Philosophy Honours comprises of 8 papers with 100 marks each. Paper 1 and Paper 2 are taught in Part I, Paper 3 and 4 in Part II and Papers 5-6 in Part III.
CO1 Paper 1 - Indian Philosophy
In Paper I students read nine different schools of
Indian thought, both Ᾱstika and Nāstika.
CO2 Paper 2 - Psychology & Social-Political
Philosophy
The first half is Psychology which is concerned with
the general framework of thinking about mental
phenomena. Students learn about different methods of
Psychology and other theories regarding factors of
mind. The second half of this paper consists of
nature and scope of both social and political
philosophy and there relation. Students acquire
knowledge in basic concepts of society, family,
Marxists' conception of class etc. In the part of
Political philosophy, different views regarding
social change, different Political ideals and many
other topics are discussed.
CO3 Paper 3 - History of Western Philosophy
Students learn about the epistemological and
metaphysical perspectives of the philosophers like
Socrates, Plato, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibnitz, Locke
Berkeley, Hume and Kant.
CO4 Paper 4 - Logic
This paper discusses several topics of Logic in
general. Logic being the Science of Thought, gives
the students the fundamental insight into different
types of arguments and inferences, truth and
validity, symbolic interpretations quantifications
etc.
CO5 Paper 5 - Indian Logic and Epistemology
Epistemology is the philosophical study of the
nature, origin, and limits of human knowledge. Nyāya
is the science of logic, and provides the only sound
methodology of philosophical inquiry into the nature
of knowledge and the objects of knowledge. It is the
means to obtain Right Knowledge (pramā) about the
Self and to discover the purpose of life. The only
way to impart our experience to others and to
elucidate their implications for the rest of our
life and defend their validity against hostile
criticism is by means of logic. Indian Logic as the
normative science of correct and perfect thinking,
sharpens their intelligence, shapes their reasoning
skill and enhances their power of argumentation.
In NET and SLET and other competitive exams most of the questions are based on logic and reasoning, so proper understanding and knowledge of this paper helps them to perform better in these exams. After Studying Indian Logic and epistemology, students will be able to critically evaluate various real life situations by resorting to Analysis of key issues and factors.
CO6 Paper 6 - An Introduction to Philosophical
Analysis by John Hospers
In general, philosophy done in the analytic
tradition aims at truth and knowledge, as opposed to
moral and spiritual improvement. In general, the
goal in analytic philosophy is to discover what is
true, not to provide a useful guidelines for living
one's life. To analyze means to break something down
into its constituent parts. Analytic philosophy
attempts to clarify by the meaning of statement and
concepts by recourse to analysis. Analytic
Philosophy helps the students to cope well in the
competitive exams as many of the questions are
analytical.
CO7 Paper 7 - Ethics and Religion
Ethics help the students in many ways, both in their
personal and professional life. A code of ethics
reflects an organisation's principles and values and
provide guidelines for employees to follow. It is
set of a formalised rules and standards describing
what an organisation expects of its employees. An
ethical organisational culture is one where
employees speak up about any wrongdoing, leaders
model integrity, there is an open and honest
communication, and business is conducted with high
ethical standards. A work ethics assessment is also
an effective tool as it helps you understand a
candidate's likelihood of engaging in
counterproductive work behaviour. Ethical
assessments provide the necessary framework for
conducting training and mentoring session that can
help the attitude of students to improve. Work
ethics is basically the belief that work is a good
moral. It also refers to a set of values that are
defined and characterized by diligence and hard
work.
Ethics, both Indian and Western gives our students an overall view of how life should be led and by what principles and gives them the choice to be ethical or unethical while choosing their career.
Ethics and religion provides a concrete moral framework for how they should act, speak, or make decisions in their daily life. They may not even attend a religious institution and simply follow the rules of their religion for themselves but studying religion helps them to:
Archaeological digs have revealed ancient ritual objects, ceremonial burial sites, and other religious artifacts. Much social conflict and even wars have resulted from religious disputes. To understand a culture, sociologists must study its religion.
CO8 Paper 8 - Practical Ethics
Practical Ethics remain the backbone of counselling
in the unfolding complicated and interconnected
global space where technology has made change a
constant in life style. Counselling practice is
guided by code of ethics and standards which provide
a common base for the application and interpretation
of assessment and evaluation tools in counselling
work. Here are some common job possibilities to
explore as you think of ways to apply your sociology
major to the work world.
The study of Philosophy helps the students to get acquainted with different schools of Indian philosophy like Cārvāka, Jainism and Budhhism as Nāstika schools. On the other hand Sāṁkhya, Yoga, Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Mimāṁsā and Vedānta as Ᾱstika school.
In paper 2 they learn both Psychology and Social and Political philosophy. In the part of Psychology students become aware of different theories like Interactionism, Philosophical behaviourism, Person theory along with different methods of Psychology, nature and relation of sensation and perception. They become acquainted with theories of learning, different levels of mind, Freuds theory of dream. They also learn different tests of Intelligence regarding I.Q. measurement. In the part of Social and Political philosophy students of philosophy learn about the nature of social and political philosophy and their relation . They also study the basic concepts of society, nature and role of family in society, different theories regarding the relation between .individual and society. They also learn about secularism, nature and progress of Social changes, different theories of social changes, discussion about different political ideals.
By studying paper 3 students get acquainted the epistemological and metaphysical theories of the philosophers like Socrates, Plato, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibnitz , Locke Berkeley Hume and Kant.
The study of paper 4 helps the students to get acquainted with the use of logical rules for identifying a valid argument. Along with these they also learn existential import, symbolic interpretation, constructing formal proof of .validity, proving invalidity, Quantification theory. Study of this paper helps them to be aware of Mill's different experimental methods, Science and Hypothesis and also different theories of probability.
The study of Philosophy in general develops the
faculty of understanding of the students. The study
of Logic enriches one's thinking skill and sharpens
one's analytical abilities. It equips students to
grasp the different issues discussed in mathematics,
computer science etc. the study of Psychology gives
the opportunity for the students to learn about
brain states, different personality traits, the
sub-conscious and conscious reasons for human. The
study of Ethics helps a student to gain the ability
so that they can make themselves to become a proper
social being. The 3yr course enables the students to
develop an insight into the intricacies of the
subject and prepare them for more advanced courses
on subject in the university of Calcutta as well as
in the other universities both national and
international. It also develops in them to think
logically and essentially which is absolutely
essential in realising the principles and theories
of Philosophy.
In the general course of Philosophy there are 4 papers. Paper 1 is in the syllabus of Part I, which helps the students to be aware about epistemology and metaphysics of both Indian and Western Philosophy.
Paper II and III are in the syllabus of Part 2. By studying Paper II students learn Logic and Psychology. Paper III helps them to be acquainted with Ethics both Indian and Western, Practical Ethics and Religion.
Paper IV is in the syllabus of Part 3 for Pure
General students. This helps the students to learn
Social and Political philosophy along with
Contemporary Indian philosophy.