Metaphysical solipsism
Metaphysical solipsism is the variety of idealism which is based on the logically valid argument that no reality exists other than one's own mind or mental states. The individual mind is the whole of reality and the external world has no independent existence. It is expressed by the assertion "I myself only exist", in other words, no reality exists other than one's own mind.
Arguments in favour of Solipsism
The argument in favor of Solipsism is logically valid.
(a) The only thing we have direct access to are the contents of our own minds (our mental states). What I know most certainly are my mental states - my thoughts, experiences, emotions, and so on.
(b) Just because I see a table does not mean that the table exists. I could be dreaming or hallucinating. There is no direct conceptual or logically necessary link between the mental and the physical.
(c) The experiences of a given person are necessarily private to that person. The contents of my mind are the only things I have direct access to. I cannot get ‘outside’ of my mind to encounter any other objects including other persons. Other minds are even more removed.
The basic form of the argument:
- My mental states are the only things I have access to.
- I cannot conclude the existence of anything outside of my mental states.
- Therefore only my mental states exist.
Arguments against Solipsism
Most arguments against solipsism rely on plausibility and believability rather than logical refutation.
Bertrand Russell wrote: "The most logically consistent theories are unbelievable and the most believable theories are inconsistent." (Mysticism & Logic by Bertrand Russell)
One reason for the lack of support of this philosophical position is how strange it would be for a solipsist to preach solipsism - as if to convince everyone around them that they are purely a figment of the author's own imagination. The very idea of communicating philosophical ideas would be arbitrary to a true solipsist, as according to them, there is no other mind with whom they would communicate their beliefs. However, in illusory experiences, such as dreams, the dreamer often experiences having & executing similar goals and desires(such as communicating ideas as previously stated), even though the dream is entirely a creation of the dreamer's own mind, including the people they interact with within the dream. So in spite of the fact that goals and desires experienced in a dream are only arbitrary, they still take place, and are still illusory creations of the dreamer's mind and have no verifiable existence beyond that.
Bertrand Russell wrote:
"As against solipsism it is to be said, in the first place, that it is psychologically impossible to believe, and is rejected in fact even by those who mean to accept it. I once received a letter from an eminent logician, Mrs. Christine Ladd-Franklin, saying that she was a solipsist, and was surprised that there were no others. Coming from a logician and a solipsist, her surprise surprised me." (Russell, p. 180).
References
- Angeles, Peter A. (1992), Harper Collins Dictionary of Philosophy, 2nd edition, Harper Perennial, New York, NY.
- Runes, Dagobert D. (ed.), Dictionary of Philosophy, Littlefield, Adams, and Company, Totowa, NJ, 1962.
- Russel, B., Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Limits,London: George Allen & Unwin, 1948.
- Wood, Ledger (1962), "Solipsism", p. 295 in Runes (ed.), Dictionary of Philosophy, Littlefield, Adams, and Company, Totowa, NJ.
See also
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