Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mr. Robertson, and I love RE.

We're gonna have an amazing time together learning about this fantastic unit, asking the big question, ethics, how do we decide what is good? And today's lesson, we're going to be deciding what is a good life.

We're going to be bringing together our thinking and working out for ourselves what do we think makes a good life.

I can't wait to hear what ideas you come up with.

By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain what is meant by a good life.

As usual, we have some keywords.

Today, we have four keywords.

I'm going to say the keyword first, and I'm gonna ask you to repeat it back to me.

Shall we make a start? Brilliant.

Our first word is worldview.

Amazing.

Our second word is ethics.

Brilliant.

Our third words are Golden Rule.

Amazing.

And finally, values.

Ah, you said all those brilliantly.

But what do they all mean? Well, a worldview is the values and attitudes that shape our view of the world.

Ethics is moral principles that shape behaviour.

The Golden Rule is to treat others as you would wish to be treated.

And values are principles that guide thinking and attitudes.

By the end of this lesson, I think you'll be able to use those words really confidently.

So, in this lesson, we're going to be asking two big questions.

And that's gonna help us work out what we mean by deciding a good life.

So our first question is this.

Do worldviews have common values? Let's go.

This lesson is a philosophy lesson in RE, and we're go to be using the tools of philosophy.

Sofia's gonna help us understand what we mean by that.

Sofia says, "Philosophy is the study of what we know and how we know it.

Philosophers ask questions about how people think or reason about the world around them, and how we can know what is true or real.

We can better understand worldviews by using philosophical tools like thought experiments, critical thinking, and reasoning." So how are we gonna use those philosophical tools in this lesson? Well, in this lesson, we're gonna be asking all about this idea of the good life and we're gonna be thinking about what different worldviews say about how they make choices about ethics and values.

So we've got some people here.

We have Beth, Alan, Nadia, and Dhanu, and they all have different world views, some religious and some non-religious.

And all worldviews, whether they're religious or non-religious, all talk about what it means to lead a good life.

Beth is a Christian.

She says, "I follow Jesus' commandment to love God and love my neighbour." Alan is a humanist.

He says, "I follow humanist ethics by acting in a way that makes others happy." Nadia is Muslim.

She says, "I follow the Five Pillars of Islam and the example of the Prophet Muhammad." And Dhanu is a devotee from the Hindu dharma.

And she says, "I follow the Hindu principle of dharma by acting out of love for all beings." So there we have four people, four different worldviews, but all with ideas about how they live a good life.

And you can see that they have some similarities and some differences.

Sam and Lucas are talking about worldviews.

Sam says, "People with different worldviews have so many ways to define a good life.

I wonder if they agree on anything." Lucas says, "In my school, there are teachers and pupils with different worldviews.

We're able to agree on some important values, such as sharing and being kind." Isn't that interesting? There is a lot of complexity out there, isn't, Sam? And there's lots of ways of defining a good life.

But I wonder, are there things that we have in common? What would you say to Sam and Lucas? Do you think worldviews share any common values? Do you have people with different worldviews in your school? Are there things that you think that they might agree on? Are there things that are important to you? Here, you might want to pause the video and have a discussion with a person next to you or just think for yourself about that question.

Some brilliant ideas, everyone.

So, actually, there is something we can talk about.

This is the idea of the Golden Rule.

The Golden Rule says that humans should treat others as they would like to treat them.

The Golden Rule is a value that many people agree on.

You might have heard of that statement, treating others as you would like to be treated.

You may not have realised it's got this name, the Golden Rule.

Lucas says, "Another way of explaining the Golden Rule is that you should do nothing to others that you would not want them to do to you." Thanks, Lucas, that helps me understand it a little bit better actually.

And there are versions of the Golden Rule in many different worldviews.

Why don't we see what some of them are? Let's just check our understanding before we move on though.

We've used this term, worldview.

What's the word that worldview mean? Is it a, the study of right and wrong, b, values and attitudes that shape our view of the world, or c, an understanding of commandments and rules? Hmm, come on, philosophers.

Let's ponder this one.

Which of the three is it? Pause the video, have a think.

Yes, that's right, it's values and attitudes that shape our view of the world, isn't it? Amazing if you got that right.

Okay, let's talk to people for some different worldviews.

This is Tia.

And Tia has a Christian worldview.

She attends a Methodist church.

She explains Christian beliefs about the Golden Rule.

Tia says, "In the New Testament, Jesus says, 'In everything you do, do to others what you would have them to do to you.

This is the meaning of all the Law and the Prophets.

' This means that if we keep this rule, we'll be keeping all the other commandments at the same time.

The Golden Rule covers everything." Oh, thank you, Tia.

That's really interesting.

So Jesus said, "Do to others as you would have them do to you." And he was summarising all of the law and commandments in that one rule.

Rafi has a Jewish worldview.

He attends an Orthodox synagogue.

And he explains the Jewish version of the Golden Rule.

"The Torah says, 'Love your neighbour as yourself.

' This law is in the middle of a whole list of laws about how people in the Jewish community should treat each other.

