1. Social & Political Ideals: Equality, Justice, Liberty.

1. Does the idea of equal respect to all religions provide a consistent and viable state policy?
(2013)
2. Explain and evaluate Aristotle's conception of justice. (2013)
3. What is meant by Justice as fairness'? Explain the basic tenets of Rawls' theory of Justice. (2013)
4. How is Amartya Sen's approach to justice different from that of Rawls? (2013)
5. The Fundamental idea of the conception of justice is fairness. Discuss 2011
6. Discuss the nature of relationship between Liberty and Equality. 2010
7. Is Theology an outdated ideology? Discuss.2009
8. Comment on the relationship between equality and Freedom
9.



2. Sovereignty: Austin, Bodin, Laski, Kautilya.
1. Who amongst Austin, Bodin and Laski , is the most consistent in his analysis of the concept
of sovereignty ?2012
2. Compare and contrast Kautilya's Saptanga Theory of the Sovereign State with Bodin's theory
of Sovereigntly.2011
3. Why did Kautilya think that sovereignty is hierarchical ? Explain.2010
4. Does Bodin's theory of sovereignty 'float in the air? Critically examine.2010
5. Compare Bodins and Austins views on sovereignty.
6.


3. Individual and State: Rights; Duties and Accountability
1. What is the significance of including duties of citizens in the Indian Constitution?(2013)
2. Can we dissociate rights of citizens from their duties ?2012
3. Denial of access and inheritance of land and property to women is a denial of their
fundamental rights as humans. Discuss2012
4. Can citizens have rights without duties? Discuss with examples.2011
5. Discuss Kantss distinction between duties of perfect and imperfect obligation.2011
7. Can the conception of rights of citizens be sustained in a society characterized by caste
discrimination? Discuss.2011
8. Does Accountability necessarily contribute to moral perfection? Offer your views.2010
9. Dose the right to property bring economic diosparity and threaten human fraternity?
Discuss.2010
10. Rights and duties are complementary. Explain
11. Examine the Land and Property Rights of women in India. How far do they contribute to
empower women?


4. Forms of Government: Monarchy; Theocracy and Democracy.
1. Does the combination of democracy and socialism lead to a more equitable society? (2013)
2. What is meant by 'democracy'? What are the various forms of democratic governments?
(2013)
3. Is a democratic government able to represent the interests of minority groups? (2013)
4. Is a democratic government better than a benevolent dictatorship? Give reasons for your
answer. (2013)
5. Democracy, committed to treating everybody equally, is ineffective as a system of
government.2012
6. Democracy does a citizen ever have the moral right to break a law ? Discuss citizens right to
civil disobedience.2010
7. Is majority - rule meaningfully reflected in present - day democratic governments ?
Substantiate your answer with suitable examples.2010
8. Define Monarchy. Is it ethically justified ?
9. .
10.
5. Political Ideologies: Anarchism; Marxism and Socialism
1. Does the combination of democracy and socialism lead to a more equitable society? (2013)
2. The political ideology of Anarchism.2012
3. What are the basic differences between Marxism and Socialism?2011
4. Can it be said that Socialism is a weaker version of Marxism? Discuss.2011
5. Is Democratic Socialism a contradiction in terms? Discuss.2011
6. Which type of Socialism, according to you, is superior- Utopian or Democratic ? Why ?2010
7. which type of individual, according to you, can contribute more to strengthen the State - a
liberalist or a socialist ?2010

6. Humanism; Secularism; Multiculturalism.
1. Secularism in the Indian context is not a rejection of religion but a fellowship of religious.
Discuss.2012
2. In what ways is Humanism different from Marxism ? Discuss.2012
3. What is multiculturalism? Can it be an impediment for development and progress? Discuss.
2012
4. The Term 'multi-culturalism' has been used in both a descriptive and a normative sense.
Discuss.2011
5. Is social progress possible without Humanism? Examine.2010
6. Is Secularism analogous to Atheism? Examine in the Indian context.
7.

