GATE 2025 Philosophy Syllabus (XH-C4) gives you details of the latest GATE syllabus for the subject released by the official gate organizing institute IIT Roorkee 2025. We also created an easy-to-use ad-free mobile app for the GATE Philosophy syllabus, previous year papers with keys, gate calculator, virtual calculator, and more. Download iStudy App for all GATE preparation needs.
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GATE 2025 Philosophy Syllabus (XH-C4)
C4.1 Classical Indian Philosophy
C4.1.1 Orthodox Systems
Sankhya- Purusa, Prakrti, Gunas, Satkaryavada, Moksa (Kaivalya), Pramanas and Theory of Error, Yoga – Pramanas, Theory of Error, Isvara, Citta, Klesa, Astanga-yoga, Kaivalya (Moksa), Nyaya – Pramanas, Hetvabhasa, Isvara, Asatkaryavada, Theory of Error, Navya-Nyaya, Vaisesika – Paratahpramanya, Padarthas (categories), Theory of Atomism (paramanuvada), MTmamsa – Dharma, ApUrva, Moksa, Pramanas (both in Kumarila and Prabhakara), Anyathakhyati, and, Vedanta – Advaita (Adhyasa, Brahman, Isvara, Atman, JTva, Moksa, Visistadvaita (Tattva-traya, Moksa, and Refutation of Mayavada), Dvaita, Dvaitadvaita, Suddhadvaita, Pramana in Advaita and Visistadvaita.
C4.1.2 Heterodox Systems
Carvaka – Pramana, Indian marerislism and Hedonism, Jainism- Pramanas, Syadvada, Anekantavada, Padartha (categories), JTva and AjTva, Moksa, Mahavrata, Anuvrata, and, Buddhism – Ti-pitaka, Sarvastivada, Sautrantika, Madhyamika, Yogacara-Vijnanavada, Panca-skandha, Anityavada, Anatmavada, Doctrine of Momentariness, Doctrine of Dependent Origination, Pramanas, Doctrine of Two Truths, Doctrine of Tri-kaya, Sad-paramitas, Brahmaviharas, PancasTla, and Bodhisattva Ideal, and Upayakausalya.
C4.1.3 Upanisads, BhagavadgTta, and Dharmasastras
Philosophy of the Upanisads – Pure Monism, Brahmam and Atman, Panca-kosa, Para-vidya and Apara-vidya, Meaning of Dharma, Rta, Purusartha, Sreyas and Preyas, Varnasrama-dharma, Dharma- Svadharma and Sadharana Dharma, Rna, Yajna, Karma-yoga, Sthitaprajna, Lokasamgraha, and Law of Karma.
C4.1.4 Kasmira Saivism, Saivasiddhanta, VTra Saivism, Saktism and Vaisnavism
KasmTra Saivism – Pratyabhijna school, Siva and Sakti, and Conception of Kriya, Saivasiddhanta – God (pati) and Divine Power (sakti), Proofs for God’s Existence, Bondage and Liberation, VTra Saivism – Philosophical basis of VTra Saivism, Saktism – Philosophical basis of Saktism, and Vaisnavism – Philosophical basis of Vaisnavism.
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C4.2 Contemporary Indian Philosophy
C4.2.1 Vivekananda
Notion of God, Freedom and Karma, Nature of Soul/self, Practical Vedanta, and Universal Religion. Aurobindo: World Process – Involution and Evolution, Four Theories of Existence, The Supermind, Integral Yoga, and Gnostic Being. Iqbal: Nature of Intuition, Nature of Self, and Notion of God. Tagore: Humanism and Nature of Man, Notion of Religion, and Nationalism. K. C. Bhattacharyya: Concept of Absolute and Its Alternative Forms, and Notion Subjectivity and Freedom. Radhakrishnan: Nature of Ultimate Reality, Religious Experience, Intellect and Intuition, Hindu View of Life. J. Krishnamurti: Notion of Freedom, Choiceless Awareness, Truth is a Pathless Land, and Notion of Education. Gandhi: Notion of Truth, Non-violence, Satyagraha, Swaraj, and Trusteeship. Ambedkar: Annihilation of Caste, Neo-Buddhism, Democracy, and Natural Rights and Law. M. N. Roy: Radical Humanism and Materialism.
