Questions tagged [solipsism]
The position that only one's own existence can be demonstrated to exist (and that everything and everyone else cannot.)
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Help with whether other minds exist, 'best explanation' argument
I recently read an article about other minds and there were two good arguments for other minds.
The first is the analogy argument. As I understand it, this argument is already outdated.
The second ...
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3answers
194 views
Is Epistemological solipsism a contradiction?
Epistemological solipsism in a nutshell regards the external world as unknowable. This in turn is an assertion that "the knowledge of the external world is unknowable" and thus a ...
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1answer
110 views
What are the strong and contemporary philosophical arguments for believing in other minds? [duplicate]
What are the historically most cited and used arguments that philosophers have made for believing that other people have individual minds and feelings contrary to the assertions of solipsists?
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189 views
Does Japan and Chinese Buddhism Teach Solipsism or Nihilism?
Do the modern schools of Buddhism Soto, Rinzai, Jodo-shu, Jodo Shinshu, Nichiren, Shingon in Japan teach Buddhists, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas any varieties of solipsism and any varieties of nihilism?
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173 views
How do Chinese and Japanese Buddhists perceive people?
I have seen many answers to similar questions, but they do not answer my question.
The fact is that the Mahayana doctrine (which is popular in China and Japan) leads to Nihilism or Solipsism.
I asked ...
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3answers
198 views
Can the Universe make sense at all?
Considering that nearly everything that exists cannot be even imagined by humans (or would it be reasonable to assume the contrary?), what is the chance of finding a scientifically coherent ...
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3answers
291 views
Simulation hypothesis and solipsism
Is Nick Bostrom's simulation hypothesis a solipsistic idea? This hypothesis says that only I have consciousness, and all other people are unconscious philosophical zombies? Which version of the ...
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0answers
90 views
How common is solipsism among philosophers, scientists and common people?
How common is solipsism? On the opinion of philosophers what percentage of the population believes in solipsism? 1. How many percent of philosophers believe in solipsism? 2. How many percent of ...
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2answers
222 views
Different between Buddhism and Solipsism
What is the difference between Buddhism, Hinduism and Solipsism? Do all these religion say that other people have no mind's? If all these religions are like solipsism, then are all Chinese and Hindus ...
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2answers
339 views
Does modern philosophy believe in solipsism?
Does modern philosophy support solipsism? How many philosophers support this idea? Does solipsism scare philosophers? For example, the fact that all their close people can be unconscious, without ...
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0answers
54 views
Solipsism and other minds
Solipsism claims that other minds do not exist and therefore other people are unconscious and feel nothing at all. Doesn't this worry you? How does philosophy deal with this?
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Your argument is invalid if you didn't experience it!
Consider the following scenario:
Person A never ate a cake. Person B has eaten cake before. Now A has the opinion that A dislikes cake (and brings up several arguments), but B argues "You've ...
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Solipsism, except everyone shares a single mind?
It's conceivable that I could suddenly switch places with someone else. I'm not talking about our brains switching places, but rather, from now on, my mind experiencing the other person's qualia. ...
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1answer
76 views
Where does Moore admit that no one really knows the truth about those propositions that supposedly we all know?
Alfred Jules Ayer, in a conference where he exposes the achievements of Moore, starts it by saying:
"It is true that Moore diminishes the force of his position by adding that no one knows the ...
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2answers
149 views
If the "Problem of Qualia" is valid, then how can we communicate?
I was reading about qualia and how there's apparently the problem of qualia because a unique experience is constrained to one subject (?). But I don't see how this is meaningful in any way since ...
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0answers
227 views
Did Hegel have a response to solipsism?
Did Hegel have a response to solipsism?
I have read little Hegel, but I like the idea that he did have a response to solipsism.
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1answer
97 views
Is there a way to prove that I'm not in a simulation or a vr of some sorts in which everything I see, feel, etc aren't real? [duplicate]
My question is could all I think of as real in this world, the pain, the happiness, sadness all just be part of some futuristic vr of some sorts that is making me think i am thinking and doing all im ...
