UPSC CIVILS Main Exam 2011

PHILOSOPHY

Paper II

Time Allowed: Three Hours                                   Maximum Marks: 300

Instructions

Each question is printed both in Hindi and in English.

Answer must be written in the medium specified in the Admission Certificate issued to you, which must be stated clearly on the cover of the answer-book in the space provided for the purpose. No marks will be given for the answers written in a medium other than that specified in the Admission Certificate.

Candidates should attempt Question Nos. 1 and 5 which are compulsory, and any three of the remaining questions selecting at least one question from each Section.

The number of marks carried by each question is indicated at the end of the question. Answers should be precise and to-the-point.

Section ‘A’

1. Answer all the four parts below in not more than 150 words each:      15X4=60

(a) Compare and contrast Kautilya's Saptanga Theory of the Sovereign State with Bodin's theory of Sovereigntly.

(b) In a Democracy does a citizen ever have the moral right to break a law ? Discuss citizens right to civil disobedience.

(c) The Term 'multi-culturalism' has been used in both a descriptive and a normative sense. Discuss.

(d) Can capital punishment be justisfied ? Answer with reference to the theories of punishment.

2. Answer all the three parts below in about 200 words each:      20x3=60

(a) Can citizens have rights without duties? Discuss with examples.

(b) Discuss Kants’s distinction between duties of perfect and imperfect obligation.

(c) Can the conception of ‘rights’ of citizens be sustained in a society characterized by caste discrimination? Discuss.

3. Answer all the three parts below in about 200 words each:  20x3=60

(a) What are the basic differences between Marxism and Socialism?

(b) Can it be said that Socialism is a weaker version of Marxism? Discuss.

(c) Is Democratic Socialism a contradiction in terms? Discuss.

4. Answer all the three parts below in about 200 words each: 20x3=60

(a) The Fundamental idea of the conception of justice is fairness. Discuss.

(b) Can issue relating to gender discrimination be me by the conception of justice as fairness? Discuss.

(c) Which principle of justice can, in your view, be most helpful in addressing the issues related to caste discrimination and why?

Section ‘B’

5.  Answer each of the following in not more than 150 words:   15x4=60

(a) Discuss the sailent features of traditional orthodox religion.

(b) Examine the view that the foundation of morality is possible only in a religious framework.

(c) Why is a proof for the existence of God necessary for the growth of a religion? Discuss.

(d) “Religion is not just false, it is harmful.” Discuss.

6. Answer each of the following in about 200 words : 20x3=60

(a) Is William james right in holding that religious disputes are like conflicts in aesthetic appreciation ? Discuss.

(b) Are religious doctrines and debates verifiable ? Discuss.

(c) Examine the view that, religious doctrines are not 'quasi-scientific' doctrins. but represent a form of life.

7. Answer each of the following in about 200 words : 20x3=60

(a) Explain the notion of truth as "Ekam Sat Viprah Bahudha Vadanti" (Truth is one, the learned interpret it differently.)

(b) Does the notion of absolute truth give rise to intolerance and religious conflicts about truth be resolved ? Discuss.

(c) How can religios conflicts about truth be resolved ? Discuss.

8. Answer each of the following in about 200 words : 20x3=60

(a) Is a belief in the immortality of the soul a necessary precondition for religion ? Discuss.

(b) Is a belief in rebirth and reincarnation possible without a belief in the immortality of the soul ? Discuss.

(c) Can Buddhism, because of its doctrine of 'anatta', be regarded as a religion or not ? Discuss.