All 8 questions from UPSC Civil Services Mains Philosophy 2025 Paper II (400 marks total). Every stem reproduced in full, with directive-word analysis, marks, word limits, and answer-approach pointers.
8Questions
400Total marks
2025Year
Paper IIPaper
Topics covered
Political philosophy and social constructs (1)Indian political thought and ideologies (1)Rights, humanism and development (1)Justice, liberty, equality and rights (1)Philosophy of religion and Indian philosophy (1)Arguments for God's existence and theodicy (1)Religious pluralism, Nyaya theism and rebirth (1)Religious experience, divine command and religious language (1)
A
Q1
50M150wCompulsorydiscussPolitical philosophy and social constructs
Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:
(a) "Corrupt practices reveal an inherent tension between particularistic and universalistic normative standards." Do you agree with this statement ? Give reasons and justification for your answer. (10 marks)
(b) How does gender as a social construct affect individuals' opportunities, rights, and access to resources ? Critically discuss. (10 marks)
(c) Is the idea of secularism necessarily related to the idea of religious pluralism ? Discuss. (10 marks)
(d) Comment on Plato's critique of Democracy. (10 marks)
(e) Discuss the salient features of equality according to J.S. Mill. (10 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
निम्नलिखित में से प्रत्येक प्रश्न का उत्तर लगभग 150 शब्दों में दीजिए :
(a) "भ्रष्ट आचरण विशेष तथा सार्वभौमिक नियामक आदर्शमूलक मानकों के बीच एक अंतर्निहित विरोध को उजागर करता है।" क्या आप इस कथन से सहमत हैं ? अपने उत्तर के लिए तर्क तथा प्रमाण प्रस्तुत कीजिए। (10 अंक)
(b) सामाजिक निर्मिति के रूप में लिंग (जेंडर) व्यक्तियों के अवसरों, अधिकारों, तथा संसाधनों तक उनकी पहुँच को किस प्रकार प्रभावित करता है ? समालोचनात्मक विवेचना कीजिए। (10 अंक)
(c) क्या धर्मनिरपेक्षता की अवधारणा अनिवार्य रूप से धार्मिक बहुलवाद की अवधारणा से जुड़ी हुई है ? विवेचना कीजिए। (10 अंक)
(d) प्लेटो की प्रजातंत्र की समीक्षा पर टिप्पणी कीजिए। (10 अंक)
(e) जे.एस. मिल के अनुसार समानता की मुख्य विशेषताओं का विवेचन कीजिए। (10 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
Framework: UPSC Mains Philosophy Paper II. (a) justify: claim > 3-4 reasons > evidence > conclusion | (b) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment | (c) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close | (d) comment: context > arguments both sides > judgment > close | (e) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close Full marks: Precise definitions, strong arguments, concrete examples, balanced judgment
Particularistic vs universalistic standards defined; agreement with the statement
Corruption as priority of particularistic loyalty (nepotism/patronage)
Kautilya's Arthashastra recognition; contemporary India clientelism
Second ARC ethical infrastructure; supremacy of universal public duty
Gender as social construct (de Beauvoir; Butler's performativity)
Opportunities: gendered division of labour, low female LFPR
Rights: bodily autonomy, inheritance; HSA 2005; resources: son meta-preference
Critical evaluation: welfare legislation vs embedded normative beliefs
50MevaluateIndian political thought and ideologies
(a) Present a detailed account of the debate between Gandhi and Ambedkar on the issue of caste discrimination. (20 marks)
(b) Evaluate Marxism as a Political Ideology. (15 marks)
(c) 'There is no permanent friend or permanent enemy.' Discuss this statement in the light of Kautilya's view on Sovereignty. (15 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) जातिगत भेदभाव के विषय पर गांधी तथा अंबेडकर के बीच बहस का विस्तृत विवरण प्रस्तुत कीजिए। (20 अंक)
(b) राजनीतिक विचारधारा के रूप में मार्क्सवाद का मूल्यांकन कीजिए। (15 अंक)
(c) कौटिल्य के संप्रभुता के सिद्धांत के आलोक में इस कथन की विवेचना कीजिए कि 'कोई भी स्थायी मित्र अथवा स्थायी शत्रु नहीं होता है।' (15 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
Framework: UPSC Mains Philosophy Paper II. (a) account for: state the phenomenon > the causes in order of weight > conclusion | (b) evaluate: criteria > evidence > balanced judgment | (c) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close Full marks: Precise reconstruction of arguments, specific terminology, balanced evaluation, and clear linkage to the question's core concepts.
