Q1. Portray your University as a society which is a collection of social groups. How is the structure of this society conserved? What is your role as a social entity in this society? 10+2

Answer- Society is defined as the web of social relationships. A social structure depicts the relationships amongst various components of the society. The components may be various stratums of people. Tezpur University may also be viewed as an alliance of many stratums of people stratified on different bases.

Stratification- Some of the groups within this university are well organized and rest are unorganized. There are inter-relationships between various groups. And these relationships give rise to a web. The class of Professors, Students, Administrative and Official personages etc form the cluster of organized or formal groups of the university. They have fulfilled the criteria of being the member of a formal group and they have also accepted the terms and conditions of the groups. E.g.- A student must have cracked the entrance examination to get admission into the university. Moreover, he has also promised to abide by the rules and regulations of the university.

The group of menials in hostels or that of the attendants in the local shopping complex fall in the informal or unorganized category. Each individual in this university is a social entity having his own status, roles norms and values. Web of relationships- The Professors and Students are related via the teaching-learning process. Menials take care of students as their facilitators. Students pay menial charges which in turn converts to their wages. Public sphere- People chatter in the community hall or in the auditorium in the shopping complex . They come up with newfangled ideas and they exchange opinions. These are archetypes of public sphere.

Change in the Society-

New proposals in the academic and administrative grounds are implemented after several dialectical analysis. This is necessarily the implementation of the triad popular as- thesis, anti-thesis and synthesis.

Prototype of a Capitalist System-

The shopping complexes can be thought of as a prototype of capitalist system. The proprietors can be considered as a capitalist. And the attendants out there can be considered as the proletariats. The latter class works throughout the day and are paid wages. The surplus value is accounted as the profit of the proprietors.

The distribution of members of classes based on gender is remarkable. No. of female students in departments like cultural studies is quite high. On the contrary, very few female students opt for technical studies. This is basically because of the traditional flow of thought that engineering is friendly for male students only whereas cultural studies is best for female students. Public Movement – Like in any other society, public movement in an university is an inevitable phenomenon. In fact, Tezpur University is a byproduct of Assam Agitation itself. Class Struggle – Class Struggle is also witnessed by the University society at different times. The menials might struggle for hike in salary from time to time. Summing up all of the above, we can conclude that an University is a classic example of a society.

I have a status in this university. I need to abide by the administration. I follow my Professors. And I am followed by my juniors.

I play the roles of a Student, a Teaching Assistant, a Hostel Boarder and a Cricketer of the university cricket team to attain the common goals of the university society.

As a student I cannot arrange a marriage ceremony of my cousin in the university stadium. That’s out of my norms.

And I value the advices of my professors and I have emotional attachment with my batch-mates.

Q2. What is Dialectic Method? What is negative critical thinking? Explain with an example. 5 Answer-Hegel's dialectic often appears broken up for convenience into three moments called "thesis" (in the French historical example, the revolution), "antithesis" (the terror which followed), and "synthesis" (the constitutional state of free citizens). The triad thesis, antithesis, synthesis is often used to describe the thought of German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Hegel never used the term himself. The triad is usually described in the following way: • The thesis is an intellectual proposition. • The antithesis is simply the negation of the thesis, a reaction

to the proposition. • The synthesis solves the conflict between the thesis and

antithesis by reconciling their common truths and forming a new thesis, starting the process over.

Hegel cited that the thing that appears before one may not be in its true form. He further added that the human society, unlike nature changes dialectically. It can be best explained by the French historical example, the revolution and the terror which followed and ultimately the constitutional state of free citizens. So the roadway is not smooth. But the change in nature is smooth. It can be best explained by the famous line of P,B. Shelly “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” Science proclaims that truth cannot be absolute. Hegelianism is the philosophy of G. W. F. Hegel which can be summed up by the dictum that "the rational alone is real", which means that all reality is capable of being expressed in rational categories. His goal was to reduce reality to a more synthetic unity within the system of absolute idealism.

Q3. What is infrastructure and superstructure? What is the philosophy of history as proposed by Karl Marx? 5

Answer-In Marxist theory, human society consists of two parts: the infrastructure(base) and superstructure; the infrastructure comprehends the forces and relations of production — into which people enter to produce the necessities and amenities of life.

