Human Nature?
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LIVE Event for students of Ethics for AS/A Level Religious Studies
With Dr Peter Vardy
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Dates for 2025-26
● London, 20th November 2025
● York, 5th March 2026
● Coventry, 10th March 2026
● London, 13th March 2026
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Building on the success of “Evil and the God of Love” and “The Word” in 2024-25, Candle Conferences presents an all-new LIVE event for students of Ethics for AS / A Level Religious Studies,“Human Nature?” will explore content specified by ALL ENGLISH EXAMINATION BOARDS, focusing on the compulsory Ethics papers. The event aims to get students really excited about the subject, enriching and extending their knowledge and understanding as well as supporting them in analysing, evaluating and making informed, well-reasoned academic judgements.
Sessions include…
- Natural Law
Through this introductory session Dr Vardy will outline and evaluate the Natural Law tradition in Ethics, starting with the work of Aristotle, including that of Aquinas and of modern moral philosophers including Germain Grisez, John Finnis and Bernard Hoose. He will ask whether Natural Law can offer useful moral guidance for Christians and/or for others when scholars can’t agree on what the basic human goods are, and if proportionalism offers the best way to apply natural law in the modern world. This session will conclude with a group activity, designed to get students making academic judgements. - Conscience
The second session will explore the nature of conscience, considering the theological approach of Aquinas and the psychological approach of Freud as well as other views, before asking whether it is always right to follow one’s conscience. The relationship between Aquinas’ Natural Law and conscience will be explained and the question of if and how individuals should use Natural Law to make moral decisions about issues like Euthanasia or Sex will be considered This session will conclude with a whole-group discussion. - Utilitarianism
The next session will explore Utilitarianism, considering its roots in Protestant Christianity and the view that human happiness as an end justifies the means of maximising it, before outlining and evaluating the non-religious normative approaches of Bentham and Mill as well as the contemporary version of Peter Singer. Dr Vardy will explore the similarities as well as the differences between Utilitarianism and Natural Law and then ask which approach is the most useful when it comes to making 21st Century decisions. This session will end with an activity, designed to help students to write successful essays. - Situation Ethics
The last session of the day will consider whether Situation Ethics offers a happy middle way for Christians and non-Christians to make moral decisions and act on conscience as “a verb, not a noun”. Dr Vardy will explore the roots of Situation Ethics in the Bible and in the work of Kant, Temple, Bonhoeffer and Tillich before outlining and evaluating the approach of Joseph Fletcher. Is it fair to say that Fletcher’s Situation Ethics is just Utilitarianism by another name? This session will conclude with a debate on the motion “this house believes that murder can never be justified.” Students will prepare and contribute their academic arguments before a final vote is taken.
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About our speaker…
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Dr. Peter Vardy was Vice Principal of Heythrop College, University of London (1999-2011); he is internationally well-known as a leader in the fields of Religious Studies, Philosophy and Ethics and Values Education. Peter’s many books – including the best-selling “Puzzle of” series for HarperCollins – demonstrate his ability to communicate complex ideas with clarity, accuracy and humour. For more than three decades schools and colleges have looked to Peter to provide outstanding conferences, resources and CPD / INSET, both to support their work in RS and Philosophy and more broadly.
Peter was awarded an honorary doctorate for his work in promoting Religious Studies in schools by the University of Chichester in 2021.
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