All 8 questions from UPSC Civil Services Mains Philosophy 2024 Paper I (400 marks total). Every stem reproduced in full, with directive-word analysis, marks, word limits, and answer-approach pointers.
Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:
(a) Differentiate between Plato's and Aristotle's conceptions of form. 10 marks
(b) How does Kant respond to Hume's scepticism with regard to a priori judgments ? Discuss. 10 marks
(c) What arguments are offered by Moore to prove that there are certain truisms, knowledge of which is a matter of common sense ? Critically discuss. 10 marks
(d) Why does later Wittgenstein think that there cannot be a language that only one person can speak — a language that is essentially private ? Discuss. 10 marks
(e) How does Kierkegaard define truth in terms of subjectivity ? Critically discuss. 10 marks
हिंदी में पढ़ें
निम्नलिखित में से प्रत्येक प्रश्न का उत्तर लगभग 150 शब्दों में दीजिए :
(a) प्लेटो तथा अरस्तु की आकार की अवधारणाओं के बीच विभेद कीजिए। 10 अंक
(b) प्रागनुभविक निर्णयों के संदर्भ में ह्यूम के संशयवाद का कांट क्या प्रत्युत्तर देते हैं ? विवेचना कीजिए। 10 अंक
(c) मूर द्वारा यह सिद्ध करने के लिए क्या युक्तियाँ प्रस्तुत की गई हैं कि कुछ ऐसे सामान्य सत्य होते हैं, जिनका ज्ञान, सामान्य बुद्धि का विषय होता है ? समालोचनात्मक विवेचना कीजिए। 10 अंक
(d) उत्तरवर्ती विट्टगेंस्टाइन ऐसा क्यों सोचते हैं कि ऐसी कोई भाषा जिसे एक ही व्यक्ति बोलता हो, ऐसी भाषा जो सार रूप से निजी हो, संभव नहीं है ? विवेचना कीजिए। 10 अंक
(e) कीर्केगार्ड सत्य को विषयनिष्ठता के रूप में किस प्रकार परिभाषित करते हैं ? समालोचनात्मक विवेचना कीजिए। 10 अंक
Answer approach & key points
Framework: UPSC Philosophy Paper I Rubric. (a) compare: paired headings or point-wise contrast > key differences > significance > conclusion | (b) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close | (c) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment | (d) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close | (e) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment Full marks: Precise technical vocabulary, clear argument reconstruction, strong counter-arguments, and exact references to primary texts.
Plato: Forms transcendent, eternal, separate (chorismos); particulars participate/imitate; knowledge by recollection/dialectic
Aristotle: form immanent, inseparable from matter (hylomorphism); form as actuality, matter as potentiality
Aristotle's critique of separation (Third Man, participation empty)
Epistemic contrast: recollection vs abstraction/induction; evaluation
Hume's fork; causation as habit from constant conjunction
Kant's synthetic a priori judgments (7+5=12, every event has a cause)
Copernican revolution: forms of intuition (space, time) and categories incl. causality
Transcendental deduction; knowledge limited to phenomena, noumena unknowable
List of truisms in 'A Defence of Common Sense' (body, past existence, other persons, earth)
Certainty of truisms exceeds any premise of sceptical/idealist arguments; deniers presuppose them
'Proof of an External World' (here is one hand…)
Critique: begs the question/dogmatism; Wittgenstein's hinge propositions; distinction between knowing and analysing
Definition of a private language (PI §243)
Rule-following needs public criteria; 'whatever seems right is right' (§258 diary 'S')
Beetle-in-the-box; meaning as use in language-games and forms of life
Evaluation: implications for Cartesian inner; Kripke's sceptical reading or objections
Postscript definition: objective uncertainty held with passionate inwardness
How vs what; existing individual vs Hegelian system
Faith, paradox, leap; stages of existence
Critique: fideism/irrationalism/relativism vs value for authenticity
(a) Is rejection of Locke's notion of primary qualities instrumental in Berkeley's leaning towards idealism ? In this context, also discuss how Berkeley's subjective idealism is different from the absolute idealism proposed by Hegel. 20 marks
