1Medium10 marks
How do the Buddhists and the Nyaya philosophers explain our knowledge of 'the absence of the jar on the table'? Answer in detail.
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56 questions from the UPSC 2018 examination.
56 questions
How do the Buddhists and the Nyaya philosophers explain our knowledge of 'the absence of the jar on the table'? Answer in detail.
What is meant by liberal democracy ? Does it require deeper principles for social cohesion to balance its own strong affirmation of individual rights ? Give reasons from the Indian context.
What measures do you suggest to eradicate corruption in Indian democracy ?
Is Carvaka rejection of inference acceptable to the other systems of Indian philosophy? If not, why? Do you think the views of other systems to be justified? Give reasons for your answer.
In what sense is the secular use of language different from the religious use of language ? Discuss.
Are Marxian Socialism and individual freedom consistent ? Discuss critically.
Is Hinduism poly-theistic ? Give reasons for your answer.
What do you understand by multi-culturalism ? How are globalization and multi-culturalism related ? How does their relationship affect cultural changes ?
Evaluate the concept of Bhakti (Devotion) as a pathway to attain liberation.
How do the Naiyayikas prove the existence of God? Do the Yoga philosophers prove God in the same way? If yes, how? And if no, why? Give reasons for your answer.
Does the concept of God entail the existence of God ? Examine from the perspective of ontological argument.
How do the Advaita Vedantins react to the Prakrtiparinamavada of the Samkhya philosophy? How do the Samkhyas defend their own position in this regard? Discuss.
How does Berkeley establish that Mind and its ideas alone are real? How do Moore and Russell react to Berkeley's view in this regard? Do you find any difference between Moore's reaction and Russell's one? Discuss.
How do the Madhyamika Buddhists apply the notion of Pratityasamutpada to establish their doctrine of Sunyata? Discuss.
How do the logical positivists show that metaphysical sentences are meaningless? Can their verification theory of meaning account for the meaningfulness of all scientific sentences? Discuss.
What is the reason for the difference in the definitions and classifications of substances made by Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz in spite of the fact that they all belonged to the rationalist school of thought? Discuss.
How do the Vaisesika philosophers explain the difference of the relationships in the two cases-(i) the brown colour of the table and (ii) the book on the table? Discuss
It is said that the traditional hold of caste-based groups on Indian social behaviour has survived all attempts to build alternate identities. Discuss in the light of M.K. Gandhi.
Explain the significance of religious symbols as transcendent referent that mediates into the cultural, spatial and temporal world.
Is the relation between the Idea and the World as discussed by Plato logically consistent? Discuss Aristotle's views regarding this and also give arguments in favour of your answer.
What is the difference between the indescribability (Anirvacaniyata) of Brahman and the indescribability (Anirvacaniyata) of Maya in the Advaita Vedanta system? Discuss.
Critically evaluate Laski's view on sovereignty as a satisfactory position in political theory.
What is Evolution according to Sri Aurobindo? Describe the process of triple transformation and the nature of gnostic being in his philosophy.
Explain the significance of the Kantian dictum, 'Understanding makes Nature'. How far do you agree that Hegel's Absolutism is the culmination of the Kantian Dualism? Discuss. Give reasons in favour of your answer.
Can one claim that there is an inter-relatedness between 'religiosity' and 'immorality' ? Discuss.
How does the notion of 'family resemblance' help Wittgenstein to uphold that 'language is a game'? Discuss.
"Truth is one, yet people perceive differently." Critically evaluate by considering the present Indian context.
How does Sartre connect inauthenticity with bad faith? Why does Sartre show that authenticity and bad faith lead to alienation? Discuss.
The terms 'Sacred' and 'Holy' have come to serve as generic names for the object of religion. Do you agree that one can have God as the object of religion ? Discuss.
Do you subscribe to the political ideology of Anarchists ? Justify your answer.
Is Purusa one or many? Explain the Samkhya position in this regard and give arguments in support of your answer.
Can you justify religion without God ? Support your answer.
Give a comparative exposition of the concept of Moksa as found in the systems of Visishtadvaita, Dvaita, Suddhadvaita and Acintyabhedabheda.
Discuss Kautilya's concept of sovereignty in the light of 'Danda-neeti'.
What is Epoché? How does Heidegger reject this method of phenomenological reduction? Explain Heidegger's concept of 'being in the world' as opposed to the concept of a transcendental ego.
Critically examine Braithwaite's non-cognitive theory of religious language.
How does Wittgenstein apply the distinction between 'saying' and 'showing' to point to a single way of apprehending the most decisive problems of philosophy? Is he justified? Give reasons for your answer.
How does Ramanuja refute the doctrine of Maya as propounded by Sankara? Why is Maya needed by both Ramanuja and Sankara to establish their doctrines? Discuss.
How do you evaluate gender discrimination in the context of female foeticide ?
Do you subscribe to the view that Indian cultural identity needs to integrate the principles of multi-culturalism and respect for the dignity of each person ? Justify your answer.
Is feminism an ideology for empowerment or for equality ? Discuss.
How is Russell's theory of definite description related to his Logical Atomism? Discuss and give reasons for your answer.
Is there any place for freedom in Leibniz's philosophy, when he speaks of pre-established harmony? Discuss.
How does Strawson explain the concept of person in his philosophy? Discuss.
Distinguish between Exclusivism, Inclusivism and Pluralism with regard to the conflicting truth-claims of different religions.
Does the admission at Svayanprakasavada necessarily lead to the admission of Svatahpramanyavada? Discuss after the Naiyayikas, the Mimamsakas and the Advaita Vedantins.
How far can liberty and equality be considered as distinctive features of democracy ? Discuss.
Are the two truths-'The Sun will rise tomorrow' and '2+2=4' of the same necessity for Hume? Give reasons in favour of your answer.
Compare St. Thomas Aquinas' five ways of knowing God with the arguments of the Nyaya School of Indian Philosophy for the existence of God.
How far is it plausible to argue that the anti-theistic religions' stand on the concept of rebirth is philosophically significant ?
How does Quine show that the notion of a priori knowledge as discussed by Kant is 'a metaphysical article of faith'? Give reasons for your answer.
What form of humanism do you approve as relevant in the present day context ? Discuss in detail.
Is it consistent for the Buddhists to admit the theory of Nairatmyavada and the doctrine of Nirvana simultaneously? Give reasons in favour of your answer.
"Human rights and human dignity would no longer be the product of a particular culture, rather a common human aspiration for an ideal world." Discuss.
Critically evaluate the Buddhistic arguments against the existence of God as the creator of the world.
How do the Jaina philosophers explain 'bondage'? What, according to them, is the distinction between 'liberated soul' and 'bound soul'? What do the Jainas think about the condition of the 'liberated soul'? Discuss.