BAG Philosophy

According to the BAG course structure (Choice Based credit System), the BAG Philosophy
program is offering 4 core courses (6 credits each), 2 discipline specific electives (6 credits each)
and 2 generic electives (6 credits each).

Core Courses
1. Indian Philosophy, BPYC-131 (core course to be offered in Semester I for 6 credits)
This course outlines the fundamentals of ancient Indian philosophy. The course covers the basic
concepts of the nine schools of Indian philosophy while also delving into various Upanishads
along with their detailed philosophical explanations. This course is essential as it lays a
background for further philosophical studies and also serves as an introductory overview to
studies in metaphysics and epistemology. The objective of this core course is to introduce Indian
philosophy from various thematic contexts and also build on basic concepts and their analysis in
Philosophy.

The blocks and units under this course are:

Block 1: Introduction to Indian Philosophy

Unit 1: An outline of Indian Philosophy
Unit 2: Indian Scriptures (The unit will be an introduction to the division of Indian scriptures)
Unit 3: Philosophy of the Epics
Unit 4: Nastika and Astika Darshan (The unit will introduce difference between the different
systems/schools of Indian Philosophy)

Block 2: Upanishadic Philosophy: Core themes - 1

Unit 1: Introduction to the Philosophy of Upanishads (This will give brief introduction to the
basic themes discussed in the Upanishads)
Unit 2: Different approaches to Moksha (This unit will discuss the three paths to liberation)
Unit 3: Prasna Upanishad
Unit 4: Mundaka Unpanishad
Unit 5: Mandukya Upanishad

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Block 3: Upanishadic Philosophy: Core themes - II
Unit 1: Isa Upanishad
Unit 2: Katha Upanishad
Unit 3: Chandogya Upanishad
Unit 4: Brahadaranyaka Upanishad

Block 4: Heterodox Systems

Unit 1: Carvaka
Unit 2: Jainism
Unit 3: Buddhism-I
Unit 4: Buddhism-II

Block 5: Orthodox Systems- I

Unit 1: Nyaya
Unit 2: Vaisesika
Unit 3: Sankhya
Unit 4: Yoga
Unit 5: Mimamsa

Block 6: Orthodox Systems- II

Unit 1: Vedanta: An Introduction
Unit 2: Sankara
Unit 3: Madhva
Unit 4: Ramanuja
Unit 5: Saivism and Vaishnavism

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2. Ethics, BPYC-132 (Core Course to be offered in Semester II for 6 credits)

The term ‘ethics’ is derived from the Greek word ethos meaning ‘moral character or nature’; thus
the discipline of ethics concerns itself with debates around moral philosophy on what is right or
wrong conduct; how one must act, what one must ought to do, and so on. Ethics are broadly
divided into normative ethics, meta-ethics and applied ethics. This course offers a brief
introduction to the concepts of ethics and then delves into the theories of normative ethics, in
detail. Further, theoretical meaning and value of ethical principles is discussed in an entire
section on meta-ethics. The objective of this course is to offer a philosophical background for
basic ethical debates and concepts. The units use the Indian context to simplify the theories and
provide easier examples for the students.

Block 1: Basic Concepts

Unit 1: Introduction to Ethics
Unit 2: Moral Action
Unit 3: Virtue and Vices
Unit 4: Moral Law
Unit 5: Moral Relativism

Block 2: Western Ethical Theories

Unit 1: Virtue Ethics: Aristotle
Unit 2: Deontological Ethics: Immanuel Kant
Unit 3: Consequentialist Ethics: J. S. Mill
Unit 4: Critical appraisal of ethical theories

Block 3: Meta-Ethics
Unit 1: Introduction to Meta-ethics
Unit 2: Ethical Natural and Non-naturalism
Unit 3: Subjectivism: David Hume
Unit 4: Emotivism: Charles Stevenson
Unit 5: Prescriptivism: R. M. Hare

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3. Logic, BPYC-133 (Core Course to be offered in Semester III for 6 credits)
Logic is the systematic study of the general structures of sound reasoning and valid arguments. It
is the study of the methods and principles used to distinguish between correct and incorrect
reasoning. This core course begins with an explanation of the nature of logic along with the basic
concepts that are always relevant to the study of logic. The course primarily focuses on
fundamentals of traditional logic and the form of the categorical syllogism. The proper study of
logic will enable students to reason well, pay attention to the analysis of fallacies which are
common to reasoning and provide criteria for making correct judgments. The units delve into the
basics of logic and also use the basic concepts of Indian philosophical logic to compare the two.