(b) How does Spinoza establish that God alone is absolutely real with his statement – "Whatever is, is in God" ? Critically discuss. 15 marks
(c) Critically examine Kant's objections against the ontological argument for the existence of God. 15 marks
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) क्या लॉक की प्राथमिक गुणों की अवधारणा का खण्डन बर्कले के प्रत्ययवाद की ओर झुकाव में सहायक है ? इस संदर्भ में, यह विवेचना भी कीजिए किस प्रकार बर्कले का विषयनिष्ठ प्रत्ययवाद हेगेल के निरपेक्ष प्रत्ययवाद से भिन्न है। 20 अंक
(b) अपने कथन – "जो कुछ भी है, ईश्वर में है" से स्पिनोजा किस प्रकार यह स्थापित करते हैं कि केवल ईश्वर ही निरपेक्ष रूप से यथार्थ है ? समालोचनात्मक विवेचना कीजिए। 15 अंक
(c) ईश्वर की सत्ता के लिए सत्तामूलक युक्ति के विरुद्ध कांट के आक्षेपों का समालोचनात्मक परीक्षण कीजिए। 15 अंक
Answer approach & key points
(a) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close | (b) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment | (c) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment Full marks: Precise reconstruction, technical vocabulary, strong counter-arguments, clear distinctions.
Locke's primary/secondary distinction and material substratum
Berkeley's arguments: relativity of perception applies to primary qualities; inseparability of extension from colour; critique of abstract ideas
Hence esse est percipi; ideas in finite minds and God; rejection of matter
Contrast: finite/divine perceivers vs Hegel's Geist as self-developing rational whole; dialectic; subject–object identity
Definitions: substance (in itself, conceived through itself), attribute, mode; God as absolutely infinite
Steps: no two substances share an attribute; substance is causa sui and infinite; God necessarily exists; E1P14 no substance besides God; E1P15 whatever is, is in God
Modes as affections; thought and extension as attributes; Deus sive Natura; natura naturans/naturata
Critique: acosmism (Hegel), pantheism/atheism charges, status of finite individuality, freedom and evil
Statement of the argument (Anselm/Descartes)
Existence is not a real predicate; 100 thalers
Rejecting subject with predicate involves no contradiction; existential propositions are synthetic
Evaluation: necessary vs contingent existence, Hegel, Malcolm/Plantinga modal versions; Kant's point that other proofs rest on it
50MexplainWestern Philosophy - Russell, Logical Positivism, Rationalism, Mind-Body Problem
(a) Explain Russell's notion of incomplete symbols. Also explain how this notion leads to the doctrine of logical atomism. 20 marks
(b) Is the sentence "All objects are either red or not red" meaningful in the same way as "This page is white" is, according to the logical positivists ? Discuss with arguments. 15 marks
(c) Among the rationalists, whose account of mind-body problem is compatible with the notion of human freedom and free will ? Critically discuss. 15 marks
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) रसेल की अपूर्ण प्रतीकों की अवधारणा की व्याख्या कीजिए। यह भी समझाइए कि किस प्रकार यह अवधारणा तार्किक परमाणुवाद के सिद्धांत की ओर ले जाती है। 20 अंक
(b) तार्किक प्रत्यक्षवादियों/भाववादियों के अनुसार क्या वाक्य "सभी वस्तुएं या तो लाल होती हैं अथवा लाल नहीं होती हैं" उसी प्रकार से अर्थपूर्ण है जिस प्रकार से वाक्य "यह पृष्ठ श्वेत है" अर्थपूर्ण है ? युक्तियों सहित विवेचना कीजिए। 15 अंक
(c) बुद्धिवादियों में किसकी मानस-देह समस्या की व्याख्या मानव स्वातंत्र्य तथा संकल्प स्वातंत्र्य से सुसंगत है ? समालोचनात्मक विवेचना कीजिए। 15 अंक
Answer approach & key points
Framework: UPSC Philosophy Paper 1. (a) explain: definition/context > points in order > small example > short close | (b) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close | (c) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment Full marks: Precise technical vocabulary, clear logical reconstruction, strong counter-arguments, and Sanskrit/Greek terms where apt.
