Philosophy Optional Syllabus for UPSC

General idea of the Philosophy optional syllabus for UPSC Exam

UPSC Philosophy Optional Syllabus:

Paper-I:

1. History and Problems of Philosophy:
   • Plato and Aristotle: Ideas; Substance; Form and Matter; Causation; Actuality and Potentiality.
   • Rationalism (Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz): Cartesian Method and Certain Knowledge; Substance; God; Mind-Body Dualism; Determinism and Freedom.
   • Empiricism (Locke, Berkeley, Hume): Theory of Knowledge; Substance and Qualities; Self and God; Skepticism.
   • Kant: Possibility of Synthetic Judgments A Priori; Categories; Ideas of Reason; Antinomies; Critique of Pure Reason.
   • Hegel: Dialectical Method; Absolute Idealism.
2. Socio-Political Philosophy:
   • Social and Political Ideals: Equality, Justice, Liberty.
   • Sovereignty: Austin, Bodin, Laski, Kautilya.
   • Individual and State: Rights; Duties and Accountability of the State; Individual Rights; Object of the State.
   • Democracy: Classical and Modern.
3. Indian Philosophy:
   • Upanishads: Theory of Reality.
   • Sankara: Brahman; World as Unreal.
   • Nyaya-Vaisesika: Categories; Atomism.
   • Samkhya: Prakriti; Purusa; Causation; Liberation.
   • Yoga: Eight-fold Path; Kriya Yoga.
   • Mimamsa: Theory of Knowledge.
4. Western Philosophy:
   • Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume, Kant: Substance; Reality; God; Mind-Body Dualism; Determinism and Freedom.

Paper-II:

1. Philosophy of Religion:
   • Notions of God: Attributes; Relation to Man and the World.
   • Proofs for the Existence of God and their Critique (Indian and Western).
   • Problem of Evil.
   • Soul: Immortality; Rebirth and Liberation.
   • Reason, Revelation, and Faith.
2. Ethics:
   • Meta-ethics; Normative Ethics; Applied Ethics.
   • Indian Ethics: Sankara and Madhva; Different Schools of Indian Ethics.
   • Western Ethics: Aristotle, Kant, Mill; Meta-ethics; Normative Ethics; Applied Ethics.
3. Philosophy of Mind:
   • Cartesian Dualism; Identity Theory; Eliminative Materialism; Functionalism; Mind-Body Problem.
4. Philosophy of Science:
   • Nature and Scope of Philosophy of Science; Logical Positivism; Theories of Verification; Paradigm and Scientific Rationality.
5. Philosophy of Language:
   • Meaning and Reference; Truth and Verification; Speech Acts; Language and Thought.

Please note that the syllabus may change, and it’s crucial to refer to the latest UPSC notification or the official UPSC website for the most accurate and updated information.