🤔 OPTIONAL — PHILOSOPHY

Papers: VI & VII · 500 marks. Syllabus size: SHORTEST of all optionals. Best for: those comfortable with abstract, logical reasoning; anyone wanting a compact syllabus that can be revised many times. GS overlap: MODERATE — very strong for GS-IV Ethics and the Essay paper; some overlap with GS-I (Indian philosophy/culture) and GS-II (political philosophy).

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PAPER I — HISTORY AND PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY

Western Philosophy

1. Plato and Aristotle: Ideas; substance; form and matter; causation; actuality and potentiality.
2. Rationalism (Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz): Cartesian method and certain knowledge; substance; God; mind-body dualism; determinism and freedom.
3. Empiricism (Locke, Berkeley, Hume): theory of knowledge; substance and qualities; self and God; scepticism.
4. Kant: possibility of synthetic a priori judgments; space and time; categories; ideas of reason; antinomies; critique of proofs for the existence of God.
5. Hegel: dialectical method; absolute idealism.
6. Moore, Russell and Early Wittgenstein: defence of commonsense; refutation of idealism; logical atomism; logical constructions; incomplete symbols; picture theory of meaning; saying and showing.
7. Logical Positivism: verification theory of meaning; rejection of metaphysics; linguistic theory of necessary propositions.
8. Later Wittgenstein: meaning and use; language games; critique of private language.
9. Phenomenology (Husserl): method; theory of essences; avoidance of psychologism.
10. Existentialism (Kierkegaard, Sartre, Heidegger): existence and essence; choice, responsibility and authentic existence; being-in-the-world and temporality.
11. Quine and Strawson: critique of empiricism; theory of basic particulars and persons.

Indian Philosophy

12. Carvaka: theory of knowledge; rejection of transcendent entities.
13. Jainism: theory of reality; saptabhanginaya; bondage and liberation.
14. Schools of Buddhism: Pratityasamutpada; ksanikavada, nairatmyavada.
15. Nyaya-Vaisesika: theory of categories; theory of appearance; theory of pramana; self, liberation; God; proofs for the existence of God; theory of causation; atomistic theory of creation.
16. Samkhya: prakrti; purusa; causation; liberation.
17. Yoga: citta; cittavrtti; klesas; samadhi; kaivalya.
18. Mimamsa: theory of knowledge.
19. Schools of Vedanta: Brahman; Isvara; Atman; Jiva; Jagat; Maya; Avidya; Adhyasa; Moksa; Aprthaksiddhi; Pancavidhabheda.
20. Aurobindo: evolution, involution; integral yoga.

PAPER II — SOCIO-POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY AND PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION

Section A — Socio-Political Philosophy

1. Social and Political Ideals: Equality, Justice, Liberty.
2. Sovereignty: Austin, Bodin, Laski, Kautilya.
3. Individual and State: Rights; Duties and Accountability.
4. Forms of Government: Monarchy; Theocracy and Democracy.
5. Political Ideologies: Anarchism; Marxism and Socialism.
6. Humanism; Secularism; Multi-culturalism.
7. Crime and Punishment: Corruption, Mass Violence, Genocide, Capital Punishment.
8. Development and Social Progress.
9. Gender Discrimination: Female Foeticide, Land and Property Rights; Empowerment.
10. Caste Discrimination: Gandhi and Ambedkar.

Section B — Philosophy of Religion

1. Notions of God: Attributes; Relation to Man and the World (Indian and Western).
2. Proofs for the Existence of God and their Critique (Indian and Western).
3. Problem of Evil.
4. Soul: Immortality; Rebirth and Liberation.
5. Reason, Revelation and Faith.
6. Religious Experience: Nature and Object (Indian and Western).
7. Religion without God.
8. Religion and Morality.
9. Religious Pluralism and the Problem of Absolute Truth.
10. Nature of Religious Language: Analogical and Symbolic; Cognitivist and Non-cognitive.

BOOKLIST

STRATEGY

• Smallest syllabus of any optional — genuinely finishable in 2–3 months, allowing 4–5 revisions. This is its main advantage.
• Precision of terminology is everything. Use the exact technical vocabulary (pratityasamutpada, synthetic a priori, aprthaksiddhi). Vague paraphrase scores poorly.
• Present arguments logically: thesis → argument → counter-argument → evaluation. Philosophy examiners reward structure over rhetoric.
• Paper II is more accessible and overlaps with GS-IV and Essay — many candidates score better here.
• No current affairs needed for Paper I — it is entirely static, which reduces maintenance burden.
• Warning: if abstract reasoning does not come naturally to you, this optional will be painful. Read one chapter of Thilly and one of Datta & Chatterjee before committing.

Pros: shortest syllabus; fully static Paper I; strong Ethics/Essay synergy; low maintenance. Cons: abstract and unintuitive for many; limited GS overlap; fewer guidance resources; answers require conceptual precision that takes time to develop.