Block 1: Nature of Logic

Unit 1: Introduction to Logic
Unit 2: Basic Concepts in Logic
Unit 3: Inductive and Deductive Logic
Unit 4: Truth and Validity

Block 2: Traditional Logic

Unit 1: Categorical propositions
Unit 2: Quality, Quantity, and Distribution
Unit 3: Translating Categorical Propositions into Standard Form
Unit 4: Square of Opposition and Existential Import
Unit 5: Immediate inference
Unit 6: Introduction to Fallacies

Block 3: Categorical Syllogism

Unit 1: Nature of Categorical Syllogism
Unit 2: Methods for testing Categorical Syllogism: Aristotelian and Venn Diagram
Unit 3: Non-categorical Syllogism
Unit 4: Propositional Logic

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4. Western Philosophy: Modern, BPYC-134 (Core courses to be offered in Semester IV for 6
credits)
Modern Western Philosophy is the philosophy that developed between the seventeenth and the
nineteenth century in Western Europe. The study of this philosophy is broadly divided into the
schools of the Rationalists and the Empiricists, where the Rationalists were philosophers that
evaluated the truth of the world through reason. The empiricists succeeded the rationalists, and
gave utmost superiority to experience. These two schools were further reconciled in the critical
philosophy of Kant who made space for both experience and reason. This paper focuses on the
basic concepts of epistemology and metaphysics that were developed by various philosophers of
these schools.

Block 1: Precursor to Modern Western Philosophy

Unit 1: Introduction to Modern Western Philosophy
Unit 2: Renaissance
Unit 3: Enlightenment

Block 2: Rationalism
Unit 1: Descartes
Unit 2: Spinoza
Unit 3: Leibniz
Unit 4: Criticisms of Rationalism

Block 3: Empiricism
Unit 1: Locke
Unit 2: Berkley
Unit 3: Hume
Unit 4: Criticisms of Empiricism

Block 4: Critical and Dialectic Philosophies

Unit 1: Kant
Unit 2: Hegel
Unit 3: Marx

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(The following four courses are to be offered as electivel courses to the students of 5th Semester
and 6th Semester. In addition, Applied Ethics (BPYG-171) and Philosophy of Religion (BPYG-
172) would be offered as Generic courses to those students who have not opted for Philosophy
Major)

Elective Courses
5. Metaphysics, BPYE-141
The word meta in Greek means above, after or beyond; this is the study of the nature of things
above/ after/beyond physics. Aristotle’s papers included his works on physics and his treatises on
ultimate reality. This course introduces students to the basic ideas of metaphysics in Philosophy.
It looks at concepts such as substance, being, essence, matter, form and so on; and looks at these
concepts in depth. The course has an entire section on Indian metaphysics where theories of
causation, reality, universal and particulars from the Nyaya-Vaisesika, Buddhist, Sankya, and
Vedanta schools.