By "relations of production", Marx and Engels meant the sum total of social relationships that people must enter into, in order to survive, to produce and reproduce their means of life. As people must enter into these social relationships, i.e. because participation in them is not voluntary, the totality of these relationships constitute a relatively stable and permanent structure, the "economic structure".

These relations determine society’s other relationships and ideas, which are described as its superstructure. The superstructure of a society includes its culture, institutions, political power structures, roles, rituals, and state. The infrastructure determines (conditions) the superstructure, yet their relation is not strictly causal, because the superstructure often influences the infrastructure ; the influence of the infrastructure , however, predominates. In Orthodox Marxism, the infrastructure determines the superstructure in a one-way relationship. However, in more advanced forms and variations of Marxist thought their relationship is not strictly one-way, as some theories claim that just as the infrastructure influences the superstructure, the superstructure also influences the infrastructure.

Historical materialism is a methodological approach to the study of society, economics, and history first articulated by Karl Marx(1818–1883) as the materialist conception of history. It is a theory of socioeconomic development according to which changes in material conditions are the primary influence on how society and the economy are organized.

Marxist analysis of society identifies two main social groups: Labor (the proletariat or workers) includes anyone who earns their livelihood by selling their labor power and being paid a wage or salary for their labor time. They have little choice but to work for capital, since they typically have no independent way to survive. Capital (the bourgeoisie or capitalists) includes anyone who gets their income not from labor as much as from the surplus value they appropriate from the workers who create wealth. The income of the capitalists, therefore, is based on their exploitation of the workers (proletariat). In The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx argued that a class is formed when its members achieve class consciousness and solidarity. This largely happens when the members of a class become aware of their exploitation and they conflict with another class. A class will then realize their shared interests and a common identity. According to Marx, a class will then take action against those that are exploiting the lower classes.

Marx largely focuses on the capital industrialist society as the source of social stratification, which ultimately results in class conflict. He states that capitalism creates a division between classes which can largely be seen in manufacturing factories. The proletariat, is separated from the bourgeoisie because production becomes a social enterprise. Contributing to their separation is the technology that is in factories. Technology de-skills and alienates workers as they are no longer viewed as having a specialized skill. Another effect of technology is a homogenous workforce that can be easily replaceable. Marx believed that this class conflict would result in the overthrow of the bourgeoisie and that the private property would be communally owned. The mode of production would remain, but communal ownership would eliminate class conflict.

Even after a revolution, the two classes would struggle, but eventually the struggle would recede and the classes dissolve. As class boundaries broke down, the state apparatus would wither away. According to Marx, the main task of any state apparatus is to uphold the power of the ruling class; but without any classes there would be no need for a state. That would lead to the classless, stateless communist society.

Q. Define Capital.

Answer-According to Adam Smith, “Capital is a certain quantity of labor stocked and stored up to be employed.”(Wealth of Nations)

Following Adam Smith, Karl Marx said, “Capital is stored up labor.”(Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844)

Marx said, “Essence of capitalism is to make profit.” Idea of capitalists is to earn more and more profits and thereby accumulate more capitals. There is competition between capitalists and whosoever earn more and more profits can survive.

Value of a commodity is equivalent to the human labor contained in it.

Q4. What is alienation of man? Define commodification of labor. 5 Answer- Man is creative by nature. Creativity brings pleasure. Laborers in capitalist society cannot enjoy his creation as they have to sell their labor power to the bourgeois in barter of wages. This phenomenon is called commodification of labor. As soon as a laborer sells his labor power, his labor power becomes an external object. As such, he is alienated from his creation. In the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Marx identified four types of alienation (Entfremdung) that occur to the worker laboring under a capitalist system of industrial production- I. Alienation of the worker from the creation — from the product of

his labor. II. Alienation of the worker from working — from the act of

producing III. Alienation of the worker from himself, as a producer — from

his Gattungswesen (species-essence) IV. Alienation of the worker from other workers And ultimately, in capitalist environment, a labor is detached from nature. Thus he becomes a beast. This is termed as dehumanization.

