General Studies:
Unit 4 - Beliefs,
Values and
Responsibilities
Do we Need
Religious Beliefs?
Key features of major
religions and some
alternative belief systems
Buddhism
Christianity
Hinduism
Islam
Judaism
Sikhism
humanism
atheism
theism
Different reasons why people hold
or reject religious belief
How religious beliefs and practices
can affect modern society
Should Everyone Have the
Same Moral Responsibilities?
How far creative people should have the
freedom to pursue all aspects of their work
artists
scientists
technologists
Ways in which scientific
research and creative activities
can raise moral issues
The right to campaign against
creative or scientific activities that
conflict with moral values and beliefs
government agencies
individuals
political parties
protest and other groups
How Do we Decide
What is Right or Wrong?
How moral values can be changed
over time and between societies
The application of moral values and
moral reasoning to contemporary issues
punishment
euthanasia
abortion
environmental issues
genetic modification
The relationship between individual freedom
and societal rights and responsibilities
Why do People do
What They do?
The nature of deviance,
conformity to social norms
and antisocial behaviour
Explanations for
the development of
human behaviour
Contrasting perspectives
from behavioural
psychology and sociology
Explanations of how human behaviour is both different from and similar to the
behaviour of other animals, from the perspective of evolutionary psychology
How Should Art be Valued?
How the quality of a work
of art can be evaluated
The funding of museums and art galleries in
preserving, reflecting and transmitting cultural values
The relationship between personal
and general evaluation of works of art
subjective
objective
Mathematical reasoning and its application will be addressed in the form
of analysing, interpreting and representing mathematical information