C4.3 Classical and Modern Western Philosophy
C4.3.1 Metaphysics
Pre-Socratic Philosophy of Thales, Anaxagoras, Anaximenies, lonians, Pythagoras, Parmenides, Heraclitus and Democritus. Metaphysics of Plato and Aristotle: The question of Being (to on/ousia): Being as Idea in Plato’s Phaedo, Republic and the Sophist, Being as synthesis of hyle [matter] and morphe [form] in Aristotle’s Metaphysics and Physics. Problem of evil and existence of God in St. Augustine, St. Anselm, and St. Thomas Aquinas Metaphysics in Modern Philosophy: Substance, Mind-Body Dualism, Attribute, Parallelism, Pre-established harmony, the existence of God, Problem of Solipsism, Self and Personal Identity, Rejection of Metaphysics, Phenomena and Noumena, Transcendental Deduction of Categories, Being and Becoming, Absolute Idealism
C4.3.2 Epistemology
Plato and Aristotle’s Theory of Knowledge, Doxa, Episteme, and Sophia, Method of Dialectics, Theoretical and Practical Reason, Theory of Causation, Descarte’s Method of Doubt, cogito ergo sum, Innate Ideas and its refutation, Principle of Noncontradiction, Sufficient Reason, and Identity of Indiscernible, Locke’s Three Grades of Knowledge, Berkeley’s Critique of Abstract Ideas, Hume’s Impressions and Ideas, Induction and Causality, Kant’s Copernican Revolution, Forms of Sensibility, Possibility of Synthetic a priori Judgments. Hegel’s Dialectics, Spirit, and Absolute Idealism.
C4.3.3 Ethics
Concepts of Good, Right, Justice, Duty, Obligation, Cardinal Virtues, Eudaemonism; Intuition as explained in Teleological and Deontological Theories; Egoism, Altruism, Universalism, Subjectivism, Cultural Relativism, Super-naturalism, Ethical realism and Intuitionism, Kant’s moral theory, Postulates of Morality, Good-will, Categorical Imperative, Duty, Means and ends, Maxims; Utilitarianism: Principle of Utility, Problem of Sanction and Justification of Morality, Moral theories of Bentham, J. S. Mill, Sidgwick; Theories of Punishment; Ethical Cognitivism and Non-cognitivism, Emotivism, Prescriptivism, Descriptivism.
C4.3.4 Social and Political Philosophy
Plato’s theory of Justice and State, Aristotle’s definition of State and Political Naturalism; Classical Liberalism and Social Contract Theory (Hobbes, Rousseau, Locke); Marx’s Dialectical Materialism, Alienation, and critique of Capitalism.
C4.3.5 Logic
Truth and Validity, Nature of Propositions, Categorical Syllogism, Laws of Thought Classification of Propositions Square of Opposition, Truth-Functions and Propositional Logic, Quantification and Rules of Quantification; Symbolic Logic: Use of symbols; Truth T able for testing the validity of arguments; Differences between Deductive and Inductive Logic, Causality and Mill’s Method.
C4.4 Contemporary Western Philosophy
C4.4.1 Frege’s Sense and Reference
Logical Positivism’s Verification theory of meaning, Elimination of Metaphysics; Moore’s Distinction between Sense and Reference, Defense of common-sense, Proof of an External World; Russell’s Logical Atomism, Definite Descriptions, Refutation of Idealism; Wittgenstein on Language and Reality, the Picture Theory, critique of private language, Meaning and Use, Forms of life; Gilbert Ryle on Systematically Misleading Expressions, critique of Cartesian dualism; W.V.O. Quine’s Two Dogmas of Empiricism; P.F. Strawson’s concept of Person; Husserl’s Phenomenological Method, Philosophy as a rigorous science, Intentionality, Phenomenological Reduction, Inter-subjectivity; Heidegger’s concept of Being (Dasein), Being in the world; Sartre’s Concept of Freedom, Bad-faith, Humanism; Merleau-Ponty on Perception, Embodied Consciousness; William James’s Pragmatic Theories of Meaning and Truth, Varieties of Religious experience; John Dewey on Pragmatist Epistemology with focus on Inquiry, fallibilism and Experience, Education; Nietzsche on the Critique of Enlightenment, Will to Power, Genealogy of Moral; Richard Rorty’s Critique of Representationalism, Against Epistemological method, Edifying Philosophy, Levinas: Ethics as a first philosophy, Philosophy of (other); Rawls’ Veil of Ignorance, Principle of Justice; Nozick’s critique of Rawls, Libertarianism: Charles Taylor’s Communitarianism, critique of the Liberal Self, Politics of recognition; Martha Nussbaum’s Liberal Feminism and Capability Approach; Simone de Beauvoir on Situated Freedom and Ethics of Ambiguity; Code and Harding on Situated Knowledge and Strong and Weak Objectivity; Gilligan and Noddings on Ethics of Care, Debate between Care and Justice.
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GENERAL APTITUDE (Common for all branches)
Verbal Aptitude
Basic English Grammar
Tenses, articles, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions, verb-noun agreement, and other parts of speech
Basic Vocabulary
Words, idioms, and phrases in context
Reading and Comprehension
Narrative Sequencing
Quantitative Aptitude
Data Interpretation
Data graphs (bar graphs, pie charts, and other graphs representing data), 2- and 3-dimensional plots, maps, and tables
Numerical Computation and Estimation
Ratios, percentages, powers, exponents and logarithms, permutations and combinations, and series
Mensuration and Geometry
Elementary Statistics and Probability
Analytical Aptitude
Logic
Deduction and Induction
Analogy
Numerical Relations and Reasoning
Spatial Aptitude
Transformation of Shapes
Translation, rotation, scaling, mirroring, assembling, and grouping
Paper folding, cutting, and patterns in 2 and 3 dimensions
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