Best Philosophy Books For UPSC - Booklist For Philosophy Optional

Philosophy Books for UPSC are very important to aspirants who have opted for this subject in the UPSC IAS Mains examination. Among several Humanities subjects, Philosophy has been one of the most popular and scoring optional subjects in the UPSC IAS examination. Candidates usually prepare Philosophy optional for UPSC in Paper VII and Paper VIII of the Mains exam. The major plus point of choosing this subject is that a large part of the UPSC Philosophy optional syllabus is easy to cover and mostly overlaps with Essay and General Studies papers. Thus, to make your preparation easier further, we have arranged the best books for Philosophy optional in UPSC for both Paper 1 and 2.

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Before checking out all the Philosophy Books for UPSC exam, you must go through the UPSC Philosophy optional syllabus for both papers which accounts for a total of 500 marks. One of the major reasons why candidates choose Philosophy as an optional is because of its static syllabus where candidates don’t need to read external Current Affairs or use any calculations or shortcuts to answer questions. As per the official UPSC Exam Pattern for optional subjects, candidates will have to attempt 5 out of 8 questions from each Philosophy paper in Mains. In this article, we have categorized the UPSC Philosophy Optional Books for both papers and their topics for ultimate exam preparation.

You can also check out our Philosophy Optional Coaching program for UPSC IAS Exam!

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Importance Of UPSC Philosophy Books

Philosophy is one of those UPSC Optional subjects that requires extensive and selective reading. It is purely conceptual, with no practical application. Thus, before going through any Philosophy books for UPSC, you must be clearly acquainted with the official UPSC Syllabus for Mains along with its sub-parts.

The UPSC Philosophy optional paper-I comprises questions related to Indian and Western philosophy concepts such as Empiricism, Existentialism, Vedanta, and schools of Jainism & Buddhism, etc. On the other hand, Paper II shares Indian and Western themes of common interest on Socio-political and Religious philosophical concepts. To cover such inter-changing topics, we have provided you with the Best Philosophy books for UPSC Optional papers 1 and 2.

List of Best Philosophy Books for UPSC Optional

Before starting your preparation with the best books for Philosophy optional UPSC, you must understand the scope and paper-wise topics. The commission has divided the UPSC Optional Philosophy Syllabus into two parts based on Indian, Western, Socio-political and Religious schools of thought. Reading these UPSC Philosophy optional books will not only help you score the most out of 250 marks in each paper but also achieve optimum marks in GS papers.

Now, let’s go through the Philosophy optional booklist for UPSC IAS Mains in terms of Paper 1 and 2 below.

UPSC Philosophy Optional Books (Paper-I)

In paper 1, candidates will have to attempt 5 out of 8 questions from Indian and Western philosophical concepts. Along with it, they must answer two compulsory questions from both these parts. Let’s check out all the UPSC Books for Philosophy optional Paper-I below.

Best Philosophy Books For UPSC (Optional Paper-1)
Paper-I Philosophy Topic	Book Name	Author/Description	Book Highlights
History & Problems of Philosophy	The Problems of Philosophy	Bertrand Russell	It’s a core reading and stimulating guide on philosophical problems with highlights from Aristotle to modern philosophical schools.
History & Problems of Philosophy	A Critical History of Western Philosophy: (Greek, Medieval and Modern)	Y Masih	This book includes a critical and comparative account of the major contributions of 8 Greek, medieval and modern thinkers with recent discussion on Kant, Hegel, Hume, Spinoza, etc.
Existentialism	Existentialism – A Very Short Introduction	Thomas Flynn	This text takes on the varied Existential themes of the 20th century philosophical thinkers such as Sartre, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Kierkegaard, etc.
Indian Philosophy	An Introduction to Indian Philosophy	Satishchandra Chatterjee	It discusses the different problems of Metaphysics, Ethics, Logic, Psychology and Epistemology with interdisciplinary approaches on Indian schools of thought.
	Contemporary Indian Philosophy	Basant Kumar Lal	It’s a detailed yet concise read on Indian philosophical schools and thinkers like Rishi Aurobindo, Gandhi, Tagore with explanations useful for UPSC Philosophy optional.
	Annihilation of Caste: The Annotated Critical Edition	BR Ambedkar	It’s a classic text with chapter-wise essays on Ambedkar’s presidential address on caste discrimination with references on Vedas and Shastras.
Western Philosophy	A New History of Western Philosophy: In Four Parts	Anthony Kenny	It is a broad guide of the Western philosophy schools ranging over 2,500 years from ancient Greece through the Middle Ages and the Enlightenment into the modern world.
Western Philosophy	A Critical History of Greek Philosophy	W. T. Stace	It covers chapter-wise public lectures on World and Greek Philosophy concepts in a very concise and easy manner.