Q5. Write a brief note on surplus value. Give the theory of surplus value. Answer- In capitalist system, laborers take wages in compensation of their labors. Wage is calculated in terms of the value of the indispensable commodity required for the survival of him and his family. But a laborer produces commodity which is worth more than what he is paid as wage. The labor time which is necessary to produce the commodity equivalent to the value of his wage is called the necessary labor time. The superfluous labor time for which a laborer works is called the surplus labor time. And the value of commodity produced during the surplus labor time is called surplus value. This surplus value is converted to profit. And the profit is accumulated to the capital of the capitalists. This is the abstract of theory of surplus value. This theory is often called the theory of profit. The more the surplus value, the more the profit for capitalists and the corollary is the more alienation and exploitation of the laborer. Therefore, this theory is also called as the theory of exploitation. The theory of surplus value explains the cause of pauperization and polarization effect.

Q6. What is the relationship between theory and facts. 5

Answer-There is an intricate relation between theory and fact. The popular understanding of this relationship obscures more than it illuminates. They are generally conceived as direct opposites. Theory is confused with speculation and theory remains speculation until it is proved. When this proof is made, theory becomes fact. Facts are thought to be definite, certain, without question and their meaning to be self-evident. Science is thought to be concerned with facts alone. Theory is supposed to be realm of philosophers. Scientific theory is therefore thought to be merely summation of facts that have been accumulated upon a given subject. However if we observe the way scientists actually do research, it becomes clear 1. Theory and fact are not diametrically opposed but inextricably intertwined.2. Theory is not speculation.3.Scientists are very much concerned with both theory and facts. A fact is regarded as an empirically verifiable observation. A theory refers to the relationship between facts or to the ordering of them in some meaningful way. Facts of science are the product of observations that are not random but meaningful, i.e., theoretically relevant. Therefore we cannot think of facts and theory as being opposed rather they are interrelated in many complex ways. The development of science can be considered as a constant interplay between theory and fact.

Q7. Distinguish between deductive method and inductive method. 5 Answer-When researchers take an inductive approach, they start with a set of observations and then they move from those particular experiences to a more general set of propositions about those experiences. In other words, they move from data to theory, or from the specific to the general. This is a bottom up approach.

Researchers taking a deductive approach start with a social theory that they find compelling and then test its implications with data. That is, they move from a more general level to a more specific one. The researcher studies what others have done, reads existing theories of whatever phenomenon he or she is studying, and then tests hypotheses that emerge from those theories. This is a top down approach.

Q8. How is inductive method related to empiricism? 5

Answer-When researchers take an inductive approach, they start with a set of observations and then they move from those particular experiences to a more general set of propositions about those experiences. In other words, they move from data to theory, or from the specific to the general. This is a bottom up approach.

Empiricism, in the philosophy of science emphasizes evidence, especially as discovered in experiments. It is fundamental part of scientific method that all hypotheses and theories must be tested against observation of the natural world rather than resting solely on priori reasoning, intuition and revelation.

Q10. What is perfectibility of man? What is its relation with Enlightenment?5 Answer-Man’s inexhaustible ability to improve himself to shape and to be shaped by his environment and that man can attain the highest level of perfection is summed up as perfectibility of man. The development of reason and language are both functions of perfectibility. Perfectibility draws man out of his original condition, and is responsible for his extraordinary adaptability. To attain perfectibility man needs to realize his inner potential. To realize his potential within, man needs freedom. For freedom of minds, man needs change –change in existing institutions for, existing institutions prevents man from realizing his inner potential circuitously. Rousseau, in his famous work “Of The Social Contract, Or Principles of Political Right”, has cited that “Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.” And as such, change is de rigueur for attainment of perfectibility in the long run. According to Marx, class struggle can bring about changes in society. Marxist view claims that bringing in socialism and double backing capitalism may bring drastic social change.

Q11. What is class struggle? How can social change be brought up?5 In The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx argued that a class is formed when its members achieve class consciousness and solidarity. This largely happens when the members of a class become aware of their exploitation and the conflict with another class. A class will then realize their shared interests and a common identity. According to Marx, a class will then take action against those that are exploiting the lower classes. This is the seed of class struggle. For freedom of minds, man needs change –change in existing institutions for, existing institutions prevents man from realizing his inner potential circuitously. Rousseau, in his famous work “Of The Social Contract, Or Principles of Political Right”, has cited that “Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.” And as such, change is de rigueur for attainment of perfectibility in the long run. According to Marx, class struggle can bring about changes in society. Marxist view claims that bringing in socialism and double backing capitalism may bring drastic social change.

