SECTION A
Essay
125 marks
Philosophy of wantlessness is Utopian, while materialism is a chimera.
WRITE IN
90 min
1,000–1,200 words
Reading the topic
The topic presents two extremes: giving up all wants is an ideal few can live by, while the pursuit of material goods promises a satisfaction that never arrives. The examiner expects an essay that critiques both and argues for a balanced middle path of sufficiency and sustainable consumption.
ThesisSince total wantlessness is unattainable and endless consumption is illusory, the wise path is a middle way of sufficiency, where needs are met and wants are disciplined.
Dimensions to cover
- 1Philosophy: renunciant traditions hold up non-possession as an ideal, but most people live as householders with real needs
- 2Economics: rising incomes do not keep raising happiness beyond a point, revealing the chimera of materialism
- 3Environment: high consumption in rich societies drives climate change, so restraint is now an ecological necessity
- 4Development: telling the poor to want less is unjust when they lack basics, so wantlessness cannot be a policy for deprivation
- 5Individual: minimalism and mindful consumption show modern attempts at a middle path
- 6Governance: measures of well-being beyond GDP try to align policy with sufficiency rather than endless growth
Counter-view
- Some argue that material desire drives innovation and has lifted billions out of poverty, so materialism is no chimera. The essay should accept material progress for meeting needs, while arguing that the chimera lies in believing that ever more consumption brings ever more happiness
Open and close
- Open: Open with Siddhartha, half-starved after years of severe fasting, accepting a bowl of rice from Sujata, the moment he abandoned extremes for a middle path
- Close: Conclude that the goal is neither the monk's empty bowl nor the consumer's endless cart, but enough for all, sustained within the planet's means
Where marks usually go
- Defending one side fully, either praising renunciation or defending consumerism, when the topic criticises both
- Failing to explain the terms 'Utopian' and 'chimera' and so missing the precise claim
- Preaching wantlessness to the poor without acknowledging deprivation and basic needs
Examples that fit
- ThinkerThe Buddha rejected both luxury and harsh asceticism after trying each, and taught the Middle Way as the path to liberation.Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta; The Buddha, Karen Armstrong (2001)
- DataEconomist Richard Easterlin found that, over time, rising national income did not bring a matching rise in reported happiness, a finding known as the Easterlin paradox.Richard Easterlin, Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot? (1974)
- ThinkerE.F. Schumacher proposed 'Buddhist economics', aiming at maximum well-being with minimum consumption.Small is Beautiful, E.F. Schumacher (1973)
- CaseBhutan uses Gross National Happiness as a guiding framework for policy, measuring well-being across psychological, cultural and ecological domains.Centre for Bhutan Studies and GNH Research, GNH Index
- CaseIndia's Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), launched in 2022, promotes mindful consumption as a citizen response to climate change.Mission LiFE, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change