Ambedkar: caste as institutionalised graded inequality; Annihilation of Caste (1936); total destruction
Gandhi: varnashrama ideal; untouchability as excrescence; Harijan campaign
Poona Pact (1932): reserved seats in joint electorate vs separate electorates
Philosophical divide: hriday parivartan/trusteeship vs constitutional state intervention; Constitution synthesis (Arts 14–17)
Core: dialectical materialism, class struggle, withering of the state
Strengths: anti-imperialist mobilisation, rapid industrialisation of USSR/China
Weaknesses: bureaucratic totalitarianism, economic stagnation, suppression of liberties, ecological blindspot
India: M.N. Roy's radical humanism; CPI(M) split; Ambedkar's 'division of labourers' critique; verdict as diagnostic tool not totalising ideology
(a) Can one's right to life be absolute ? Answer with reference to the idea of Capital Punishment. (20 marks)
(b) How does the reconciliation of opposites take place in the Humanism of Tagore ? Evaluate. (15 marks)
(c) Is it possible to reconcile the concept of development with tribal values to bring social and economic progress ? Discuss. (15 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) क्या किसी के जीवन का अधिकार निरपेक्ष हो सकता है ? मृत्युदंड की अवधारणा के संदर्भ में उत्तर दीजिए। (20 अंक)
(b) टैगोर के मानववाद में विरोधों का समन्वय कैसे होता है ? मूल्यांकन कीजिए। (15 अंक)
(c) क्या सामाजिक तथा आर्थिक प्रगति लाने के लिए विकास की अवधारणा का जनजातीय मूल्यों के साथ समन्वय करना संभव है ? विवेचन कीजिए। (15 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
Framework: UPSC Philosophy Paper II. (a) comment: context > arguments both sides > judgment > close | (b) evaluate: criteria > evidence > balanced judgment | (c) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close Full marks: Precise reconstruction of arguments, strong counter-arguments, and specific references to laws/texts.
Right to life (Article 21): absolute vs qualified; due process and constitutional morality
Pro capital punishment: retribution (proportionality), deterrence, societal condemnation
(a) How are both equality and liberty inadequate as social and political ideals without justice ? Discuss. (20 marks)
(b) Can Theocracy be accepted as a valid form of Government ? Give reasons and justification in support of your answer. (15 marks)
(c) "Duties are of the nature of obligation while Rights are of the nature of entitlement. Therefore there is no necessary connection between the two." Do you agree with this statement ? Give reasons and justification for your answer. (15 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) सामाजिक एवं राजनीतिक आदर्शों के रूप में कैसे समानता और स्वतंत्रता दोनों न्याय के अभाव में अपर्याप्त हैं ? विवेचन कीजिए। (20 अंक)
(b) क्या शासन के वैध रूप में धर्मतंत्र को स्वीकार किया जा सकता है ? अपने उत्तर के पक्ष में तर्क तथा प्रमाण प्रस्तुत कीजिए। (15 अंक)
(c) "कर्तव्य दायित्व के स्वरूप के होते हैं जबकि अधिकार पात्रता के स्वरूप के होते हैं। अतएव इन दोनों के बीच कोई अनिवार्य संबंध नहीं होता।" क्या आप इस कथन से सहमत हैं ? अपने उत्तर के पक्ष में तर्क तथा प्रमाण प्रस्तुत कीजिए। (15 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
(a) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close | (b) justify: claim > 3-4 reasons > evidence > conclusion | (c) comment: context > arguments both sides > judgment > close Full marks: Precise definitions, strong arguments, clear counter-arguments, and a well-reasoned conclusion.