Incomplete symbol: no meaning in isolation, defined in use (contextual definition)
Theory of descriptions ('On Denoting', 1905): existence, uniqueness, predication; class symbols in Principia
Grammatical vs logical form; elimination of Meinongian objects; logically proper names and acquaintance
Analysis down to simples: particulars, universals, atomic facts/propositions; molecular propositions truth-functional; isomorphism of language and world
Verification principle: meaningful = analytic or empirically verifiable
First sentence analytic/tautologous (excluded middle), true by form, a priori, factually empty
Second synthetic, empirically verifiable, a posteriori, informative
Conclusion: both meaningful but in different ways; tautologies 'senseless' (sinnlos) not nonsense; critique (Quine on analytic–synthetic)
Descartes: interactionism; will infinite; libertarian freedom but interaction problem
Spinoza: dual-aspect monism/parallelism; free will an illusion; freedom as understanding necessity
(a) What do the existentialist thinkers mean by the slogan "existence precedes essence" ? How is human existence related to human freedom according to them ? Discuss. 10+10 marks
(b) Why does Husserl think that essences exhibit a kind of continuity between consciousness and being ? Discuss. 15 marks
(c) Explain the nature of the two dogmas that Quine refers to in his paper 'Two Dogmas of Empiricism'. 15 marks
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) "अस्तित्व सार का पूर्वगामी है" इस आदर्श-वाक्य से अस्तित्ववादी विचारकों का क्या अर्थ है ? उनके अनुसार मानव सत्ता किस प्रकार मानव स्वातंत्र्य से संबंधित है ? विवेचना कीजिए। 10+10 अंक
(b) हुसर्ल ऐसा क्यों सोचते हैं कि सार-तत्त्व, चेतना तथा सत्तु के बीच एक प्रकार की निरंतरता को प्रदर्शित करते हैं ? विवेचना कीजिए । 15 अंक
(c) उन दो मतार्थों के स्वरूप की व्याख्या कीजिए जिनको क्वाइन अपने लेख 'टू डॉगमास ऑफ एम्पिरिसिज्म' में संदर्भित करते हैं । 15 अंक
Answer approach & key points
Framework: UPSC Philosophy Paper 1. (a(i)) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close | (a(ii)) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close | (b) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close | (c) explain: definition/context > points in order > small example > short close Full marks: Precise technical vocabulary, strong counter-arguments, exact terms in Sanskrit/Greek where apt
Sartre, 'Existentialism is a Humanism' (1946): no pre-given human nature or divine blueprint
Artefact contrast (paper-knife): essence precedes existence for made things
Man first exists, then defines himself through choices and projects
Facticity/thrownness as situation, not essence; Heidegger's reservations
Freedom as the being of the for-itself; 'condemned to be free'
Total responsibility; choosing for all mankind
Anguish, abandonment, despair; bad faith as flight from freedom
Authenticity; limits of situation; critique (de Beauvoir/Merleau-Ponty on situated freedom)
Intentionality: consciousness is always of something
Epoché and phenomenological reduction; eidetic reduction via free imaginative variation
Noesis–noema correlation; essences given in intuition (Wesensschau), neither psychological nor separate Platonic entities
Being as constituted meaning for transcendental consciousness; critique (idealism charge, Heidegger/Merleau-Ponty)
Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:
(a) Do you think Cārvāka's philosophy is positivistic in nature ? Give reasons and justifications for your answer. 10 marks
