Solipsism

Introduction

Solipsism has been constantly referred to in philosophical and religious traditions when the question of truth was at stake. Whether or not the experience of the individual subject is enough in order for a truth to be established has been a crucial question.

Definition

Solipsism is a kind of conception of the world through which one considers that there exists only one thing that is the subject who is watching the world.

Keywords

Wittgenstein; Pascal; monadology; Bodhisattva

Traditional Debates

As a corollary of the general definition mentioned above, solipsism has also been understood loosely as an attitude which denies any other subjective position than oneself. What is important in solipsism, however, is not so much the question as to whether another world exists or not, as the question of whether one’s belief that the world being watched really exists is true or false. What is really at stake is the truth of the very existence of the subject watching the solipsistic...