Justice as the unifying principle; liberty and equality examined in isolation
Negative liberty without equality: license, monopolies, 'paradox of freedom'
Formal equality without liberty: authoritarian levelling down (Vonnegut's 'Harrison Bergeron')
Justice as the 'first virtue of social institutions' (Rawls); lexical priority and Difference Principle
Sen's capability approach: substantive expansion of capabilities
Synthesis: justice as the normative limit of both liberty and equality
Theocracy defined: sovereignty of divine authority, unchanging moral law, communal identity
Arguments in support: moral certainty, stability, unified conception of the good
Arguments against: popular consent, public reason, value pluralism (Locke's toleration; Rawls's overlapping consensus)
Indian constitutional experience: Articles 25–28; Parekh and Bhargava on principled secularism
Reasoned judgment: not a valid form of government under modern legitimacy criteria
50M150wCompulsorydiscussPhilosophy of religion and Indian philosophy
Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:
(a) Discuss Cārvāka's critique of the belief in the existence of suprasensible entities. (10 marks)
(b) Is religious language symbolic ? Give reasons and justification in support of your answer. (10 marks)
(c) Present an account of Nietzsche's criticism of religion and morality. (10 marks)
(d) Discuss the nature of embodied liberation (jivanmukti) with reference to Advaita Vedānta. (10 marks)
(e) How does Aquinas' account of Faith as "an intellectual assent" reconcile the juxtaposition between Reason and Faith ? Discuss. (10 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
निम्नलिखित में से प्रत्येक प्रश्न का उत्तर लगभग 150 शब्दों में दीजिए :
(a) अतीन्द्रिय सत्ताओं के अस्तित्व में विश्वास के विषय में चार्वाक की समीक्षा का विवेचन कीजिए। (10 अंक)
(b) क्या धार्मिक भाषा प्रतीकात्मक है ? अपने उत्तर के पक्ष में तर्क तथा प्रमाण प्रस्तुत कीजिए। (10 अंक)
(c) नीत्शे की धर्म तथा नैतिकता की आलोचना का विवरण प्रस्तुत कीजिए। (10 अंक)
(d) अद्वैत वेदान्त के संदर्भ में जीवन्मुक्ति के स्वरूप का विवेचन कीजिए। (10 अंक)
(e) "एक बुद्धिगत स्वीकृति" के रूप में एक्विनास द्वारा प्रदत्त आस्था का विवरण किस प्रकार तर्कबुद्धि तथा आस्था के बीच विरोधाभास को समन्वित करता है ? विवेचना कीजिए। (10 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
Framework: State the position > Argument > Strongest objection > Evaluation. (a) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close | (b) justify: claim > 3-4 reasons > evidence > conclusion | (c) account for: state the phenomenon > the causes in order of weight > conclusion | (d) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close | (e) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close Full marks: Precise technical vocabulary, strong counter-arguments, and concrete examples.
Cārvāka epistemology: pratyakṣa alone as pramāṇa; anumāna and śabda/āgama rejected
Critique of inference: anavasthā (infinite regress), cakraka (circularity); vyāpti cannot be established
Suprasensible entities (dharma, heaven, soul, God) unverifiable; dehātmavāda — consciousness from material combination
Practical orientation: bhuñjīta — enjoyment of the perceptible present
Assessment: strength (clarity, parsimony) and weakness (insight excluded; thin moral basis)
Problem stated: symbolic vs referential vs analogical vs non-cognitive accounts of religious language
Tillich: symbols point beyond themselves, participate in what they point to, open levels of reality and soul
Braithwaite: non-cognitive — religious statements express commitment to an agapeistic way of life
Aquinas: analogical predication — neither univocal nor merely metaphorical
Response to verificationism; truth-claim preserved through mode of reference; critical evaluation
50MexplainArguments for God's existence and theodicy
(a) Present an account of Design argument to prove the existence of God along with its criticism by David Hume. (20 marks)
(b) Explain the main tenets of the Process Theodicy as an explanation of the problem of evil. (15 marks)
(c) Distinguish between Natural Theology and Revealed Theology in the context of the Propositional view of Revelation. (15 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) ईश्वर की सत्ता सिद्ध करने के लिए रचनामूलक (डिजाइन) युक्ति का डेविड ह्यूम द्वारा उसकी आलोचना सहित विवरण प्रस्तुत कीजिए। (20 अंक)
(b) अशुभ की समस्या की एक व्याख्या के रूप में सतत् प्रक्रियागत थियोडिसी के मुख्य सिद्धान्तों की व्याख्या कीजिए। (15 अंक)
(c) इल्हाम के प्रतिज्ञाप्यात्मक (प्रोपोजिशनल) मत के संदर्भ में प्राकृतिक धर्म-विज्ञान एवं रहस्योद्घाटित धर्म-विज्ञान के मध्य भेद स्पष्ट कीजिए। (15 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
Framework: UPSC Philosophy Paper II. (a) account for: state the phenomenon > the causes in order of weight > conclusion | (b) explain: definition/context > points in order > small example > short close | (c) compare: paired headings or table > key differences > significance > conclusion Full marks: Precise technical vocabulary, clear reconstruction of arguments, and specific engagement with named philosophers (Hume, Whitehead).