7. Crime and Punishment: Corruption, Mass Violence, Genocide, Capital
Punishment.
1. Does corruption have not only amoral dimension but also an economic dimension?(2013)
2. Which if the theories of punishment would help us prevent the crime of corruption in Indian
society ? Discuss.2012
3. What can be the causes for mass violence ? Can mass violence ever be justified on moral
grounds ? Discuss.2012
4. Can capital punishment be justisfied ? Answer with reference to the theories of
punishment.2011
5. If capital punishment is legally awarded, then no ethico political consideration should subvert it.
Express your opinion for or against.2010
6. List the various 'sanctions' permitting genocide and clearly bring out the ethical counter -
arguments against each.2010
7. You are not punished for stealing the sheep, but you are punished so that no sheep is stolen,
Discuss as to which theory of punishment the statement belongs.
8. Is capital punishment, in your view, ethically justified?
9.
8. Development and Social Progress.
1. Woman empowerment and Social Justice.2012
9. Gender Discrimination: Female Foeticide, Land and Property Rights;
Empowernment.
1. What do you understand by 'gender equality' and why is it important? (2013)
2. Is economic independence essential for equality between men and women? (2013)
3. Why is adequate representation of women in political institutions important in this context?
(2013)
4. Is there a necessary connection between social progress and protection against female
foeticide ? Discuss.2012
5. Can issue relating to gender discrimination be me by the conception of justice as fairness?
Discuss.2011
6. Can only the Political empowerment of women wipe out gender discrimination in male -
dominated Indian society ?
7.
10. Caste Discrimination: Gandhi and Ambedkar
1. Is there any impact of caste discrimination on democracy in Indian context? (2013)
2. What were Gandhis views on verna and jati ? Critically discuss Ambedkars disagreement
with Gandhis treatment of varna.2012
3. Which principle of justice can, in your view, be most helpful in addressing the issues related
to caste discrimination and why?2011
4. " Caste is not a sin, but caste discrimination is." As a concerned citizen, comment critically
on this statement.2010


11. Notions of God: Attributes; Relation to Man and the World. (Indian and
Western).
12. Problem of Evil.
1. Do theists succeed in explaining the natural evil in the world as a necessary counterpart to
good? (2013)
2. God permitted suffering to discipline the human being.2012
3. Religion is not just false, it is harmful. Discuss.2011
4. " The problem of evil arises when we attribute infinite knowledge, power and goodness to
God acknowledging the fact of innocent persons' suffering. One cannot be mistaken about
one's own experiance, God cannot have at least one of the three attributes: infinite
knowledge, power and goodness." Evaluate this argument.
5. If evils and sufferings are the real experiences of individual selves , what role do they play in
realizing self transcendence?
6.
7.
13. Proofs for the Existence of God and their Critique (Indian and Western).
1. State and elucidate the cosmological argument for the existence of God in Western and Indian
philosophy. (2013)
2. Discuss two main objections against this argument. Are theists able to answer these
satisfactorily? (2013)
3. Critically evaluate three major objections against the argument from design for the existence of
God. (2013)
4. Can the existence of God be proved with cogent and convincing rational arguments ?2012
5. Why is a proof for the existence of God necessary for the growth of a religion? Discuss.2011
6. Is contingment argument for the existence of God anything more than a logical exercise?
Discuss.2010
7. If each and every argument has to take that his premises are true, would the causalargument
are true, would the causal argument for the existence of God as First Cause be different from
assuming that it is truw ? Argue in favour of vour position.2010
8. Human mind is such that it naturally observes order in nature. Given this, can one use argument
from Design for the existence of God? Discuss.2010
9. Critically examine the Causal argument as a pro of for the existence of God.
10.

14. Reason, Revelation and Faith.
1. Is religious faith opposed to reason? (2013)
2. Explain the distinction between Deism and Theism.2012
3.
15. Religious Experience: Nature and Object (Indian and Western).
1. What is the nature of mystical experience? (2013)
2. Is mystical experience open to different interpretations? (2013)
3. Can mystical experience be regarded as a valid source of knowledge? (2013)
4. What is the object of religious experience? Is it empirical or trans-empirical ?
Explain in details. 2012)
5. Is William james right in holding that religious disputes are like conflicts in aesthetic
appreciation ? Discuss.2011
6. Are religious doctrines and debates verifiable ? Discuss.2011
7. Examine the view that, religious doctrines are not 'quasi-scientific' doctrins. but
represent a form of life.2011
8. If religious experience is unique, what makes it an experience is unique, what makes
it an experience ? How is this experience logically different from the experience of
loneliness, happiness, ect.?2010
9. Explain the nature of religious experience. Can this experience be validated ?2009
10.

16. Soul: Immortality; Rebirth and Liberation.
1. Is there anything else other than human efforts which may be conducive to attainment of
liberation? (2013)
2. Is the idea of immortality of the soul utopian or it is realizable? Discuss.2012
3. Are rebirth and liberation analogous concepts ?2012
4. Is a belief in the immortality of the soul a necessary precondition for religion ? Discuss.2011
5. Is a belief in rebirth and reincarnation possible without a belief in the immortality of the soul
? Discuss.2011
6. What sort of criterion can one provide for identifying rebirth as opposed birth ?
Discuss.2010
7. Why is grace of God needed for liberation ? Discuss with an example.2010
8. Distinguish between Indian concept of 'Jivatma' and Plato's concept of 'Soul'.2010
9. If ignorance is the cause of suffering, knowledge ahould remove suffering. What is the
notion of knowledge which a liberated person acquires ? Discuss.
17. Religion without God.
1. Is God indispensable for religion? (2013)
2. Discuss the sailent features of traditional orthodox religion.2011
3. What is the central concept in a religion without God? Discuss.2010
18. Religion and Morality.
1. Is religious morality consistent with individual freedom? (2013)
2. Is the idea of immortality of the soul utopian or it is realizable? Discuss.2012
3. If God does not exist then why should one be moral all the time? Discuss.2012
4. Examine the view that the foundation of morality is possible only in a religious
framework.2011
5. If morality has to follow from religion, can there be rational justification for moral actions ?
Discuss.2010
19. Religious Pluralism and the Problem of Absolute Truth.
1. The concept of revelation in essentially opposed to religious pluralism. Do you agree? Give
reasons for your answer.2012
2. Can the concepts of Ishwara and Brahman signify the same reality in Advaita Vedanta ?2012
3. Can Buddhism, because of its doctrine of 'anatta', be regarded as a religion or not ?
Discuss.2011
4. Explain the notion of truth as "Ekam Sat Viprah Bahudha Vadanti" (Truth is one, the learned
interpret it differently.)2011
5. Does the notion of absolute truth give rise to intolerance and religious conflicts about truth
be resolved ? Discuss.2011
6. How can religios conflicts about truth be resolved ? Discuss.2011
7. The fact that different religions originated at different places and in different centuries
bproves that plurality of religions say that all religions are essentially the same ? Discuss.
8.
20. Nature of Religious Language: Analogical and Symbolic; Cognitivist and
Non- cognitive
1. What is meant by saying that religious language is non-cognitive? (2013)
2. Can religious language be said to be verifiable? (2013)
3. Do cognitivists provide a cogent answer to the objection based on
falsifiability?(2013)
4. Analyse Pauls Tillichs statement that symbolic language alone is able to express
the ultimate.2012
5. Discuss the cognitivist account of the nature of religious language.2012
6. Religious language is dependent on natural language for an analogy and a symbol top
work. Why not then treat religious lenguage as a specialized language like telegraphic
language ? Discuss.