Go through the official UPSC Prelims Syllabus to know the Philosophy topics overlapping in GS papers.

UPSC Philosophy Optional Books (Paper-II)

As for UPSC Philosophy optional Paper 1, candidates will also have to attempt 5 questions here and 2 mandatory questions from Social-Political Philosophy and Religious Philosophy topics. This booklist is strictly prepared as per the UPSC Mains Syllabus for optional. Let’s check out all the Philosophy Books for UPSC optional paper 2.

Best Philosophy Books For UPSC (Optional Paper-2)
Paper-II Philosophy Topic	Book Name	Author/Description	Book Highlights
Social-Political Philosophy	An Introduction To Political Theory (8th Edition)	O P Gauba	It covers social and political ideas with philosophical studies on each chapter with detailed explanations
Social-Political Philosophy	A History of Political Thought: Plato to Marx	Mukherjee & Ramaswamy	13 key classic modern thinkers like Hegel to Marx are analyzed with their unique contribution of political thinking in this book.
Philosophy of Religion	Philosophy of Religion	John H Hick, Pearson	This book details some of the main topics of classical and modern religious philosophical systems with chapter-wise explanations.
Philosophy of Religion	Introduction to Religious Philosophy	Y. Masih	This text covers some of the most relevant religious philosophy topics such as metaphysical theories of religion, existence of God, problems of evil and immorality, etc as present in UPSC Philosophy optional syllabus.

Check UPSC Cut Off Marks for UPSC Optional and Mains papers here!

Other Recommended Philosophy Books For UPSC

We have earlier covered all the relevant Western and Indian Philosophy books for UPSC. However, aspirants can look for other options given their choice of books or preparation strategy. Let’s check out some more UPSC Philosophy optional books below.

Book Name	Author/Description	Book Highlights
A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy	Chandradhar Sharma	The book opens with Indian philosophical thoughts on Vedas, the Upanisads and Bhagavadgita and moves to six tenets of Indian philosophical systems such as Materialism, Jainism and Early Buddhism, etc.
Western Political Thought	OP Gauba	This text brilliantly sums up the western political thinkers like Plato, Socrates, Locke, Kant, Hegel, Rousseau, Moore, Wittgenstein of respective schools from early Greek Renaissance to Modernism.
Existentialism – From Dostoevsky to Sartre	Walter Kaufmann	This book teaches both armchair and professional existentialism through basic writings of Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, Heidegger, Sartre, and Camus, Rilke, Kafka, Jaspers, Ortega with an exclusive Kaufmann essay on the subject.
Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy	Simon Blackburn	This dictionary is one of the leading philosophical quick reference books of the 21st century with 3,300+ alphabetical entries and highlights of Indian and Western Philosophy.
Oxford Concise Dictionary of Politics & International Relations	Brown, McLean, and McMillan	It covers 1,700+ entries on all aspects of politics and international relations including political thinkers, history, institutions, theories, and schools of thought, as well as distinct current affairs that have shaped attitudes to politics
Philosophy of Religion: An Introduction	Dr. Michael B. Wilkinson	It’s a comprehensive book on religious philosophy for both novice and professional students attempting this topic.

Also, go through the UPSC Mains Strategy for Philosophy optional in detail here!