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2answers
788 views
I could prove: Solipsism is wrong. Is my argument acceptable?
Solipsism is the idea that one cannot be sure of anyone's existence but only themself. I think that one can assume this idea to be right and then prove that this is wrong. This self-inconsistency ...
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6answers
320 views
How can there be multiple "points of view" in the world?
Let's assume the world is defined as everything there is. Then subjective experiences are included in the world, and they are "things".
Then each subjective experience has a point of view through ...
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4answers
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How does Berkeley justify existence of other minds?
I don't understand how Berkeley justifies existence of other minds in his system. Is it something that he takes for granted? Because, his position seems very close to that of a solipsist except for ...
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63 views
Solipsism, Certainty, and Doubt
Given that solipsism implies epistemological certainty of one's world, because there is nothing more to know than that what a solipsist knows about the world (implying that the world and reality are ...
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1answer
187 views
How to make sense of minds of others? [closed]
I've asked a question about the criteria for existence, but here I want to focus on a particular aspect. What does it mean If I say: Bob has a mind - Bob's mind exists - Bob is not a philosophical ...
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142 views
Using solipsism's incoherence with doubt as proof of the external world?
I have the following rough outline of utilizing solipsism as a proof by contradiction to the goal of asserting an epistemological proof of the external world.
A solipsist (Wittgenstian) lives in a ...
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92 views
Can a solipsist doubt?
I've been thinking about epistemological solipsism, which seemingly necessarily follows from metaphysical solipsism. Namely, that the "world" of the solipsist is one and the same with the self of the ...
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1answer
125 views
Has any philosopher claimed that reality is a simulation, and the evil genius wants us to stay alive, in order to explain what seems like a miracle? [closed]
Has any philosopher claimed that reality is a simulation, and the evil genius wants us to stay alive, in order for that philosopher to explain what seems like a miracle?
Would anyone ever admit to ...
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1answer
277 views
Does Valberg's "personal horizon" entail life after death?
The personal horizon is, Valberg contends, the subject matter whose
center each of us occupies, and which for each of us ceases with
death. This ceasing to be presents itself solipsistically not ...
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4answers
824 views
Is Solipsism self-defeating?
If only my mind existed it would have to create the concept of time but nothing can be created without time, therefore solipsism is self-defeating. Shouldn't this automatically rule out solipsism?
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1answer
568 views
Why does the dream argument posit that the senses are untrustworthy when it's the mind that is being tricked?
According to the wiki of the dream argument, "the act of dreaming provides preliminary evidence that the senses we trust to distinguish reality from illusion should not be fully trusted, and therefore,...
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3answers
777 views
Refuting Solipsism
Here is yet another opportunity for philosophy to shine:
Let it refute solipsism.
If the question is going to turn on what solipsism is, there are probably more interesting words to look up in the ...
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3answers
2k views
What (if anything) is wrong with solipsism?
Many people disagree and reject the idea of solipsism. But is there anything to refute the idea that only I exist ? I exist : what rational grounds are there for believing that anyone else does ? ...
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2answers
268 views
Does idealism allow other minds?
Wikipedia:
Idealism is the group of metaphysical philosophies that asserts that reality, or reality as humans can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial.
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6answers
141 views
bypass for morality, proof of consciousness
Logically morality can stem from thinking that other people are just as living / human as yourself, so you shouldn't do to others what you don't want to be done to you.
But this can be bypassed by ...
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6answers
852 views
Why does all of existence take place through my subjective point of view?
Asking such a question almost seems a bit insane. While I agree that there certainly seems to exist an objective external reality of which I seem to be a part of, I can never experience existence in a ...
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3answers
716 views
Does Bitcoin disprove solipsism?
According to Wikipedia, solipsism is the philosophical idea that only one's own mind is sure to exist.
In 1993, Cynthia Dwork and Moni Naor
proposed the idea that one could use proof-of-work
to ...