(b) Explain the six reasons offered by the Naiyāyikas to prove the existence of the self. 10 marks
(c) Do these two sentences "Air does not have heat" and "Air is not fire" refer to the same type of absence or abhāva, according to the Vaiśeṣikas ? Discuss. 10 marks
(d) How does Bhāṭṭa's view of nature of word-meaning and sentential-meaning differ from Prābhākara's view ? Critically discuss. 10 marks
(e) "In Viśiṣṭādvaita philosophy, the relationship between God and the world is parallel to that between an individual self and its body." Critically discuss. 10 marks
हिंदी में पढ़ें
निम्नलिखित में से प्रत्येक प्रश्न का उत्तर लगभग 150 शब्दों में दीजिए :
(a) क्या आप सोचते हैं कि चार्वाक दर्शन का स्वरूप प्रत्यक्षवादी/भाववादी है ? अपने उत्तर के पक्ष में तर्क एवं प्रमाण प्रस्तुत कीजिए । 10 अंक
(b) स्व की सत्ता सिद्ध करने के लिए नैयायिकों द्वारा प्रदत्त छः तर्कों की व्याख्या कीजिए । 10 अंक
(c) वैशेषिकों के अनुसार, यह दो वाक्य "वायु में उष्णा नहीं होती" तथा "वायु अग्नि नहीं है" क्या समान प्रकार के अभाव को संदर्भित करते हैं ? विवेचना कीजिए । 10 अंक
(d) शब्दार्थ तथा वाक्यार्थ के स्वरूप के विषय में भट्ट मत, प्रभाकर के मत से किस प्रकार भिन्न है ? समालोचनात्मक विवेचना कीजिए । 10 अंक
(e) "विशिष्टाद्वैत दर्शन में, ईश्वर तथा जगत के बीच संबंध, व्यष्टिक आत्मा तथा उसके शरीर के समानांतर है।" समालोचनात्मक विवेचना कीजिए । 10 अंक
Answer approach & key points
Framework: UPSC Philosophy Paper 1. (a) justify: claim > 3-4 reasons > evidence > conclusion | (b) explain: definition/context > points in order > small example > short close | (c) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close | (d) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment | (e) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment Full marks: Precise technical vocabulary, clear argumentation, strong counter-arguments, and critical evaluation.
Pratyakṣa as sole pramāṇa; critique of anumāna (vyāpti unprovable) and śabda
Rejection of ātman, afterlife, karma, Veda; bhūtacaitanyavāda (consciousness from four elements)
Similarities with positivism (verification by observation, anti-metaphysics) and differences (materialist metaphysics, hedonist ethics, sources via opponents e.g. Sarvadarśanasaṅgraha)
Nuance: later Cārvākas (Purandara) accept inference about perceptible matters; reasoned verdict
Qualities need a substance; not qualities of body, senses or manas
Memory/recognition and desire require one enduring subject
Self as inferred eternal substance, consciousness adventitious; critique (Buddhist anātmavāda)
Abhāva as seventh padārtha; saṃsargābhāva vs anyonyābhāva
First: atyantābhāva (relational absence) of hot touch in air; pratiyogī = heat, relation = inherence
Second: anyonyābhāva – absence of identity (difference) between air and fire
Conclusion: different types; realism about absence and its apprehension (anupalabdhi debates)
Bhāṭṭa abhihitānvayavāda: words first denote isolated meanings (jāti); sentence meaning from their connection via ākāṅkṣā, yogyatā, sannidhi (explained through lakṣaṇā)
Prābhākara anvitābhidhānavāda: words denote meanings already connected; learned from elders' usage in sentences
Role of injunction: bhāvanā (Bhāṭṭa) vs kārya/niyoga (Prābhākara)
Critical evaluation of each (economy, learning, compositionality)
Śarīra–śarīrī bhāva; definition of body as what the self supports, controls and uses for its purpose
Apṛthak-siddhi; cit and acit as viśeṣaṇa of Brahman; antaryāmin
