Subject Code: HS2L009 Subject Name: Introduction to Philosophy L-T-P: 3-0-0 Credit: 3

Pre-Requisite(s): None

Content:

Basic Features & Characteristics of Philosophy; Distinctive approaches of doing Indian & western philosophy. Epistemology: Plato’s Ideas of Theory and Forms, Aristotle’s Response to Plato on Matter & Form; Nyaya Inference, Metaphysics: Theory of Causation in Aristotle, Hume’s Theory of Causation, Descartes Dualism; Indian Theories of Causation: Satkāryavāda & Asatkāryavāda, Concept of Self & Innate Ideas: Upanishadic Concept of Ātman, Descartes: Concept of Self, Method & Innate Ideas, John Locke’s Refutation of Innate Ideas; Realism & Idealism: John Locke’s Concept of Knowledge, Representative Realism, George Berkeley’s Subjective Idealism, Necessity & Skepticism in Hume; Kant: Possibility of Synthetic Apriori Judgements; Morality of Human Actions: Deontology -Kant’s Concept of Duty, Categorical & Hypothetical Imperative, Utilitarian Model: Bentham’s Hedonistic Calculus, Mill’s Concept of Pleasure, Indian Ethics: Purusārthas, Some problems ofApplied Ethics; Logic & Reasoning: Anumāna, Truth, Validity and Arguments, Deductive & Inductive Forms of Reasoning, Categorical Syllogism, Proof of Validity – Truth Table Method, Rules of Inference & Replacement, Venn Diagram Method, Observation: Conditions & Fallacies, Experiment: Advantages & associated problems, Some contemporary perspectives on Metaphysics and Epistemology.



Text/Reference Books:
  1. Simon Blackburn, 1999, Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy, New York: Oxford University Press.
  2. James Dreier, 2006, Contemporary Debates in Moral Theory, Australia: Blackwell Publishing.
  3. I.M. Copi, C. Cohen & Kenneth McMahon, 2016, Introduction to Logic (14th Ed.), New York: Taylor & Francis.
  4. Purushottama Bilimoria, 2007, Indian Ethics: Classical Traditions and Contemporary Challenges, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
  5. Jon Nuttall, 2007, An Introduction to Philosophy, Oxford: Polity Press.
  6. Brooke Noel Moore & Kenneth Bruder, 2019, Philosophy: The Power of Ideas, London: Mc Graw.
  7. C.D Sharma, 1987, A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy, New Delhi: Motilal Benarsidas Publishers.
  8. Anthony Kenny, 2010, A New History of Western Philosophy, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  9. P. Lipton, 2004, Inference to the Best Explanation, Routledge.
  10. I.C Sharma, 1965, Ethical Philosophies of India, London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.