[Insights Secure – 2019] Daily UPSC Mains Answer Writing Practice: 12 February 2019
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Tomorrow’s Static Topic: Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world.
General Studies – 1
Topic– changes in critical geographical features (including water bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.
1) Examine the impact of rapidly declining insect population?(250 words)
Why this question
The world’s insects are hurtling down the path to extinction, threatening a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”, according to the first global scientific review. The articles talks about this alarming possibility and its impact.
Key demand of the question
The question expects us to bring out the causes behind the rapidly declining population and discuss the widespread ramifications of such a scenario on the ecosystem. Thereafter, it expects us to throw in a word of caution and discuss the way forward.
Directive word
Examine – When you are asked to examine, you have to probe deeper into the topic, get into details, and find out the causes or implications if any .
Structure of the answer
Introduction – highlight that The world’s insects are hurtling down the path to extinction, threatening a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”, according to the first global scientific review.
Body
- Highlight the magnitude of the problem – More than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered, the analysis found. The rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. The total mass of insects is falling by a precipitous 2.5% a year, according to the best data available, suggesting they could vanish within a century.
- Discuss the causes
- The way we produce our food
- Heavy use of insecticides and pesticides
- Discuss the impact on ecosystem
- Affects the food chain
- Pollination in plants etc
Conclusion – highlight the graveness of the situation and discuss way forward.
General Studies – 2
Topic: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the
performance of these schemes
Why this question
The article compares and contrasts MGNREGA scheme with PM KISAN and makes a point in favour of universal schemes as opposed to targeted scheme. The article provides a refreshing analysis of the PM KISAN scheme which had been keeping the editorials column busy since its announcement in union budget.
Key demand of the question
The question expects us to bring out the pros and cons of the MGNREGA vis a vis PM Kisan. What the question is looking for is your reasoned arguments and the final view that you have on the basis of those arguments over whether a universal scheme makes more sense than a targeted one.
Directive word
Critically analyze – When asked to analyze, you have to examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them as a whole in a summary. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, all you need to do is look at the good and bad of something and give a fair judgement.
Structure of the answer
Introduction – Explain about the PM KISAN and MGNREGA and how they are both important in the welfare paradigm of the country.
Body
- Explain in detail about the MGNREGA and PM KISAN scheme
- Compare and contrast the two covering points such as
- Intended beneficiaries
- Income potential under the two
- Impact on women
- Bureaucratic efficiency
- Universal vs targeted
- Give your view on the basis of these arguments over what would make more sense
Conclusion – Give a fair and balanced view and discuss way forward.
General Studies – 3
Topic – Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.
Why this question
The article discusses the distinct nature of Indian Islam and how the radical Wahhabi – Salafi ideology is bearing influence on the practice of Islam in India, accelerated by recent events and pose a threat to national security.
Key demand of the question
The question expects us to discuss the distinct nature of Indian Islam and how it has so far been at odds with the more radical version practiced in West Asia particularly Saudi Arabia. Discuss the reasons why such influences are stronger on the practice of Islam in India and discuss its impact on national security. Finally we need to provide a fair and balanced view and discuss way forward.
Directive word
Examine – When you are asked to examine, you have to probe deeper into the topic, get into details, and find out the causes or implications if any .
Structure of the answer
Introduction – Highlight that through the rise of ISIS etc, security analysts in India were secure in the knowledge that moderate nature of Indian Islam immunes us from the threat of religion based extremism emanating from inside the country.
Body
- Explain about the Wahhabi – Salafi ideology and how it is more radical
- Discuss about the distinct nature of Islam practiced in the country moderated by influences of Sufism and the reasons why it is coming under the influence of radical ideology – migration, perceived underdevelopment, religious tensions etc
- Discuss about the impact which such a situation might have on the internal security of the country
- Highlight what must be done to nip the problem in its bud
Conclusion – Discuss the importance of taking early measures and discuss the way forward.
General Studies – 4
Topic– Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world.
4) Discuss the contribution of John Stuart Mill towards ethics and moral philosophy. (250 words)
Directive word
Discuss- this is an all-encompassing directive which mandates us to write in detail about the key demand of the question. we also have to discuss about the related and important aspects of the question in order to bring out a complete picture of the issue in hand.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to write in detail about John Stuart Mill, his philosophy and thoughts and his general contribution towards the field of ethics and moral of moral philosophy.
Structure of the answer
Introduction- write a few introductory lines about the John Stuart Mill. e.g Mention about Mill’s early life, education and famous works.
Body-
Discuss in points, the philosophy of John Stuart Mill and his contribution towards ethics and moral philosophy. E.g
- His System of Logic 1843 was an ambitious attempt to give an account not only of logic, as the title suggests, but of the methods of science and their applicability to social as well as purely natural phenomena.
- Mill’s conception of logic was not entirely that of modern logicians; besides formal logic, what he called “the logic of consistency”, he thought that there was a logic of proof, that is, a logic that would show how evidence proved or tended to prove the conclusions we draw from the evidence.
- That led him to the analysis of causation, and to an account of inductive reasoning that remains the starting point of most modern discussions.
- In his Principles of Political Economy, 1848, a work of Mill’s reflections on the difference between what economics measured and what human beings really valued:
- Mill argued that we should sacrifice economic growth for the sake of the environment, and should limit population.
- The Subjection of Women 1869 was thought to be excessively radical in Mill’s time but is now seen as a classic statement of liberal feminism. Its essential case is that if freedom is a good for men etc.
