Philosophy Optional Booklist for UPSC IAS Mains

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” -Aristotle, Philosopher

Your optional comprises a major portion (500 marks) in mains examination. Therefore, it is crucial to choose an optional which not only interests you, but will also help you to score maximum marks, so that your total marks remain far away from the cut-off margin.

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Philosophy Optional Books & Book list for Philosophy Optional

Paper I Best Philosophy books

W. T. Stace: A Critical History of Greek Philosophy (Plato and Aristotle).
Copleston: A History of Philosophy (Relevant Chapters from volume I, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX & XI).
Anthony Kenny: A New History of Western Philosophy. OUP Oxford.
Datta & Chatterjee: An Introduction to Indian Philosophy. Rupa Publishing.
C. D. Sharma: A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy. MLBD.
Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy.

Paper II Best Philosophy books

John Hick: Philosophy of Religion.
Michael B. Wilkinson: Philosophy of Religion: An Introduction.
O. P. Gauba: Social & Political Philosophy.
Political Theory, An Introduction. Edited By Rajeev Bhargava & Ashok Acharya.
Oxford Dictionary of Politics.

What is Philosophy?

Philosophy is an academic discipline that studies behavior, life, relationships, human thought process and society at large.

WHY CHOOSE PHILOSOPHY AS YOUR OPTIONAL?

Well-defined and short syllabus – It has the shortest syllabus among all the optional subjects available for UPSC Civil Services Exam, therefore, can be covered in a lesser period of time. It takes only two months to complete the philosophy optional syllabus.
Popular and suitable for candidates from any background.
High Success ratio of 8.9%
Entire syllabus is static; no current portion involved.
Overlaps with essay, ethics, material for various topics- Philosophy optional gives the aspirants opportunity to get familiar with various philosophers, who will again come in ethics paper. Thus, in this way, Philosophy optional subject has some overlapping with Ethics and Essay papers.
Develops critical thinking – It gives the aspirants a rational and logical way of thought process.
Improves writing skills,
useful for all papers,
logical,
General concepts – easily understandable.
No prior knowledge required- In philosophy optional, some questions can be answered on the basis of general awareness also.

STRATEGY TO SCORE WELL IN PHILOSOPHY OPTIONAL

Go through previous year papers.
Study all philosophical concepts thoroughly.
Link Indian philosophical concepts with Western Philosophy.
Practice answer writing within the time limit; be critical in your approach.
Practice repeated questions.

WHO CAN OPT FOR PHILOSOPHY OPTIONAL

Any candidate can opt for philosophy optional regardless of their academic background. The one who is good in expressing his ideas in a logical manner can opt for philosophy optional. But this logical approach comes with regular practice. This practice is imparted regularly in the Chahal Academy Philosophy optional Online Programme.
Candidates from technical background opt for Philosophy optional because it is a logical subject. Also, candidates from humanities background opt for philosophy optional because it is highly non-technical.

IS PHILOSOPHY OPTIONAL A SCORING SUBJECT?

Philosophy optional is yielding 280+ marks every year to the UPSC-Civil Services Examination toppers. Here are some facts to prove this argument –

Name of the candidate	Year of passing	Rank secured	Total marks (500)	Paper I (250 MARKS)	Paper II (250 MARKS)
SANSKRITI JAIN	CSE- 2014	11	299	128	171
MIHIR PATEL	CSE-2014	27	327	175	152
JATIN LAL	CSE-2015	42	307	158	149
KUMAR HARSH	CSE-2015	43	303	153	150
JUHI JALOTA	CSE-2017	122	283	144	139

Optional subject marks play an important role in improving your UPSC-CSE all India ranking. Also, if you have not scored well in GS papers, if you can score well in optional papers, you can still find your name in UPSC-CSE final list.