Mains Practice Questions

Q. What do you understand by the term ethical egoism? (150 words)

Q. With the changing nature of public administration and higher expectations from public servants, codes of conduct in the public sphere assumed greater importance. Comment. (150 Words)

Q. Discuss the major contributions of Socrates in the field of ethics and morality.

Q. Discuss the role of social influence in shaping the behavior of a person. 

Q. Explain the term conscience with a special reference to various explanations given by various moral thinkers on it.

Q. Discuss the role of emotional intelligence in handling mob protests and violence. 

Q. Discuss the role of the family in the development of the value system in an individual.

Q. Sense of unity, pride in the past and sense of mission – which Vivekananda proclaimed greatly strengthened India’s nationalist movement. Discuss. 

Q. "Public service is a public trust."  In light of the statement highlight some of the major principles of the Public Service.

Q. Analyse John Rawls’s concept of justice as fairness.

Q. Corporate social responsibility envisages ethical corporate governance. Discuss.

Q. Citizen initiatives to fight corruption come from an active social consciousness. Discuss.

Q. Explain with examples what do you mean by the term empathy. Also, discuss how it is an important trait for the present-day civil servants?

Q. Discuss Kautilya’s philosophy of “Yatha Raja Tatha Praja” (As the king is, so will be the people) in the context of today’s political leadership in India. 

Q. Explain the term probity and its relevance to civil services in India.

Q. Citizen’s Charter seeks to continuously improve the quality of public services for the people so as to respond to their needs and wishes. In the light of the statement discuss the foundational features of a citizen’s charter and what do citizens expect out of it.

Q. Highlight the differences between codes of ethics and codes of conduct.

Q. Discuss the term Constitutional Morality and its significance?

Q. Discuss the basic principles of the communitarianism school of thought.

Q. Illustrate the contribution of Plato in the evolution of the theory of virtue.

Q. Explain the term cultural relativism and associated problems with it.

Q. Globalisation has been widely debated as a matter of boon or bane for the world. In this context, discuss the ethical challenges posed by the process of globalization. 

Q. What are the main factors responsible for gender inequality in India? Discuss the contribution of Savitribai Phule in this regard. (UPSC GS-4 Mains 2020)

Q. Distinguish between laws and rules. Discuss the role of ethics in formulating them. (UPSC Mains GS-4 2020)

Q. What teachings of Buddha are most relevant today and why? Discuss. (UPSC GS-4 Mains 2020)

Q. What are the main components of emotional intelligence (EI)? Can they be learned? Discuss. (UPSC GS-4 Mains 2020)

Q. “Education is not an injunction, it is an effective and pervasive tool for all-round development of an individual and social transformation”. Examine the New Education Policy, 2020 (NEP, 2020) in light of the above statement. (UPSC GS-4 Mains 2020)

Q. Discuss the role of ethics and values in enhancing the following three major components of Comprehensive National Power(CNP) viz. human capital, soft power(culture and policies), and social harmony. (150 words) (UPSC GS-4 Mains 2020).

Q. Discussing the main challenges in upholding highest ethical standards in civil services, suggest effective measures to overcome such challenges.

Q. “Lack of knowledge confuses the intellect, while education provides the knowledge to the true soul- Rabindranath Tagore” Elaborate this quote in the present context? (150 Words)