UPSC Mains 2025 Philosophy Optional Paper II questions

29 questions from the Civil Services (Main) Examination 2025. Official UPSC paper (PDF) · All Philosophy Optional PYQs

1. "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

2. How does gender as a social construct affect individuals' opportunities, rights, and access to resources? Critically discuss.

   10 marks

3. Is the idea of secularism necessarily related to the idea of religious pluralism? Discuss.

   10 marks

4. Comment on Plato's critique of Democracy.

   10 marks

5. Discuss the salient features of equality according to J.S. Mill.

   10 marks

6. Present a detailed account of the debate between Gandhi and Ambedkar on the issue of caste discrimination.

   20 marks

7. Evaluate Marxism as a Political Ideology.

   15 marks

8. There is no permanent friend or permanent enemy.' Discuss this statement in the light of Kautilya's view on Sovereignty.

   15 marks

9. Can one's right to life be absolute? Answer with reference to the idea of Capital Punishment.

   20 marks

10. How does the reconciliation of opposites take place in the Humanism of Tagore? Evaluate.

    15 marks

11. Is it possible to reconcile the concept of development with tribal values to bring social and economic progress? Discuss.

    15 marks

12. How are both equality and liberty inadequate as social and political ideals without justice? Discuss.

    20 marks

13. Can Theocracy be accepted as a valid form of Government? Give reasons and justification in support of your answer.

    15 marks

14. "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

15. Discuss Carvaka's critique of the belief in the existence of suprasensible entities.

    10 marks

16. Is religious language symbolic? Give reasons and justification in support of your answer.

    10 marks

17. Present an account of Nietzsche's criticism of religion and morality.

    10 marks

18. Discuss the nature of embodied liberation (jivanmukti) with reference to Advaita Vedanta.

19. How does Aquinas' account of Faith as "an intellectual assent" reconcile the juxtaposition between Reason and Faith? Discuss.

    10 marks

20. TAP Ate fray MET ATT Present an account of Design argument to prove the existence of God along with its criticism by David Hume.

    20 marks

21. Explain the main tenets of the Process Theodicy as an explanation of the problem of evil.

    15 marks

22. Distinguish between Natural Theology and Revealed Theology in the context of the Propositional view of Revelation.

    15 marks

23. 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

24. What proofs do Nyaya philosophers offer for the existence of God? Discuss.

    15 marks

25. Is the concept of immortality of soul a necessary condition for Rebirth? Discuss with reference to the Bhagavad Gita.

    15 marks

26. Evaluate the nature and object of Religious Experience as explained by Radhakrishnan in 'The Hindu View of Life'.

    20 marks

27. 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

28. context of nature of religious language.

    15 marks

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