Back to A2 Philosophy & Ethics
The following is a summary of the content you need to cover for the exam.
Below is the specification from Edexcel for the unit covering beliefs about life after death.
• Beliefs about life after death: reincarnation; rebirth; resurrection; immortality of the soul.
It is unlikely that candidates will have to answer all of these topics in any one question. They will be able to focus on specific exemplars as demanded by the question, noting that over a cycle of a few years all these topics will be examined. This is not a study in world religions but some of these themes are distinctive of certain traditions and an understanding of their respective contexts will be useful, for example reincarnation may be found in Hinduism, rebirth in Buddhism and Resurrection and immortality of the soul in various theistic traditions.
Candidates should show knowledge and understanding of key terms and concepts such as Identity, notion of ‘life after death’, the relationship between the mind and body. Candidates should understand and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of evidence and reasons given for a belief and weigh up philosophically the merits or otherwise of the case. This may include reference to various key scholars and debates, including the use of language.
This is a video giving an overview of Hick’s replica theory.