Philosophy, Religion and Ethics (PRE)

Philosophy and Religion are at the centre of the First Form PRE course (Ethics is taught at times and is developed mainly in the Second Form). The first term is a study of what Philosophy is and how we establish evidence for our knowledge. We also study arguments for and against the existence of God, e.g. The Cosmological Argument, The Design Argument and the Problem of Evil. Students really enjoy this challenging content as they question what they already think they know in a quest for true knowledge and justified arguments.

Students then embark on separate but interrelated studies of the first two of the Abrahamic religions: Judaism and then Christianity. We aim for students to finish the First Form being able to explain how these religions originated, developed and changed over time, as well as their similarities and differences and impact on people’s lives and society at large.

The key skills we develop are using evidence, scriptural analysis, explanation and evaluation. The Michaelmas Term is focused on developing students essay planning and writing skills so that they think for themselves about what a particular question is demanding from them, whilst also studying knowledge that really matters in their future lives by thinking about how we decide whether to believe something or dismiss it, always using evidence.

Discussion and debate are at the centre of our lessons, and usually form the basis for key learning points such as justifying arguments with evidence, as well as evaluating why some views are stronger or weaker than others and why. Role play and learning games are also used to develop students’ metacognition and really think about their thinking.

The First Form PRE course is a voyage of discovery and sets a firm foundation for the Second Form study of Ethics and Religion.