Comprehensive Examinations

The first stage (written, worth 60% of the Comprehensives grade and 20% of the aggregate) went off without too many hitches this morning. It's a three-hour paper covering all the basic courses B.Ph. students have done here over the last two years. Some sample questions from this year's paper:

Western Philosophy

• Analyse categories (Scholastic) with sufficient examples and show how they are relevant in your personal and communitarian life.
• Explain how the different theories of values and norms lead to the debate between consequentialism and non-consequentialism.

Indian Studies

• Clarify the notion of padartha ('category' in classical Indian philosophy). How many categories are there in Indian philosophy. Critically evaluate dravya (substance) and abhava (non-existence) as categories.
• Explain the role of Guru Gobind Singh in founding the Khalsa (Sikh) community, and the importance of the five K's for its members.

Social Sciences

• Explain the social functions of religion according to Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx. Compare the two theories and highlight similarities and differences.

The oral examinations start in six days' time. We have been given seven broad inter-disciplinary (i.e. spanning Western Philosophy, Indian Philosophy and the Social Sciences) themes:

1. Soul and Self
2. Society and Ethics
3. God and Transcendence
4. Reality and the Universe
5. Meaning-making and Epistemology
6. Feedom and Destiny
7. Philosophy as Praxis