The Golden Rule sums up many other laws into something that everyone can understand and follow." Really interesting, Rafi.

So in the Torah as well, there's this idea that loving your neighbour and loving yourself is really, really important.

Ahmed has a Muslim worldview.

He attends a Sunni mosque.

He explains the Islamic version of the Golden Rule.

Ahmed says, "In the Hadith, the Prophet said that we should love for others what we love for ourselves.

This means we should take each other's needs seriously and try to meet them.

The Prophet said this Golden Rule was so important that those who follow it are true Muslim believers." Well, isn't that interesting? So the same idea again of loving others and loving ourselves is found in Islam, as well as Christianity and Judaism.

Which of these is not a version of the Golden Rule? A, do to others what you would like them to do to you.

B, love for others what you love for yourself.

C, be kind and friendly to everyone.

D, love your neighbour as yourself.

Think back to what Ahmed, Tia, and Rafi was saying.

Pause the video and have a think.

Did you get this one? Yes, being kind and friendly to everyone.

I mean, that's great, isn't it? We should always be kind and friendly to everyone, but it wasn't one of the versions of the Golden Rule that we heard about.

Brilliant if you got that right.

Let's meet Priya.

Priya has a Hindu worldview.

And she explains the Hindu version of the Golden Rule.

Priya says, "Many Hindus read a sacred text called the Mahabharata.

It says, 'Do not do to others what would cause you pain if it were done to you.

' We should use our imaginations to decide whether our words or actions might hurt others.

It is our Hindu duty, or dharma, to follow this Golden Rule." Isn't it interesting how this same idea keeps coming up in different cultures and contexts all over the world? Do not do to others what would cause you pain.

It's so similar again, isn't it? And let's meet Nell.

Nell has a humanist worldview.

Of course humanism is a non-religious worldview.

She explains her version of the Golden Rule.

Humanists believe that people should aim to treat each other as they would like to be treated themselves.

This Golden Rule is based on humanist values of empathy and kindness rather than coming from a religious text.

It is at the centre of human ethics." Thanks, Nell.

So again, we can see this idea of treating each other as you would like to be treated.

Let's check our understanding so far.

I've got a true or false question for you.

Worldviews have completely different ideas about how to live a good life.

Think about all the people we've met so far and have a think.

It's false, isn't it? Why is it false? Think about it.

All of the different people we met from different worldviews all talked about this idea of the Golden Rule.

They didn't all look exactly the same, but lots of these ideas of treating others as you would treat yourself appeared in holy texts and in non-religious ideas as well.

Let's reflect on everything we've learned.

Rafi follows the law in the Torah that says love your neighbour.

Tia follows Jesus' teaching to do for others what she would like them to do for her.

Ahmed follows Islamic values by trying to meet the needs of other people.

Priya follows her Hindu dharma by making sure she does not cause pain to others.

And Nell uses empathy to follow humanist ethics by treating others as she wants to be treated.

Can you see similarities here that link all of these different worldviews together? Can you see that common idea of the Golden Rule flowing through them all like a thread? We're going to reflect on what we've learned.

We're going to have a practise task about thinking about this idea of worldviews and common values.

Sam says, "The Golden Rule means imagining how you would like people to treat you, and then doing the same for them." Lucas says, "There are examples of the Golden Rule in many worldviews.

This means it can be followed by most people." Whose explanation do you like best? Use examples from different worldviews to help explain your answer.

You need to do some philosophical thinking here and some comparing.

And I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Oh, really good thinking.

So you might have said, I agree with Sam that the Golden Rule is about using imagination.

Nell and Priya use empathy to imagine how others might be feeling so they know how to behave towards them.

Or you might have said, I agree with the Golden Rule is followed by people with different worldviews, such as Jews, Muslims, and Christians.

Rafi, Ahmed, and Tia all gave examples of the Golden Rule from their holy texts.

You might have had different ideas.

And that's fine too because this is really about thinking through and establishing your opinion rather than a right or wrong answer here.

So if you've thought about this and you've used some examples, then really well done.

The next question we're going to be looking at in this idea of deciding what is a good life is, what are the ingredients of a good life? Sam and Lucas are wondering what a good life looks like.

Sam says, "I understand how different worldviews define a good life.

I wonder if we could come up with our own definition." Lucas says, "The Golden Rule is a good place to start because all worldviews have a version of this.

Maybe we could get some more ideas from the worldviews we have studied." Hmm, interesting idea.

What values do you think should be included in a good life? So if we need to lead a good life, what do you think is important? Again, you might want to pause the video and discuss this.

Wow, some really interesting ideas.

Let's meet a couple more people and see if this could help us.

Dhanu has a Hindu worldview.

She explains how Hindu dharma helps to live a good life.

She says, "Hindu's live a good life by following the dharma or duty for their stage of life.

At my stage, I should focus on caring for my family and community.

I do practical things like cooking meals.

I also make sure I spend time listening to my children and my friends to see how I can best help them." Brother Sam has a Christian worldview.

He lives in a community with other Anglican monks.

He says, "For me, living a good life starts with prayer and contemplation.

