GATE Philosophy Latest Books Chapter Wise For 2025

GATE Philosophy XH-C4 also known as the Humanities section of the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE), is a component of the exam that assesses the aptitude of engineering students in various humanities and social sciences subjects.As Per Syllabus There are 11 Chapters Like Orthodox Systems,Heterodox Systems,Contemporary Indian Philosophy & More Here in This Artcile We will Suggest you Chapter Wise Books, Single Books,Question Bank Book, & Detail Study Material Books for GATE Philosophy Exam All Books Are Suggested by Curated Faculties of Philosophy.

GATE Philosophy [XH-C4] Exam Overview

GATE Philosophy XH-C4 Chapter Wise Books [Recommended]

Sure, here’s a table suggesting book chapters of GATE Philsophy with the details:

GATE Philosophy [XH-C4] Single Latest Books [Preferred]

GATE Philosophy XH C-4 Latest Syllabus 2025

General Structure:

• The syllabus will be divided into two broad categories: Western Philosophy and Indian Philosophy.
• Each category will have sub-sections focusing on specific areas.

Chapter-1 Classical Indian Philosophy

C4.1.1 Orthodox Systems: Sānkhya- Puruṣa, Prakṛti, Guṇas, Satkāryavāda, Mokṣa
(Kaivalya), Pramāṇas and Theory of Error, Yoga – Pramāṇas, Theory of Error, Iśvara, Citta,
Kleśa, Aṣṭānga-yoga, Kaivalya (Mokṣa), Nyāya – Pramāṇas, Hetvābhāsa, Iśvara,
Asatkāryavāda, Theory of Error, Navya-Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika – Parataḥprāmāṇya, Padārthas
(categories), Theory of Atomism (paramāṇuvāda), Mīmāmsā– Dharma, Apūrva, Mokṣa,
Pramāṇas (both in Kumārila and Prabhākara), Anyathākhyāti, and, Vedānta– Advaita
(Adhyāsa, Brahman, Iśvara, Ātman, Jīva, Mokṣa, Viśiṣṭādvaita (Tattva-traya, Mokṣa, and
Refutation of Māyāvāda), Dvaita, Dvaitādvaita, Śuddhādvaita, Pramāṇa in Advaita and
Viśiṣṭādvaita.
C4.1.2 Heterodox Systems: Cārvāka – Pramāṇa, Indian marerislism and Hedonism,
Jainism- Pramāṇas, Syādvāda, Anekāntavāda, Padārtha (categories), Jīva and Ajīva, Mokṣa,
Mahāvrata, Aṇuvrata, and, Buddhism – Ti-piṭaka, Sarvāstivāda, Sautrāntika, Mādhyamika,
Yogācāra-Vijñānavāda, Pañca-skandha, Anityavāda, Anātmavāda, Doctrine of
Momentariness, Doctrine of Dependent Origination, Pramānas, Doctrine of Two Truths,
Doctrine of Tri-kāya, Ṣaḍ-pāramitās, Brahmavihāras, Pāñcaśīla, and Bodhisattva Ideal, and
Upāyakauśalya.
C4.1.3 Upaniṣads, Bhagavadgītā, and Dharmaśāstras: Philosophy of the Upaniṣads – Pure
Monism, Brahmam and Ātman, Pañca-kośa, Parā-vidyā and Aparā-vidyā, Meaning of
Dharma, Ṛta, Purusārtha, Śreyas and Preyas, Varṇāśrama-dharma, Dharma- Svadharma and
Sādhāraṇa Dharma, Ṛna, Yajña, Karma-yoga, Sthitaprajña, Lokasaṃgraha, and Law of
Karma.
C4.1.4 KāṣmiraŚaivism, Śaivasiddhānta, VīraŚaivism, Śāktism and Vaiṣṇavism:
KāṣmīraŚaivism – Pratyābhijña school, Śiva and Śakti, and Conception of Kriyā,
Śaivasiddhānta – God (pati) and Divine Power (śakti), Proofs for God’s Existence, Bondage
and Liberation, VīraŚaivism – Philosophical basis of VīraŚaivism, Śāktism – Philosophical
basis of Śāktism, and Vaiṣṇavism – Philosophical basis of Vaiṣṇavism.

