Moral philosophy: Set texts — AQA A-Level Philosophy

This row is a set-text reference, not an assessed task. It identifies Annas's chapter 'Virtue Ethics' in Copp's edited Oxford Handbook of Ethical Theory (2006), pages 515–536, as a prescribed reading for the moral philosophy unit. Read it as a scholarly secondary source that reconstructs and defends a virtue-ethical approach: what a virtue is, how character-based evaluation differs from act-based theories, and why flourishing and practical wisdom matter. Use it to sharpen your grasp of the eudaimonistic framework you meet in Aristotle, and to notice where Annas explains, interprets or argues rather than merely reports. Track her claims and reasons so you can deploy the ideas accurately in your own philosophical writing.

This row is course guidance: it identifies Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics as a set text for the Moral philosophy unit and specifies which books and chapters to read. Use the list as a reading map rather than as examinable content. Book 1 introduces the highest good, eudaimonia, and the function argument; the specified chapters also cover the definition of happiness and the division of the soul. Book 2 develops virtue as a hexis concerned with choice, the doctrine of the mean and the role of habituation. Book 3 (1–5) treats voluntary action, choice and responsibility. Book 5 examines justice, and Book 6 the intellectual virtues including phronesis. Book 7 (12–13) concerns pleasure, and Book 10 (1–8) discusses pleasure and the contemplative life. Read for Aristotle's claims, his arguments and the objections a critic could raise.

This row is course guidance, not an assessed answer target: it tells you which Ayer texts to read for the moral philosophy set-text study. Read the specified pages of The Central Questions of Philosophy (1973/1991, Penguin, pages 22–29) alongside Language, Truth and Logic (1946 second edition, Dover), concentrating on Chapters 1 and 6. In Chapter 1 Ayer sets out the verification principle and the analytic–synthetic distinction; in Chapter 6 he applies this to ethics, arguing that moral judgements are not factual assertions but expressions of feeling, so they are neither true nor false. Use the 1973/1991 extract to see how Ayer later restated and qualified these claims. As you read, note where Ayer states a claim, where he argues for it, and where he anticipates objections, so you can reconstruct his reasoning rather than memorise slogans.

This row is course guidance: it names Bentham's Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789) as a set text and directs you to Chapter 1, The Principle of Utility, and Chapter 4, Measuring Pleasure and Pain. Read those two chapters in the specified edition and build notes on what Bentham argues. In Chapter 1, focus on how he states the principle of utility and links right action to tending to promote happiness. In Chapter 4, focus on how he sets out to measure pleasure and pain, including the dimensions he uses to compare them. Your task is to select, study and explain these passages and prepare to assess them; the row sets reading scope, not an assessed answer target, so no marks attach to it directly.

This row names a set text for the moral philosophy unit: Cora Diamond's 1978 article in Philosophy, volume 53, pages 465–479. Guided reading means you study the article itself, not a summary, so that you can use its arguments in your own moral philosophy work. Read actively: first establish Diamond's overall project, then track how she treats the moral status of animals and the language people use about eating them. Note where she draws on and criticises other philosophers, and separate her own claims from the views she reports. Build a short map of her argument, marking key terms and any examples she uses, and record page references so you can locate passages again. Discuss the article with others and test whether you can restate her position accurately before evaluating it.

This row names a set text for the moral philosophy unit: Philippa Foot's 1972 article in Philosophical Review, volume 81, issue 3, pages 305–316. Guided reading means you engage with the article itself rather than a précis. Read to identify Foot's target: the idea that moral requirements are categorical imperatives, and her proposal that they may be understood as a system of hypothetical imperatives. Track her definitions of these terms, the objections she considers, and the replies she offers. Note where she reports or criticises other philosophers and keep her own voice distinct. Build a page-referenced outline of the argument, mark technical vocabulary, and check you can explain each step in your own words before assessing it.

