Which Indian & Western Philosophy topics matter most for CGPSC?

Schools of Indian Philosophy: Vedas, Charvaka, Jainism, Buddhism & the Six Darshanas, Western Philosophy, Indian Thinkers, Reformers & Religion carry the highest question counts based on previous-year analyses.

Is this Indian & Western Philosophy material free?

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CGPSCIndian & Western Philosophy

Indian & Western Philosophy for CGPSC

GS IV, Part 1 · The Upanishads and Gita, Charvaka, Jain and Buddhist thought, the six darshanas, Plato to Sartre, Kautilya, the reformers, secularism and the problem of evil.

📊 GS IV Part 1 (~40 of 200 marks)

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How toppers play this section

CGPSC sets a full philosophy part and names schools one by one. Fix the astika-nastika split, learn the six-darshana grid, and keep one card per thinker with an administrative application.

Chapters

Built to the CGPSC blueprint — notes, shortcuts, solved PYQ-style examples and practice in every chapter.

1Schools of Indian Philosophy: Vedas, Charvaka, Jainism, Buddhism & the Six DarshanasThe Vedas and Upanishads, Brahman and Atman, the Gita's three paths, the heterodox schools (Charvaka, Jain, Buddhist) and the six orthodox darshanas — Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mimamsa and Vedanta — set out as a comparison for CGPSC GS Paper IV Part 1.⏱ 10 min read

2Western Philosophy, Indian Thinkers, Reformers & ReligionPlato, Aristotle, Descartes, Kant, Hegel, pragmatism and existentialism; Kautilya's theory of the state; Guru Nanak, Guru Ghasidas, Vivekananda, Aurobindo, Gandhi and Ambedkar; and religion, tolerance, secularism and the problem of evil — the second half of CGPSC GS Paper IV Part 1.⏱ 10 min read

Topic-wise weightage in CGPSC

Expected question counts from previous-year paper analyses. Topics with an arrow already have a full chapter.

Topic	Prelims Q	Mains Q	Priority
Schools of Indian Philosophy: Vedas, Charvaka, Jainism, Buddhism & the Six Darshanas	~20		Very high
Western Philosophy, Indian Thinkers, Reformers & Religion	~20		Very high