. 1973. Utilitarianism: For and Against. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Chapter 14: Euthanasia

Cook, D. 1983. The Moral Maze. London: SPCK.

Glover, J. 1990. Causing Death and Saving Lives. London: Penguin.

Hinman, L. ‘Ethics Updates’, http://ethics.acusd.edu/.

Kuhse, H. and Singer, P. (eds.). 1999. Bioethics – an Anthology. Oxford: Blackwell.

This contains articles by Jonathan Glover, Germain Grisez and Joseph Boyle, James Rachels and Helga Kuhse.

Lafollette, H. (ed.). 2002. Ethics in Practice – an Anthology. Oxford: Blackwell.

Macquarrie, J. and Childress, J. 1986. A New Dictionary of Christian Ethics. London: SCM.

Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. 1980. Declaration on Euthanasia. Rome: s.n.

Singer, P. 1993. Practical Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Singer, P. 1994. Rethinking Life and Death: The Collapse of Our Traditional Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Warnock, M. 1999. An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Ethics. London: Duckworth.

Wilcockson, M. 1999. Issues of Life and Death. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

Chapter 15: Business ethics

Crane, A. and Matten, D. 2003. Business Ethics. Oxford: OUP.

Frederick, R. 1999. A Companion to Business Ethics. Oxford: Blackwell.

Friedmann, M. September 13, 1970. ‘The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits’, in The New York Times Magazine, New York: New York Times.

FTSE4Good [www.ftse.com/products/downloads/F4G-Index-Inclusion-Rules.pdf]

Singer, P. 2004. One World: The Ethics of Globalization. Yale: Yale University Press.

Solomon, R.C. 1993. Ethics and Excellence. New York: Oxford University Press.

Chapter 16: Introduction

Armstrong, K. 2008. The Bible: The Biography. New York: Atlantic Books.

Armstrong, K. 2011. A History of God. New York: Vintage Books.

Grant, J. 1989. White Women’s Christ and Black Women’s Jesus. New York: OUP.

Maccoby, H. 1998. The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity. London: Barnes & Noble.

Mack, R. 1994. The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q & Christian Origins. New York: HarperOne.

Miles, J. 1996. God: A Biography. New York: Vintage Books.

Pullman, P. 2011. The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. London: Canongate Books.

Wesselow, T. De. 2012. The Sign: The Shroud of Turin and the Secret of the Resurrection. London: Viking.

Wilson, A.N. 2003. Jesus. London: Pimlico.

Chapter 17: Augustine’s teaching on human nature

There are many books available on Augustine’s theology. You should certainly read

§385–409 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. As well as the texts in the OCR

checklist you could read some of the following:

Chadwick, H. 1986. Augustine: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University

Press

Hukanovic, R. 1998. The Tenth Circle of Hell: A Memoir of Life in the Death Camps of

Bosnia. London: Abacus.

Wiesel, E. 2008. Night. London: Penguin.

Williams, R. 2016. On Augustine. London: Bloomsbury.

Chapter 18: Death and the afterlife

There are many books concerning religious beliefs about the resurrection, such as Bible commentaries.

Chapman, G. 1994. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paras. 356–368, 1020–1050.

Craig, W.L. 2001. The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus. Oregon: Wipf & Stock. A very interesting examination of questions concerning the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus.

Davies, B. 1993. The Thought of Thomas Aquinas (new ed.). New York: OUP.

Davies, Paul. The Mind of God. London: Penguin, 1993 [1992].

This contains Thomas Aquinas’ views on life after death from his ‘Summa Contra Gentiles’. Brian Davies has published a useful and clear overview of Aquinas’ ideas.

Edwards, P. (ed.). 1992. Immortality. New York: Prometheus Books.

Hick, J. 1985. Death and Eternal Life, Part 3. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

McGrath, A. 2011. Theology: The Basics, Ch. 8. Oxford: Blackwell.

Russell, B. 2004. Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion (2nd ed.). Oxford: Routledge.

Russell, Bertrand. ‘Belief in Life after Death Comes from Emotion Not Reason’ (1957), in Philosophy of Religion: A Guide and Anthology, ed. Davies, Brian. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

This contains ‘Do We Survive Death?’, a challenge to belief in life after death.

Swinburne, R. 1997. Evolution of a Soul (rev. ed.). New York: OUP.

This contains a collection of essays concerning life after death entitled Immortality (ed. P. Edwards).

Chapter 19 Knowledge of God’s existence

Manning, R.E.M. 2015. The Oxford Handbook of Natural Theology, reprint. Oxford: OUP.

McGrath, A. 2011. Christian Theology (5th ed.). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell

Schneider, S.M. 1999. The Revelatory Text: Interpreting the New Testament as Sacred Scripture (2nd ed.). Wilmington: Michael Glazier.

Chapter 20: The person of Jesus Christ

Maccoby, H. 1987. The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity. New York: HarperCollins.

Maccoby, H. 2000. Jesus the Pharisee. London: SCM Press.

McGrath, A. 2011. Theology: The Basics. Oxford: Blackwell.

Theissen, G. 2010. The Shadow of the Galilean. London: SCM Press.

Chapter 21: Christian moral principles

Cook, D. 1983. The Moral Maze. London: SPCK.

Hoose, B. (ed.). 1998. Christian Ethics: An Introduction. London: Cassell.

This contains an excellent chapter on the Bible and Christian ethics by Tom Deidum.

Macquarrie, J. and Childress, J. 1986. A New Dictionary of Christian Ethics. London: SCM.

Messer, N. 2006. SCM Study Guide to Christian Ethics. London: SCM Press.

Plato. 1969. ‘Euthyphro’, in The Last Days of Socrates, Tredennick, H. (trans.). London: Penguin.

Rachels, J. and Rachels, S. 2007. The Elements of Moral Philosophy. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Chapter 22: Christian moral action

Bethge, E. 1999. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Biography – Theologian, Christian Man for His

Times (rev. ed.). Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress

Bonhoeffer, D. 2013. Letters and Papers From Prison (An Abridged ed.). London: SCM

Press.

Bonhoeffer, D. 2015. The Cost of Discipleship (new ed.)., ch. 1. London: SCM Press.

Lawrence, J. 2010. Bonhoeffer: A Guide for the Perplexed. London: T & T Clark.