Brahman untouched by defects of the body (karma not applicable); sāmānādhikaraṇya of 'tat tvam asi'
Critique: Advaitin objection, pantheism charge vs panentheism; limits of analogy
(a) Differentiate between the Cārvākas' refutation of self as a transcendental category and the Buddhist rejection of ātmā. 20 marks
(b) How do the two schools of Buddhism arrive at two opposed conclusions, namely "everything is void" and "everything is real" from the same doctrine of Pratītyasamutpāda? Answer with arguments. 15 marks
(c) What is the distinction between Bhāvabandha and Dravyabandha, according to the Jainas? Discuss. 15 marks
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) चार्वाकों द्वारा स्व का अतांत्रिक कोटि के रूप में खंडन तथा बौद्धों द्वारा आत्मा के खंडन के बीच विभेद कीजिए। 20 अंक
(b) प्रतीत्यसमुत्पाद के समान मत से ही बौद्ध दर्शन के दो सम्प्रदाय विपरीत निष्कर्षों जैसे कि "सभी वस्तुएँ शून्य हैं" तथा "सभी वस्तुएँ यथार्थ हैं" तक किस प्रकार पहुँचते हैं? युक्तियों सहित उत्तर दीजिए। 15 अंक
(c) जैनों के अनुसार भावबन्ध तथा द्रव्यबन्ध में क्या अंतर है? विवेचना कीजिए। 15 अंक
Answer approach & key points
(a) compare: paired headings or point-wise contrast > key differences > significance > conclusion | (b) explain: definition/context > points in order > small example > short close | (c) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close Full marks: Precise technical vocabulary, clear logical structure, strong counter-arguments, and accurate use of Sanskrit terms.
Cārvāka: pratyakṣa only; dehātmavāda; consciousness from four elements (madaśakti analogy); 'I am fat/lean' usage
Buddhism: anātman via anitya, duḥkha, five skandhas (Anattalakkhaṇa; chariot in Milindapañha); middle way between eternalism and annihilationism
Key differences: materialist vs non-substantialist; Buddhism keeps karma, rebirth as causal continuity and nirvāṇa; Buddhism also rejects body as self
Pratītyasamutpāda stated (asmin sati idaṃ bhavati)
Mādhyamika: dependent ⇒ niḥsvabhāva ⇒ śūnya; śūnyatā = pratītyasamutpāda (MMK 24.18); not nihilism; two truths
Sarvāstivāda: real dharmas as causes/conditions; sarvam asti in three times – arguments from scripture, cognition needing an object, fruition of past karma
Evaluation of the divergence (dependence as emptiness vs as real causal relations)
Bhāvabandha: soul's impure psychic states (kaṣāya, moha) that cause bondage
Dravyabandha: actual union of karmic pudgala with soul-pradeśas
50MdiscussIndian Philosophy - Sāṃkhya, Yoga, Sri Aurobindo's Integral Yoga
(a) Present an account of evolution of Prakṛti as propounded in Sāṃkhyakārikā. In this context, also explain the difference between buddhi, mahat and ahaṃkāra. 10+10 marks
(b) "So long as there are changes and modifications in citta, the self is reflected therein, and, in the absence of discriminative knowledge, identifies itself with them." Present an appraisal of Yoga Soteriology in the light of the above statement. 15 marks
(c) "Our Yoga is a double movement of ascent and descent." Discuss the above statement in the context of Sri Aurobindo's conception of Integral Yoga. 15 marks
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) सांख्यकारिका में प्रतिपादित प्रकृति के विकासक्रम संबंधित मत को प्रस्तुत कीजिए। इस संदर्भ में, बुद्धि, महत् तथा अहंकार के बीच भेद की भी व्याख्या कीजिए। 10+10 अंक
(b) "जब तक चित्त में परिवर्तन तथा रूपान्तरण होते रहेंगे, उनमें स्व/आत्म का प्रतिबिंबन होगा, जो विवेक की अनुपस्थिति में स्वयं को उनसे आत्मसात करेगा।" उपर्युक्त कथन के आलोक में योगदर्शन के मोक्षशास्त्र की समीक्षा प्रस्तुत कीजिए। 15 अंक