Block 1: Nature of Metaphysics

Unit 1: Introduction to Metaphysics
Unit 2: Basic Concepts of Metaphysics
Unit 3: Methods
Unit 4: Theories of Causation (Will discuss thoughts of Aristotle, Hume, and Kant)

Block 2: Meaning of Being

Unit 1: Being and Essence
Unit 2: Substance and Accidents
Unit 3: Matter and Form
Unit 4: Appearance and Reality

Block 3: Nature of Finite Being

Unit 1: Entity
Unit 2: Person
Unit 3: Freedom

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Block 4: Indian Metaphysics
Unit 1: Theories of Reality
Unit 2: Theories of Causation
Unit 3: Universals and Particulars

6. Social and Political Philosophy: Indian and Western, BPYE-142

This paper delves into the various themes of social and political concerns within Philosophy. The
course is divided into four blocks, where the first block discusses the issues of rights, equality,
liberty and so on from a historical, sociological, factual and an overall philosophical perspective.
The course also looks at the Indian concepts of social and political relevance, such as Swaraj,
Secularism and so on.
Block 1: Thematic understanding of Social and Political Philosophy
Unit 1: Rights
Unit 2: Equality
Unit 3: Liberty
Unit 4: Justice
Block 2: Society and State
Unit 1: Individualism
Unit 2: Democracy
Unit 3: Communism
Block 3: Indian Socio-Political Themes
Uniit 1: Secularism
Unit 2: Nationalism
Unit 3: Social Descrimination
Unit 4: Swaraj
Block 4: Contemporary Debates
Unit 1: Torture
Unit 2: Affirmative Action
Unit 3: Migration
Unit 4: Privacy

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Generic Courses

7. Applied Ethics, BPYG-171

Applied Ethics is the science of morals or that branch of philosophy which is concerned with the
practical application of certain principles of morality. It concerns the moral conduct of
individuals in the real world scenario. It deals with ethics in the workplace; in and of the
environment; of the self as concerning the ethical considerations of suicide and euthanasia; of
law and other aspects of public life. Thus, within the scope of the practical aspect of ethics is
environmental ethics, business ethics, medical ethics, cyber ethics, professional ethics and so on.

Block 1: Applied Ethics

Unit 1: Introduction to Applied Ethics
Unit 2: Bio-Ethics
Unit 3: Environmental Ethics
Unit 4: Ethics and Technology

Block 2: Ethical Debates

Unit 1: Euthanasia
Unit 2: Suicide
Unit 3: Reproductive Rights
Unit 4: Terrorism
Unit 5: Capital Punishment
Unit 6: Animal Rights

Block 3: Professional Ethics

Unit 1: Introduction to Professional Ethics
Unit 2: Media and Cyber Ethics
Unit 3: Medical Ethics
Unit 4: Business Ethics

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8. Philosophy of Religion, BPYG-172
Philosophy of Religion is a reflection on religion through philosophical methods. It takes up
basic problems relating to God / Absolute. It also speculates about the origin, nature and function
of religion. The task of Philosophy of Religion is to explain as best as it can, in its own language
and to the rational and intellectual parts of human the beliefs, truths, the experience and the laws
of religion. When Philosophy of Religion studies different religions, it finds that there is a
fundamental unity that lies at the root of every religion with regard to three matters: faith in an
Absolute Being of at least some kind, belief in the immortality of the soul, and the fundamental
principles of morality. Philosophy of Religion is an antidote to all kinds of dogmatism,
fanaticism, irrationalism and superstitions in religions,

Block 1: Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion

Unit 1: Meaning and Nature of Religion (Will discuss about the definition, meaning nature and
the basic features of religion like, faith, revelation, values etc.)
Unit 2: Theories of the origin of Religion
Unit 3: Religion, Philosophy of Religion and, Theology (Will differentiate between the nature
and purpose of the three)
Unit 4: Religious Language (It will be introductory in nature, discussing different components of
religious language)
Unit 5: Religious Experience
Block 2: Problem of Affirming God’s Existence
Unit 1: Different conceptions of God (The unit will introduce different conceptions of God like
Theism [including Monism and Polytheism], Deism, Atheism and Agnosticism etc.)
Unit 2: Nature and Attributes of God
Unit 3: Traditional Arguments for God's Existence
Unit 4: The Problem of Evil
Unit 5: Challenges of Atheism and Agnosticism
Block 3: Religious Pluralism
Unit 1: Religious Pluralism and secularism
Unit 2: Religious Fundamentalism
Unit 3: Inter-religious Dialogue
Unit 4: Contemporary Debates