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0answers
105 views
Does the Private Language Argument (PLA) succeed in showing that some form of public extra mental world exists?
Quoted from http://www.iep.utm.edu/solipsis/:
One might even say, solipsism is necessarily foundationless, for to make an appeal to logical rules or empirical evidence the solipsist would ...
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2answers
318 views
Is there an atheistic idealism that rejects noumena but isn't solipsism?
I know of one answered question on a similar subject, but mine is not quite the same thing.
Berkeley's idealism holds that to be is to be perceived---nothing can exist, or can be thought to exist, ...
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4answers
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How do I prove that all people are illusion and only I am real in this world? [duplicate]
I am sure that, I am the only real person who is living in this world and all you all just illusion.
My brain works in two ways it creates the world and makes me feel it i.e it only generates both ...
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3answers
633 views
Has any philosopher ever gone a step beyond solipsism and argued that nothing exists?
I've heard that an example of an absolute certainty, is that there is a reality. i.e. that something exists.
I cannot imagine how one could argue that nothing exists. I know that even solipsists ...
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4answers
928 views
What did Thomas Nagel intend to distinguish, in distinguishing 'impression' vs 'perception of reality'?
Source: pp 15-16, What Does It All Mean? A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy (1987) by Prof. Thomas Nagel
According to this view, the idea of a dream from which you can never wake up is not ...
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1answer
648 views
Does the Denial of the External World Lead to Solipsism?
Denying the external world essentially denies the existence of everyone else. I become only sure of that which I am aware of myself. I thought perhaps Berkeley might have undergone a similar ...
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1answer
623 views
What is Wittgenstein's "criterial solution" to the problem of other minds?
I'm having difficulty with the language in this article on the Problem of Other Minds. It provides 3 solutions to the epistemological problem of other minds in section 1.1 - "The Epistemological ...
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7answers
3k views
Is Objective Reality really just the Subjective Agreement of a given group?
The famous quote "Perception is Reality" can lead to solipsism as a philosophy - that perhaps "I" am the only being that exists, and "reality" is only what I am creating it to be through my own ...
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3answers
450 views
Does idealism allow for thought without any sensory input?
As I understand, idealism is the view that the mind is fundamental and the body as well as the world we perceive are just derivatives of the mind. Is this right?
If so, if we had a hypothetical being,...
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4answers
591 views
Do esoteric mathematical equations refute hard solipsism?
Say you were to come upon a mathematical equation whose variables and sheer complexity were beyond your knowledge at that point in time. As an example, a simple algebraic problem may seem to be a ...
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3answers
247 views
Are consistent solipsists limited to the singular when referencing themselves?
If you are an Idealistic Solipsist, is it not true that you must say "I am a Solipsist." or "I am the Solipsist."?
One cannot say "I am one of the Solipsists" for example.
Are there other ...
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1answer
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What is the inverse of solipsism?
Solipsism is the philosophical idea that only one's own mind is sure to exist.
Does there exist a term to define the concept that one only exists due to one's perception and interpretation by others' ...
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Why isn't extreme solipsism the valid interpretation of quantum mechanics? [closed]
Why isn't extreme solipsism the valid interpretation of quantum mechanics? Obviously, as a community, it would be virtually impossible to find a consensus that this is true. I suspect (actually, I ...
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Does anyone have a good answer to or deconstruction of the 'problem of other minds'?
I'm absolutely obsessed with the problem. I've seen many people dismiss it, and I've seen many arguments against it, none of which seem to cut the logical mustard. The problem for me boils down to "...
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14answers
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Is it reasonable to believe that others have sentient minds?
Obviously I'm not looking for a valid deductive proof using formal logic, but at least a relatively convincing argument.
How do I know that humans who I encounter other than myself have sentient ...
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5answers
537 views
Is it necessary/possible to prove that facts exist?
I am having a debate with someone on the internets. He claims that there are no such things as facts absent interpretation. For example, if I see a ball dropping, it's not a fact that a ball is ...
