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solipsism

UK/ˈsɒlɪpsɪzəm/US/ˈsɒlɪpsɪzəm/
nounC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,779 of 15,258Too rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Solipsism is the view that only your own mind can be known to exist. Pure solipsism, accused of solipsism, a kind of solipsism.

As a philosophical position it is famously impossible to refute and impossible to live by. In ordinary use it is an accusation of extreme self-absorption, which is the commoner sense by far.

Definitions of solipsism

  1. 1nounsolipsismThe view that only your own mind can be known to exist.C2

    “In philosophy class, we debated solipsism and whether we could ever be sure other people are real.”

solipsism is a belief.

Where it comes from

From Latin solus, alone, plus ipse, self, plus -ism.

From Latin - sōlus + ipse ism.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

solipsism in the wild

  • List proposes a philosophical model he calls the "many-worlds theory of consciousness" in order to reconcile the subjective nature of consciousness without lapsing into solipsism.

    Problem of other minds

  • In forms like solipsism, it may hold that the nature and existence of every object depends solely on someone's subjective awareness of it.

    Subjectivism

  • Ethical solipsism is a form of personal morality that holds that no other moral judgement exists or matters apart from one's own individual moral judgement.

    Ethical solipsism

  • Idealistic pluralism rejects the idea of solipsism, which would be an idealistic monism.

    Idealistic pluralism

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.