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Solipsism
Thinking hardly or hardly thinking? Philosophy |
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Major trains of thought |
The good, the bad, and the brain fart |
Come to think of it |
“”I am the 100%!
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“”Is it solipsistic in here, or is it just me?
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Epistemological solipsism is the philosophical viewpoint that nothing can be proven beyond the existence of the self. Popularly identified with the phrase Cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am), solipsism holds that no perception felt by the mind can be regarded as truly verifiable, and so its existence is not certain. Hence, nothing outside the mind of the observer can be rationally confirmed.
Unlike the similar viewpoint of "subjectivism", solipsism goes beyond mere skepticism of just objective reality and regards the existence of other minds, or observers, as being uncertain as well.
More extremely, metaphysical solipsism is the position that I am the only person who exists or who has ever existed; that other people are mere figments of my imagination; that there is no Universe outside of myself, and hence the universe began when I began and the Universe will end when I end… Unless I'm a figment of somebody else's imagination.
See also
External links
- Solipsism and the Problem of Other Minds by Stephen Thornton on the Internet Encyclopoedia of Philosophy