When I take time to listen to God, it gives me strength to live out Christian values such as love For others.

This includes caring for other monks in my community.

It can be difficult to show love to the people closest to us." Isn't that interesting? Even though he's a monk and he lives with other monks, he still finds it really difficult sometimes to be kind and loving to others.

Lara has a Buddhist worldview.

She explains how Buddhist ethics help her to live a good life.

"Buddhism teaches that life is not easy.

People suffer in different ways.

As a Buddhist, it is my job to understand suffering and try to reduce pain.

I do my best to reduce suffering for the people around me by offering to help whenever I can, for example by visiting a lonely neighbour." True or false? Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist values include caring for people in the family and community.

You might, to pause the video and have a think here.

Yes, it's true, isn't it? Well done.

Why is it true? Because all of those people who were talking said it was important to show care and love for those around them.

Dhanu, Lara, and Brother Sam all mentioned that, didn't they? Well done if you got that right.

Mandeep has a Sikh worldview.

He explains how Sikh values help him to live a good life.

Mandeep says, "I follow the teaching of Guru Nanak to live an honest life and to treat everyone equally.

For me, this means being generous with my time and money.

Sikh values include giving selfless service.

I donate and serve food at the gurdwara to anyone, whatever their reason for asking." So we've heard from lots of people, and we've heard their different ideas about what makes a good life for them.

Sam and Lucas are talking again.

Lucas says, "So, Sam, what do you think are the ingredients of a good life?" Sam says, "I've been thinking about how our behaviour affects other people.

I've decided that kindness is the most important value to be included in a good life.

If everyone started by doing and saying kind things, life would be much better for everyone." Oh, Sam, you've really been thinking about that, haven't you? I like your idea.

What do you think about Sam's idea? Is kindness the most important value? If we were all kind to each other, would there be a good life for everyone? Sam wants to find out more.

He asks Lucas.

Lucas says, "For me, the most important value is to listen to people and try to understand their perspectives.

It's easy to overlook people with disabilities, but I like it when people take my ideas and feelings seriously.

My friends imagine how they would like to be treated if they were in a wheelchair." How might a Sikh demonstrate the value of selfless service? A, serving food in the gurdwara.

B, reading holy texts at the gurdwara.

C, telling the truth at all times.

Can you think back to what Mandeep said? Excellent.

It's a, serving food at the gurdwara.

Well done.

So let's think about what everyone was saying about the ingredients for good life for them.

Dhanu said she lives out her Hindu dharma by listening to and caring for her family and community.

Lara tries to reduce the pain of people who are suffering by being kind and offering help.

Brother Sam tries to show the Christian value of love for others.

And Mandeep tries to live an honest life of selfless service.

Again, we can see real similarities between different worldviews.

They might see the world in different ways in some ways, but in the ways they want to treat people and look after each other, they're very similar, aren't they? Let's think about our final task.

As we've been saying, people with different worldviews have values and ethics that help 'em to live a good life.

Can you create your own code of ethics for living a good life? So this is going to be really exciting.

I want you to think of your own ideas here.

So one, you might want to suggest some values that you think should be included in a good life.

What to you is really important? Is it about being kind? Is it about listening, like it was for Sam and Lucas? Is it about loving animals or nature? Then I'd like you to link some of these ideas together to make your own Golden Rule or code of ethics.

So you could make it a nice short statement or you might want to come up with lots of other things.

You might want to make these really beautiful, drawing out your values and maybe thinking of a symbol for each of the values so you know what they are, and then maybe drawing these together, perhaps on a poster or a double page spread, and really thinking about what they could look like.

Think about all the different people that we heard from.

Think about this big idea of the Golden Rule and treating others as you would be treated.

What's important to you? What do you think are the ingredients of a good life? And how should people live that? I really look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Wow, what an amazing, amazing pieces of work you've come up with there.

So I've had a go, but mine is not that great.

I'm sure you've come up with some brilliant ideas for yourself.

So I've said the important values in my life are kindness, honesty, and love.

And I've tried to come up with some ideas of a code of ethics, that people should love their families, friends, and others by being kind to them.

We should listen to others and be honest about how we're feeling too so that other people will know to treat us kindly.

I also think it's really important to care for other humans, and other animals, and nature as well.

And so I might put that in my code as well.

As I say, it doesn't really matter what you've put in as long as you've had a chance to really think through these big ideas and that you're happy that what you come up with reflects what you think is a good life.

Let's summarise what we've been learning today then.

We've learned that many religious and non-religious worldviews have ideas about how to live a good life.

Some values and ethics are shared between different worldviews.

We've learned that the Golden Rule is an example of a common value across many different worldviews.

It says you should treat people as you would like to be treated.

And finally, individuals construct their own ways of living a good life, drawing on values from both religious and non-religious worldviews.

Thanks ever so much for being part of this lesson.

I've really enjoyed all the brilliant ideas you've come up with.

I hope you've had an opportunity to think for yourselves about what's important to you and what makes a good life.

And I look forward to seeing you in another lesson soon.

Thank you very much.