(c) "हमारा योग चढ़ाव तथा उतराव का दो तरफा गमनागमन है।" उपर्युक्त कथन की श्री अरविंदो की पूर्ण (इंटीग्रल) योग की अवधारणा के संदर्भ में विवेचना कीजिए। 15 अंक
Answer approach & key points
Framework: null. (a(i)) explain: definition/context > points in order > small example > short close | (a(ii)) compare: paired headings or point-wise contrast > key differences > significance > conclusion | (b) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment | (c) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close Full marks: Precise Sanskrit terms, clear causal logic, strong distinction between systems
Prakṛti as avyakta, triguṇa equilibrium; satkāryavāda arguments (SK 9)
Evolution begins by disturbance of guṇas through proximity (saṃyoga) of puruṣa, for puruṣa's purpose (SK 21, lame and blind)
(a) How do I know that I know ? Answer this question with reference to the Naiyāyikas, the Bhāṭṭa Mīmāṃsākas and the Prābhākaras. 20 marks
(b) "A candidate who is never seen to be studying during the day time secures a high position in a competitive exam." How would the Bhāṭṭa Mīmāṃsākas and the Naiyāyikas explain the success of this candidate ? Discuss. 15 marks
(c) On what grounds do the Prābhākaras and the Naiyāyikas reject memory as a source of knowledge ? Discuss. 15 marks
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) मुझे यह ज्ञान कैसे होता है कि मैं जानता हूँ ? नैयायिकों, भट्ट मीमांसकों तथा प्रभाकरों के संदर्भ में इस प्रश्न का उत्तर दीजिए। 20 अंक
(b) "एक अभ्यर्थी जिसे दिन के समय में कभी अध्ययन करते हुए नहीं देखा गया है, एक प्रतियोगी परीक्षा में उच्च स्थान प्राप्त कर लेता है।" भट्ट मीमांसक तथा नैयायिक इस अभ्यर्थी की सफलता की किस प्रकार व्याख्या करेंगे ? विवेचना कीजिए। 15 अंक
(c) किन आधारों पर प्रभाकर तथा नैयायिक, स्मृति को प्रमाण के रूप में अस्वीकार करते हैं ? विवेचना कीजिए। 15 अंक
Answer approach & key points
Framework: UPSC Philosophy Paper 1. (a) explain: definition/context > points in order > small example > short close | (b) explain: definition/context > points in order > small example > short close | (c) explain: definition/context > points in order > small example > short close Full marks: Precise technical vocabulary, clear distinction between schools, no philosophical errors
Nyāya: paraprakāśa; vyavasāya known by anuvyavasāya (mānasa-pratyakṣa); validity parataḥ via successful activity
Bhāṭṭa: cognition imperceptible; known from jñātatā/prākaṭya in object by inference or arthāpatti; validity svataḥ
Prābhākara: svaprakāśa; tripuṭī (mātṛ, meya, miti) revealed in one act; validity svataḥ; akhyāti
Comparison/evaluation (regress objections, Nyāya reply that anuvyavasāya not always needed)
Bhāṭṭa: arthāpatti – postulating night study to resolve apparent conflict; parallel 'fat Devadatta does not eat by day'
Arthāpatti as independent pramāṇa: not reducible to inference because no prior vyāpti/knowledge of pakṣa-dharmatā in required form
Nyāya: arthāpatti is inference, especially kevala-vyatirekī (NS 2.2.1–2; Gaṅgeśa)
Critical evaluation of the dispute
Pramā defined as anubhūti/yathārtha anubhava; memory is not anubhava
Memory born of saṃskāra alone; grasps what is already grasped (gṛhīta-grāhī); no new object
Validity derivative of original experience; object may have changed (tattā); Prābhākara smṛti-pramoṣa in error
Evaluation (Jaina acceptance of smṛti as parokṣa pramāṇa; memory not false)