Civil Service Mains Optional PHILOSOPHY

PHILOSOPHY


PAPER - I

History and Problems of 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 Ide-alism

6.Moore, Russell and Early Wittgenstein:
Defence of Commonsense; Refutation of
Idealism; Logical Atomism; Logical Con-structions; Incomplete Symbols; Picture
Theory of Meaning; Saying and Showing.

7.Logical Positivism: Verification Theory
of Meaning; Rejection of Metaphysics; Lin-guistic Theory of Necessary Propositions.

8.Later Wittgenstein: Meaning and Use; Lan-guage-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 Ex-istence; Being-in-the –world and Tempo-rality.

11.Quine and Strawson: Critique of Em-piricism; Theory of Basic Particulars and
Persons.

12.Cârvâka : Theory of Knowledge; Re-jection of Transcendent Entities.

13.Jainism:  Theory  of  Reality;
Saptabhaòginaya; Bondage and Liberation.

14.Schools of Buddhism:
Pratîtyasamutpâda; Ksanikavada,
Nairâtmyavâda

15.Nyâya- Vaiúesika: Theory of Catego-ries; Theory of Appearance; Theory of
Pramâna; Self, Liberation; God; Proofs for
the Existence of God; Theory of Causa-tion; Atomistic Theory of Creation.

16.Sâmkhya: Prakrti; Purusa; Causation;
Liberation

17. Yoga: Citta; Cittavrtti; Klesas; Samadhi;
Kaivalya.

18.Mimâmsâ: Theory of Knowledge

19.Schools of Vedânta: Brahman; Îúvara;
Âtman; Jiva; Jagat; Mâyâ; Avidyâ; Adhyâsa;
Moksa; Aprthaksiddhi; Pancavidhabheda

20. Aurobindo: Evolution, Involution; Inte-gral Yoga.




PAPER – II

Socio-Political Philosophy

1.Social and Political Ideals: Equality, Jus-tice, Liberty.

2.Sovereignty: Austin, Bodin, Laski,
Kautilya.

3.Individual and State: Rights; Duties and
Accountability

4.Forms of Government: Monarchy; The-ocracy and Democracy.

5.Political Ideologies: Anarchism; Marx-ism and Socialism

6.Humanism; Secularism; Multiculturalism.

7.Crime and Punishment: Corruption,
Mass Violence, Genocide, Capital Pun-ishment.

8.Development and Social Progress.

9.Gender Discrimination: Female Foeti-cide, Land and Property Rights;
Empowernment.

10.Caste Discrimination: Gandhi and
Ambedkar

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 Libera-tion.

5.Reason, Revelation and Faith.

6.Religious Experience: Nature and Ob-ject (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: Ana-logical and Symbolic; Cognitivist and Non-cognitive