UPSC Philosophy Booklist PDF

The UPSC Philosophy Books PDF consist the complete list of books that are mentioned in the above section. Candidates can save this PDF for their reference and decide which book to buy for their exam preparation. Click on the below attached link to download the Philosophy booklist for UPSC.

UPSC Philosophy Booklist – Download PDF

Tips to Prepare with Philosophy Books For UPSC Optional

As mentioned above, the UPSC Philosophy optional syllabus is divided into four sub-parts i.e., Western Philosophy, Indian Philosophy, Social-Political Philosophy, and Religious Philosophy. Let’s look at the specific preparation strategy for UPSC Philosophy papers below.

Paper-I Preparation: To answer 5 out of 8 questions in UPSC Philosophy optional Paper-I topics, you will have to study the fundamentals of Indian & Western Philosophy schools and thinkers. Follow the reference materials given above for each topic and read Satishchandra Chatterjee’s book for Indian Philosophy and Anthony Kenny’s Western Philosophy in 4 parts.
Paper-II Preparation: In Paper-II questions will be asked on topics related to Social-political philosophy and Religious Philosophy. Read Hindu editorials as well as popular UPSC magazines like Kurukshetra and Yojana to master this paper.
Answer-Writing Practice from Books: Take down answer-writing notes for each topic while preparing for UPSC Philosophy optional syllabus. Evaluate your answer-writing notes from experienced mentors and coaching teachers to assess your preparation levels.
Refer to books with solved papers and answer scripts: After going through topic-wise Philosophy books for UPSC, also refer to certain texts that have answer writing scripts of toppers and solved questions to help you understand the type of skill you require.
Use of flowcharts and diagrams: As the UPSC Philosophy optional syllabus can be comprehensive for both papers, make use of concise notes, diagrams, and flowcharts to revise each topic concisely.
Stick to Limited Books: You must stick to one or a maximum of two books for Philosophy optional UPSC preparation for each topic based on your strong and weak areas in that particular topic.

Also, attempt UPSC Philosophy Previous Year Papers to step up your preparation to the next level.

We hope that this article on the best Philosophy books for UPSC could help you advance your optional paper preparation quite easily. For more such UPSC subject-oriented study resources and materials, join our Philosophy Optional Coaching or download the Testbook App to crack this competitive exam across the country in the first attempt.

UPSC Philosophy Books – FAQs

Which booklist is given by toppers for UPSC Philosophy optional?

The topper’s list of best Philosophy Books for UPSC are given below -A Critical History of Western Philosophy by Y MasihAn Introduction to Indian Philosophy by Satishchandra ChatterjeeA Critical History of Greek Philosophy by W. T. StaceAn Introduction To Political Theory by OP GaubaIntroduction to Religious Philosophy by Y. Masih

Is philosophy good for UPSC?

Yes, Philosophy is a very logical, high-scoring and concise subject in UPSC Optional papers among other Humanities subjects. It increases the answer writing ability of students for UPSC Mains, as well as helps in side-by-side preparation of UPSC GS Paper-IV (Ethics & Integrity), Essay papers as well as in the Interview stage.

Which book is best for philosophy optional UPSC?

We have provided an exhaustive list of best books for Philosophy optional for UPSC preparation. But to choose the best for each paper, refer to these following -An Introduction to Indian Philosophy by Satishchandra Chatterjee and A New History of Western Philosophy by Kenny for Paper-I.Philosophy of Religion by John Hick and A History of Political Thought: Plato to Marx by Mukherjee for Paper-II.

What is the Philosophy syllabus for UPSC optional?

In UPSC optional, Philosophy syllabus is divided into four parts based on Paper 1 and Paper 2. Paper-I comprises Western Philosophy and Indian Philosophy topics while Paper-II consists of topics related to Social-Political Philosophy and Philosophy of Religion.

Is philosophy a scoring subject for IAS?

Yes, UPSC Philosophy optional is a high-scoring subject due to its static scope of syllabus, as well as topics overlapping with General Studies and essay papers.

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