Preparation Strategy for Philosophy Paper of the IAS Main Exam

In the IAS Main Exam one can opt for Philosophy as an Optional subject. In the current trend of the IAS Main exam Philosophy has gained popularity due to its concise syllabus, availability of study materials and coaching institutes. The whole syllabus of the UPSC Civil Services exam is vast. So, given an option you should consider those subjects which have a shorter syllabus comparatively and studying which you do not face much challenge. However, you should consider a subject if only you have interest in the subject and you enjoy studying that particular subject.

In the past few years the subject Philosophy became a popular choice in the student community of Civil Services. To study Philosophy for the Main exam you do not have to have a background in Philosophy. This is probably the best reason that the number of Philosophy students appearing in the Main exam is increasing every year. A Main exam candidate from any stream i.e. Science, Arts, Commerce, Engineering etc. can take the Main exam with Philosophy as one of the optional subjects.

The Philosophy Paper I of the Civil Services Main exam covers History and Problems of Philosophy, which includes Indian Philosophy and Western Philosophy. In Philosophy Paper II Socio-Political Philosophy and Philosophy of Religion are covered.

You need to study a few standard books on Philosophy to cover the syllabus of the Civil Services Main exam. To start with, the ‘Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy’ by CD Sharma and ‘Introduction of Indian Philosophy’ by Dutta & Chaterjee are considered good books. After studying these books you will build some basics on Philosophy. These two books are for the Indian Philosophy. Again for Western Philosophy, you can study ‘A history of Philosophy’ by Frank Thilly. This book is really helpful for Western Philosophy. In adition to this you can also refer ‘A critical history of modern philosophy’ for Western Philosophy. For the Paper II Socio-Political Philosophy portion you can study ‘Political theory’ by OP Gauba. And for the Religion portion of Paper II study Y. Mashi’s ‘Introduction to Religion Philosophy’.

Above all you really need to go through the past 10 years’ question papers. While studying the question papers you will have a nice idea regarding the question pattern and the kind of questions actually asked in the exam. In the past few years the pattern of the Second paper of Philosophy changed a little. Now a days questions from this section are more practical than merely being theoretical. So, you need to understand the social and religious issues minutely and need to develop concept on the various related issues from the practical point of view.

Practice a lot of answer writing at home. You can discuss different topics of Philosophy with friends, seniors and teachers. This will help you developing clearer idea on the topics. In the Philosophy answers, try giving a critical analysis of the topic. This will fetch you good marks.

Sometimes coaching institutes do also play good role in the preparation process. So, personally if you feel the need for a coaching institute then you should approach a good coaching institute. In the institutes the teachers can help you in understanding and writing skills.

Philosophy is popular among the students also as a scoring subject. Go through the syllabus and one or two topics from the books and then decide if you find the subject interesting enough to study for the IAS Main exam. If you like study well and prepare with the previous years’ questions you will score well in the Civil Services Main exam.