9:50 (London 10:20)

Julie Arliss

10:00 – 10:50 (London 10:30 – 11:20)

Euthanasia raises some of the most pressing questions in modern ethics. This session introduces students to the key concepts of sanctity of life and quality of life, exploring their religious roots — that human beings are made in the image of God — and their secular counterparts, which argue that value depends on attributes such as rationality or consciousness. Students will examine voluntary euthanasia, where life is ended at a patient’s request, and non-voluntary euthanasia, where decisions are made on behalf of those unable to consent, such as in cases of persistent vegetative state. Learners will also consider how Natural Law and Situation Ethics apply, and whether the idea of sanctity of life still has meaning in twenty-first-century medical ethics. Is there a moral difference between actively ending life and allowing death by non-intervention? Do individuals have complete autonomy over decisions about their own lives? Scholarly perspectives and sources of wisdom will frame discussion, encouraging students to engage critically with one of the most challenging issues in applied ethics.

Professor Alister McGrath (Oxford), Dr Ralph Weir (London) Professor James Orr (Cambridge)

10:50 – 11:40 (London 11:20 – 12:10)

This session offers a compelling exploration of some of the most significant challenges to religious belief in the modern world. Students will be encouraged to think critically about whether belief in God remains intellectually credible in the face of suffering, injustice, and natural disasters. We will also consider whether developments in cosmology, biology, and neuroscience have displaced the need for religious explanations altogether.
While drawing on classic arguments from Natural Theology, the session will place fresh emphasis on their relevance — or irrelevance — within today’s scientific and philosophical landscape.
Designed to stretch and inspire A Level students, this talk will develop their evaluative and analytical skills and invite them to engage deeply with key debates at the heart of the Philosophy of Religion specification.

11:40 - 12:00 (London 12:10-12:30)

Professor Liam Gearon

12:00 – 12:50 (London 12:30 – 13:20)

An unforgettable A Level Religious Studies Enrichment Talk with Professor Liam Gearon from the University of Oxford. In this inspiring session on Religious Experience, students will grapple with visions, mystical encounters, and Otto’s idea of the numinous, before testing the challenges of science and philosophy against faith. From Swinburne’s principles of credulity and testimony to Hume on miracles and Wittgenstein on religious language, Professor Gearon will lead students through the key debates that shape the specification—while sparking fresh curiosity and critical thinking. Perfect for deepening subject knowledge, sharpening exam skills, and giving your students a taste of university-level discussion.

12:50 – 13:30 (London 15:30 – 15:45)

Is consent the whole story? Ethical theories don’t hand us ready-made answers, but they do give us methods for thinking these issues through. This interactive debate invites students to contribute their own ideas, test the tools of ethical reasoning, and decide together whether consent really settles the question.

13:30 – 14:15 (London 13:20 – 14:10)

Professor Daphne Hampson

14:15 – 15:05 (London 14:10 – 15:00)

Central to feminism has been the concept of autonomy, that one is true to oneself and does not bow to (usually male) authority. Feminists speak of inter-relationality between those who are ‘centred’ selves. They want to demolish hierarchical relationships that involve heteronomy (allowing the other be the law to one/ doing what they say). Now Christianity may well be said to be inherently heteronomous. Christians believe in a transcendent God who is other than the self and (if God is to be God) both all-powerful and to be obeyed. Further they believe in a particular revelation (one of its kind) in history which, given its uniqueness and thus interruptive nature, means that reference must constantly be made to it as in some sense authoritative. In the case of Catholicism moreover, the Church is a source of authority. For one who believes in human autonomy this must create a dilemma. It may be that the only way to possess a spirituality that is easily at one with the need to be oneself is to abandon Christian belief and to think about that which is God in a different way.