This row is a set-text reading route, not an assessed answer target. Learners study Hare's 1952 book The Language of Morals, focusing on Chapters 1, 5, 7 and section 10.2. Read actively: track Hare's account of prescriptive language, the move from describing to prescribing, the role of universalisability in moral judgement, and how moral principles guide choice. Build a chapter map with Hare's key distinctions, his examples, and the objections he anticipates. Note where he argues rather than merely asserts, and record page or section references so you can locate evidence later. Use the specified chapters only; do not substitute later Hare works or secondary summaries for the set text. Discuss the material with peers and test your reading against exam-style questions on prescriptivism.

This row is a set-text reading route, not an assessed answer target. Hume's Treatise was published in 1739–40, and the specified portion is Book III, Part 1, which concerns virtue and vice and the role of moral distinctions. Read within that boundary: follow Hume's argument about how moral judgements arise, his treatment of reason and the passions in moral evaluation, and his discussion of the source of moral distinctions. Keep the historical period in view, treating later commentary as context rather than as a substitute for the specified text. Work section by section: state Hume's claim, the argument he gives, and any distinction he draws. Note his technical vocabulary as he uses it. Then test your reading by explaining a short passage in your own words and identifying the conclusion it supports, checking your paraphrase against the text.

This row names a set text for guided study, not an assessed answer target: Kant's Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785), Chapters 1 and 2. Read Chapters 1 and 2 closely and track Kant's argument as it develops. In Chapter 1 he moves from ordinary moral consciousness and the good will to the concept of duty, distinguishing acting in accordance with duty from acting from duty, and introduces the categorical imperative in its universal-law formulation. In Chapter 2 he develops the formula of humanity and the idea of a kingdom of ends, and argues that morality rests on autonomy rather than on consequences or inclination. Build a chapter-by-chapter map of claims, premises and conclusions, note key terms in Kant's own vocabulary, and prepare to explain and evaluate the argument in your own words.

This row names a set text for guided study, not an assessed answer target: Mackie's Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong (1977), Chapter 1, Sections 8 and 9. Read these two sections closely within Chapter 1, which argues that ordinary moral judgements presuppose objective values that do not exist. In Sections 8 and 9 Mackie develops his error theory, explaining why people believe in objective moral values and defending the view against objections. Track his claims, the arguments he offers and the replies he considers. Build a section-by-section map, note his key terms, and prepare to explain and evaluate his position in your own words, distinguishing his metaethical claim about moral values from any first-order moral view.

This is a set-text reading route, not an assessed answer target. Learners study Mill's 1863 Utilitarianism, focusing on Chapters 1, 2, 4 and 5. Read actively: follow Mill's introduction of the greatest happiness principle, his account of higher and lower pleasures, his proof of the principle in Chapter 4, and his treatment of justice in Chapter 5. Build a chapter map recording Mill's claims, the objections he answers, and the examples he uses. Note where he argues rather than asserts, and keep chapter references so you can locate evidence. Use only the specified chapters; do not substitute other Mill works or summaries. Discuss the material and test your reading against exam-style questions on utilitarianism.

This row names Moore's Principia Ethica (1903) as a set text studied through Sections 6–14 only. In these sections Moore introduces the naturalistic fallacy and the open-question argument, arguing that 'good' cannot be defined in natural terms. He examines proposed definitions of good, including hedonistic ones, and shows why they fail his test. Read the sections as a sustained argument: identify the target of each criticism, the test Moore applies, and the conclusion he draws. Track how the open-question argument is meant to work and where critics have challenged it. Sections outside 6–14 are not required, so do not present their content as set material.

This set text is studied as a prescribed route through the moral philosophy unit, so read it as a sustained argument rather than a source of quotations. In Chapter 2, Smart defends act utilitarianism and contrasts it with rule utilitarianism, arguing that rule-based versions collapse into act-based reasoning or become rule-worship. Track how he frames the act/rule distinction and what he thinks is at stake. In Chapter 3, Smart distinguishes hedonistic from non-hedonistic utilitarianism, examining whether pleasure alone is the good to be maximised or whether other goods count. Williams's contributions in the same volume press objections about integrity and negative responsibility. Read actively: summarise each argument, note the distinction being drawn, and prepare to explain and evaluate the positions in your own words.