Conclusion- based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
Topic- Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world.
5) Kant’s moral philosophy is entwined with his political philosophy. Discuss.(250 words)
Directive word
Discuss- this is an all-encompassing directive which mandates us to write in detail about the key demand of the question. we also have to discuss about the related and important aspects of the question in order to bring out a complete picture of the issue in hand.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to write in detail about the Kant’s philosophy and describe in detail about the important views of Kant on moral philosophy and political philosophy and the relation between the two.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– write a few introductory lines about Kant. e.g mention that the philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) can be divided into two major branches- theoretical and practical. Both of these branches have been enormously influential in the subsequent history of philosophy.
Body-
Discuss in points the Kant’s philosophy and how his thoughts on moral and political philosophy are intertwined. E.g
- His theoretical philosophy, which includes metaphysics, is based on the rational understanding of the concept of nature.
- The second, his practical philosophy, comprising ethics and political philosophy, is based on the concept of freedom.
- According to Kant, ethics, like metaphysics, is a priori, meaning that our moral duty is determined independently of empirical considerations. Kant’s ethics can therefore be contrasted with ethical views such as utilitarianism that hold that the morality of acts is derived from their consequences. In the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant outlines his fundamental ethical principle, which he calls the “categorical imperative.”
- The moral principle is “imperative” because it commands, and it is “categorical” because it does so unconditionally, that is, irrespective of the particular inclinations and circumstances of the actor.
- Freedom, for Kant, is thus not the “freedom” to follow one’s inclinations. Instead, freedom implies morality, and morality implies freedom.
- Kant is critical of political thinkers, such as Machiavelli, who believe that amoral or immoral means are permissible in politics. Still, although Kant argues that morality is obligatory in politics, he does not believe that people’s actual political behavior is controlled by duty.
- Kant does not argue merely that individuals enter the state or social contract for prudential reasons, because their interests are best served by the state, but also that we have an obligation to respect human freedom, and this requires us to create a Rechtsstaat if one does not already exist etc.
Conclusion– based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
Topic– Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world.
Directive word
Elaborate- It demands us to add more information to or explain something that has been said.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to write in detail about the philosophy and thoughts of Krishnamurti on education- what it means, how it should be imparted etc.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– Write a few introductory lines about Jiddu Krishnamurti. E.g At the age of 15, Krishnamurti accompanied Miss Annie Besant to England in 1911. Like his father he also became a member of the Theosophical Society. In 1912, he wrote a book entitled ‘Education as Service’ in which he described the life of an ideal school.
Body-
Discuss about his philosophy on education in detail. E.g
- For Krishnamurti education is:
(i) Educating the whole person.
(ii) Educating the person as a whole (not as an assemblage of parts).
(iii) Educating the person within a whole. (As part of society, humanity, nature, etc.).
- For him education is about preparation for the whole life and not preparation for part of life (like work).
- Jiddu Krishnamurthy, like Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekanand and others founded his own educational institutions to put into practice what he preached.
- Education should awaken the capacity to be self aware and not merely, indulge in gratifying self expression.
- The right kind of education is not concerned with any ideology, however much it offers to future Utopia. It is not based on any system, however carefully thought out, nor is it a means of conditioning the individual in some special manner.
- Education in the true sense is of helping the individual to be mature and free, to flower greatly in love and goodness. T
- For Jiddu Krishnamurti, the intentions of education must be the inner transformation and liberation of the human being and, from that, society would be transformed etc.
Conclusion- based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
Topic– Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world.
Directive word
Discuss- this is an all-encompassing directive which mandates us to write in detail about the key demand of the question. we also have to discuss about the related and important aspects of the question in order to bring out a complete picture of the issue in hand.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to delve into the Tagore’s philosophy, highlight its salient aspects and discuss in detail about the importance and role of a human being.
Structure of the answer
Introduction- write a few introductory lines about the R.N Tagore. E.g Rabindranath Tagore was not a systematic philosopher, but the worldview behind his works and his ideas are complex as well as original. He developed a spiritual humanism that connected ancient Indian philosophical ideas with Western ideas and gave them his own original twist.
Body-
Discuss in points, his philosophy about the human being- its role, objectives etc. E.g
- He believed that human beings could fulfil their potential and find freedom and fulfilment through love, knowledge and freedom, if they succeeded in connecting their narrow self with the universal Being.
- For Tagore, the beginning of the world is a story of creation as well as evolution. He uses scientific models, while ascribing the forces that cause evolution to God’s powers. For Tagore, God has two aspects: One is a monotheistic personal God, the other is brahman, which can be translated as being, consciousness, bliss, supreme reality, and All.
- Humans are, according to Tagore, freer than any other being on Earth: they have reached an unprecedented high level of physical freedom regarding their senses, their tools as well as their habitat,
- But humans use their unique mental abilities not only for the necessities of life but also for trying “to prove that they are not a mere living catalogue of endless wants; that there is in them an ideal of perfection, a sense of unity, which is a harmony between parts and a harmony with surroundings
- Tagore’s approach can be summarized as “spiritual humanism,”[27] because it is a form of spirituality rooted in this world and centred on human beings.
- He argued that the goal of unity between self and world does not entail denying the individual-human and the loss of the self. He wanted to retain individuality despite the imperative of overcoming the self.
Conclusion- based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
NOTE:
