solipsism

sol·ip·sism

S0550100 (sŏl′ĭp-sĭz′əm, sō′lĭp-)n.1. Philosophy The theory that the self is the only thing that can be known and verified.2. The view that the self is the only reality.3. Absorption with oneself without consideration for the needs and desires of others: a self-indulgent memoir that revealed the author's solipsism.

[Latin sōlus, alone; see s(w)e- in Indo-European roots + Latin ipse, self + -ism.]

sol′ip·sist n.sol′ip·sis′tic adj.

solipsism

(ˈsɒlɪpˌsɪzəm) n (Philosophy) philosophy the extreme form of scepticism which denies the possibility of any knowledge other than of one's own existence[C19: from Latin sōlus alone + ipse self] ˈsolipsist n, adj ˌsolipˈsistic adj

sol•ip•sism

(ˈsɒl ɪpˌsɪz əm)

n. 1. the theory that only the self exists, or can be proved to exist. 2. self-absorption. [1880–85; < Latin sōl(us) only, sole¹ + ips(e) self + -ism] sol′ip•sist, n. sol`ip•sis′tic, adj.

solipsism

the theory that only the self exists or can be proved to exist. Also called panegoism. — solipsist, n. — solipsistic, adj.See also: Philosophy

Thesaurus

Noun

solipsism - (philosophy) the philosophical theory that the self is all that you know to existphilosophy - the rational investigation of questions about existence and knowledge and ethicsphilosophical doctrine, philosophical theory - a doctrine accepted by adherents to a philosophy

Translations

solipsism

Philosophy the extreme form of scepticism which denies the possibility of any knowledge other than of one's own existence

solipsism

(PHILOSOPHY) the doctrine that the self- my self- is all that can be known to exist and that ‘world’ outside ‘exists’ only as the content of individual consciousness. The doctrine arises from a recognition that the ‘objects’ of our sense experience are ‘mind-dependent’. However, solipsism is nowadays thought incoherent, e.g. WITTGENSTEIN argued that it is incompatible with the existence of the language in which the theory is expressed. The alternative view is REALISM, that the world outside can be ‘known’, although the limits of such knowledge of the world remains an issue. Compare RELATIVISM.

Solipsism

an extreme form of subjective idealism, which considers only the thinking subjects to be real beyond doubt, with all other objects declared to exist only in the consciousness of the individual. Solipsism contradicts all of life’s experience, scientific data, and the evidence of practical activity. Consistently maintained solipsism is extremely rare, but it is found in certain philosophers, including the 17th-century French philosopher and physician C. Brunet.

Proponents of solipsism usually try to avoid a consistently maintained solipsism by synthesizing subjective and objective idealism; this testifies to the lack of soundness in the doctrine’s underpinnings. G. Berkeley attempted to escape the accusation of solipsism by declaring that all objects exist in the form of “ideas” in the mind of god, who “inserts” sensation into human consciousness; he thus adopted a type of Platonic idealism. The subjective idealism of J. Fichte also led to solipsism, although Fichte stressed that the absolute ego on which his science of knowledge was based is not the individual ego but coincides ultimately with the self-consciousness of mankind as a whole. Solipsistic tendencies are clearly pronounced in empiriocriticism (see V. I. Lenin, Materializm i empiriokrititsizm, in Poln. sobr. soch., 5th ed., vol. 18, pp. 92–96). They are even more apparent in immanentism, whose exponents included R. Schubert-Soldern and W. Schuppe.

The term “solipsism” is sometimes used in an ethical sense to denote extreme egoism and egocentrism—”practical solipsism,” according to the terminology of the existentialist G. Marcel. M. Stirner most clearly represented this form of solipsism.

B. V. MEEROVSKII

solipsism

sol·ip·sism

(sōl'ip-sizm), A philosophic concept that whatever exists is a product of will and the ideas of the person making the perception. [L. solus, alone, + ipse, self]

solipsism

S11-870260 (sōl′ĭp-sĭzm) [L. solus, alone, + ipse, self] The theory that the self may know only its feelings and changes and there is then only subjective reality.

sol·ip·sism

(sol'ip-sizm) A philosophic concept that whatever exists is a product of will and the ideas of the person making the perception. [L. solus, alone, + ipse, self]

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Words related to solipsism

noun (philosophy) the philosophical theory that the self is all that you know to exist

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