UPSC Mains 2019 Philosophy Optional Paper II questions

29 questions from the Civil Services (Main) Examination 2019. Official UPSC paper (PDF) · All Philosophy Optional PYQs

1. How far do you think John Rawls is continuing with Plato's concept of justice?

   10 marks

2. Discuss the status of theocracy in the modern secular state.

   10 marks

3. Evaluate Mahatma Gandhi as a political anarchist.

   10 marks

4. Is corruption not a form of mass violence? Discuss.

   10 marks

5. Can gender equality be realised within a socialist regime? Analyse.

   10 marks

6. Do rights make citizens accountable to the State? Argue in the context of the present Indian scenario.

   20 marks

7. What are the descriptive and normative perspectives on ideas of multiculturalism?

   15 marks

8. Does technological development lead to progress in the ethical standards of the society? Explain.

   15 marks

9. Discuss how far does Austin's concept of sovereignty go along with Kautilya's concept of sovereignty.

10. Consider critically, that gender discrimination is a rather man-made concept but not naturally endowed.

    15 marks

11. What do you consider to be the future of Marxism in the context of the prevalent free market economy?

    15 marks

12. Examine whether there is any difference between the views of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar on the philosophical foundations of secular democracy.

13. of secular democracy.

    20 marks

14. Does liberty put limitations to equality? Discuss.

    15 marks

15. Does capital punishment weaken the doctrine of social justice? Discuss.

    15 marks

16. What is instrumental to self-revelation: Faith or Reason? Justify your position.

    10 marks

17. Is religion a uniting force for humanity in the globalizing world as of today? Discuss.

    10 marks

18. Can there be a philosophical argument to support violence in the name of religion? Discuss.

    10 marks

19. amt edt 8 2 aden Pifare Does a devoted commitment to a religious way of life make man go astray from social morality? Examine.

    10 marks

20. State and evaluate the proofs for the existence of God as propounded in Jainism.

    10 marks

21. Discuss whether and how does religious symbolism lead to mysticism.

    20 marks

22. What role do the concepts of evil and profane play to provide a firm foundation to religion?

    15 marks

23. How would a religious person deny the possibility of a religion without God? Discuss.

    15 marks

24. Expound and explain the central problem in the discussion between

25. Secular ethics cannot fully resolve as to why one should be moral all the time. Examine.

    15 marks

26. How far can religious experience be made a topic of public discourse?

27. State and explain the doctrines of Karma, Rebirth and Reincarnation in Hinduism.

    20 marks

28. State and evaluate the personalistic and impersonalistic aspects of God.

    15 marks

29. Discuss the relationship between man and God according to any one of the religions in India.

    15 marks