Q12. Write short note on religion and society. 5 Answer-Religion plays a key role in the formation of a society. Religion is the basis of a moral and ethical society. Survival is also of key importance. If we do not have different religious beliefs in society, we cannot learn new things, new languages, culture etc. Max Weber, in his work “The Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism” mentioned that certain aspects of Christian beliefs strongly influenced the rise of capitalism. In his view, cultural ideas and values help shape society and shape our individual actions. Shankardev’s Bhakti Movement in Assam eradicated the feudal values and established a novel society out of an agitated greater Assam. The famous work “Early History of The Vaishnava Faith And Movement in Assam :Shankardeva And His Time” by Dr. Maheshwar Neog describes the endeavor put by Shankardev to establish a firm society on the basis of love which was the medium of Vaishnava religion. However, sometimes, religion becomes the culprit of many unsolicited social constructs. E.g. the dogmatic pronouncement that women cannot enter into Barpeta Xatra is a social construct developed purely by religious conceptions.

The concept of Tabula Rasa is that human mind, at the time of birth, can be equated to a blank slate. As such it does not possess any proposition at the time of birth. Human learn from experience only. This is the base of empiricism. The concept was put forwarded by John Locke in his famous work “Essay Concerning Human Understanding.”

Q13. Write note on paradigm shift. 10

Answer-A paradigm is a point of view, a model in which one perceives the world. A model is an imaginary analogy that helps one to understand the complex coherences. Our whole universe consists of models.

A paradigm shift, as depicted by Thomas Kuhn in his famous work “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”, is a change in basic assumptions, or paradigms, within the ruling theory of science. It is in contrast to his idea of normal science.

Once a paradigm shift is complete, a scientist cannot for example, reject the germ theory of disease to posit the possibility that miasma causes diseases. Kuhn used the duck-rabbit optical illusion to demonstrate the way in which paradigm shift could cause one to see the same information in an entirely different way. Kuhn states that when a scientific paradigm is replaced by a new one, albeit through a complex social process, the new one is always better, not just different. Successive transition from one paradigm to another via revolution is the usual development pattern of mature science. An archetype of paradigm shift is the transition in cosmology from a Ptolemic cosmology to Copernican one.

The geocentric model of the solar system as proposed by Ptolemi assumes that the earth is the center of the universe. Sun and other planets revolve round the earth. But this model failed to explain the strange retro-gradation of planets’ movement. Copernicus’ theory, which later gave birth to the heliocentric model of solar system came up with the solution. Copernicus stated that the sun is the center of the solar system. The daytime movement of the sun is only apparent. Copernicus’ theory could explain the movement of the earth and the other planets well. Copernicus knew that those revolutionary thoughts would have caused great problems as the heliocentric model contradicted church’s point of view. He was right to do so as people like Galileo who openly defended this new system had to suffer from Inquisition’s prosecution. It took at least one generation until this heliocentric model was accepted. The transition of people’s belief from the geocentric model of solar system proposed by Ptolemi to the heliocentric model of Copernicus is a classic example of paradigm shift.

Q. Idealism versus Materialism Answer-Hegel believed that society changes when idea changes. According to him, consciousness precedes reality. This philosophy is often referred to as Idealism. Hegel’s dialectical idealism inappropriately concerns “the process of the human brain”; it focuses on ideas. Marx’s philosophy is however, different from idealism. It bases the concept of Dialectical Historical Materialism(Coined by Joseph Dietzgen) i.e. materialistic interpretation of history. According to Marx, ideas and values are of least importance. In the preface of his work, “A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy”, he cited “It is not the consciousness of men that determines their social existence but on the contrary, it is their social existence that determines their consciousness. Marx credits Hegel with “being the first to present its form of working in a comprehensive manner” But also criticizes him saying, “With him, it is standing on his head. It must be turned right side up again, if you would discover the rational kernel within the mystical shell.”

3 Laws of Dialectical Materialism-

I. Unity of Opposites-Otherwise there cannot be conflicts.(From Heraclitus)-Between the opposites in a contradiction there is at once unity and struggle, and it is this that impels things to move and change.

II. Quantitative change leads to Qualitative change- Birth of a new thing requires the death of the is. Destruction of a seed leads to generation of a plant.

III. Negation of Negation-

-1*-1=1

• “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles,” states Marx in The Communist Manifesto.

• A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy-Marx

• Economic and philosophical manuscript of 1844-Marx

• The Communist Manifesto- Marx