Chapter -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

Chapter-3 Classical and Modern Western Philosophy

C4.3.1 Metaphysics: Pre-Socratic Philosophy of Thales, Anaxagoras, Anaximenies, Ionians,
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 Table for testing the validity of arguments; Differences between Deductive and
Inductive Logic, Causality and Mill’s Method.

Chapter-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.

Download Syllabus – Click Here

How To Prepare for GATE Philosophy Exam 2025

1. Start Early and Build a Strong Foundation (Now – Mid 2024)

• Gather Information: Familiarize yourself with the exam format, syllabus (refer to official GATE website when available, or past year’s syllabus for reference), and marking scheme.
• Textbooks and Academic Resources: Invest in standard philosophy textbooks covering Western and Indian Philosophy. Utilize online resources like academic articles and online courses for in-depth understanding.
• Develop a Study Plan: Create a personalized study plan that allocates time for each section of the syllabus. Prioritize areas based on weightage (if available) and your strengths/weaknesses.

2. Deepen Understanding and Practice (Mid 2024 – Early 2025)

• Focus on Core Concepts: Delve deeper into core philosophical concepts within each sub-section of the syllabus.
• Active Learning: Engage in active learning through activities like taking notes, summarizing complex ideas, and creating mind maps.
• Previous Year Papers: Practice solving questions from previous years’ GATE Philosophy exams. This will familiarize you with the question format, difficulty level, and time constraints.

3. Enhance Skills and Test Readiness (Early 2025 – Exam)

• Develop Critical Thinking: Regularly practice critical thinking skills by analyzing arguments, identifying fallacies, and deconstructing philosophical positions.
• Mock Tests and Time Management: Take mock tests offered by coaching institutes or online platforms. This will help you gauge your preparation level, identify areas for improvement, and develop effective time management strategies for the actual exam.
• Stay Updated: Keep yourself updated with current philosophical trends and thinkers, especially in the Contemporary Western Philosophy section.

Additional Tips:

• Join a Study Group: Consider joining a study group or online forum to discuss concepts, share resources, and stay motivated.
• Seek Guidance: Don’t hesitate to seek help from professors, mentors, or online resources if you encounter difficulty understanding specific concepts.
• Maintain Focus and Well-being: Ensure a healthy study-life balance. Prioritize good sleep, exercise, and relaxation techniques to maintain focus and well-being throughout your preparation journey.

Remember, consistency and a focused approach are key to success in the GATE Philosophy exam. Utilize the resources available and tailor your preparation according to your learning style and strengths.

GATE Philosophy XH-C4 Exam Pattern 2025

Exam Mode: Computer Based Test (CBT)

Exam Duration: 3 Hours

Number of Questions: 65

Total Marks: 100

Question Types:

• Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs): There will likely be two types of MCQs:
  • 1 mark MCQs: You will receive 1 mark for a correct answer and a deduction of 1/3rd of a mark for a wrong answer.
  • 2 mark MCQs: You will receive 2 marks for a correct answer and a deduction of 2/3rds of a mark for a wrong answer. There will likely be no negative marking for unanswered questions.

Section Weightage:

• The GATE exam typically allocates weightage differently for General Aptitude (GA) and the chosen subject (XH for Humanities & Social Sciences).
  • General Aptitude (GA): Expect around 15% of the total marks (approximately 10 questions) to be from the GA section. This section might assess basic reasoning, comprehension, and analytical abilities.
  • Philosophy (XH-C4): The remaining 85% of the marks (approximately 55 questions) will be dedicated to Philosophy, covering Western and Indian Philosophy as per the GATE syllabus.

Marking Scheme:

The official marking scheme might not be available yet, but the general deduction for incorrect MCQs is likely to remain as mentioned above. Refer to the official GATE website for the latest and most accurate information on the marking scheme once it’s released.

Frequently Asked Questions GATE Philosophy