Teleological argument: order, intricacy and adaptation imply an intelligent designer
50MdiscussReligious pluralism, Nyaya theism and rebirth
(a) How does the Vedantic view of Religious Pluralism address the conflicting truth claims of different faiths ? Answer with reference to Swami Vivekananda's view of Universal Religion. (20 marks)
(b) What proofs do Nyāya philosophers offer for the existence of God ? Discuss. (15 marks)
(c) Is the concept of immortality of soul a necessary condition for Rebirth ? Discuss with reference to the Bhagavad Gītā. (15 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) धार्मिक बहुलवाद का वेदान्ती मत विभिन्न आस्थाओं के संघर्षरत सत्य दावों को किस प्रकार सम्बोधित करता है ? स्वामी विवेकानन्द के सार्वभौम धर्म के मत के सन्दर्भ में उत्तर दीजिए। (20 अंक)
(b) न्याय दार्शनिक ईश्वर की सत्ता के लिए क्या प्रमाण प्रस्तुत करते हैं ? विवेचन कीजिए। (15 अंक)
(c) क्या आत्मा की अमरता की अवधारणा पुनर्जन्म के लिए एक आवश्यक शर्त है ? भगवद्गीता के सन्दर्भ में विवेचन कीजिए। (15 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
Framework: Vedantic Pluralism, Nyāya Epistemology, Bhagavad Gītā Soteriology. (a) explain: definition/context > points in order > small example > short close | (b) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close | (c) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close Full marks: Precise technical vocabulary, strong argument reconstruction, clear evaluation, specific references
Vedāntic basis: one Brahman/Ātman; diversity of names, forms and paths empirical and provisional
Conflicting truth claims resolved by distinguishing the ultimate from the empirical
Vivekananda's Universal Religion: not a new dogma but realisation of the one divine; essential core vs non-essential accretions
Ekam sat vipra bahudhā vadanti (RV 1.164.46); four Yogas as complementary temperament-based paths
Rejection of proselytisation and religious imperialism; pluralism as ontological
Critical evaluation: historical/moral conflict reduced; Vedāntic basis for coexistence
50MevaluateReligious experience, divine command and religious language
(a) Evaluate the nature and object of Religious Experience as explained by Radhakrishnan in 'The Hindu View of Life'. (20 marks)
(b) Is it necessary for the normative principles to bear reference to God in order to produce a feeling of obligation in a moral agent ? Critically discuss. (15 marks)
(c) Discuss the Advaitic notion of indescribability (anirvachanīyatā) in the context of nature of religious language. (15 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) 'दी हिन्दू व्यू ऑफ लाइफ' में राधाकृष्णन द्वारा व्याख्यातित धार्मिक अनुभूति के स्वरूप और विषय का मूल्यांकन कीजिए। (20 अंक)
(b) क्या किसी नैतिक अभिकर्ता में कर्तव्यबोध जगाने के लिए नियामक आदर्शमूलक (नॉर्मेटिव) तत्त्वों के लिए ईश्वर को सन्दर्भित करना अनिवार्य है ? समालोचनात्मक विवेचना कीजिए। (15 अंक)
(c) धार्मिक भाषा के स्वरूप के सन्दर्भ में अनिर्वचनीयता की अद्वैतिक अवधारणा की विवेचना कीजिए। (15 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
Framework: Philosophy Paper II: State position > Argument > Strongest objection > Evaluation. (a) evaluate: criteria > evidence > balanced judgment | (b) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close | (c) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close Full marks: Precise reconstruction of arguments with Sanskrit terms and strong critical evaluation.
Radhakrishnan: religion of the letter (creed/dogma/ritual) vs religion of the spirit
Nature: integral experience (anubhava) — self-luminous, non-sensuous, direct; synthesises thought, feeling, will
Object: the Absolute/Supreme Spirit grasped in spiritual intuition; subject-object unity
Affinities: Advaita; Western absolute idealism (Bradley); Bergsonian intuitionism