Solipsism (/ˈsɒlɪpsɪzəm/ (About this sound listen); / from Latin solus, meaning 'alone', and ipse, meaning 'self') is the philosophical idea that only one's own mind is sure to exist. As an epistemological position, solipsism holds that knowledge of anything outside one's own mind is unsure; the external world and other minds cannot be known and might not exist outside the mind. As a metaphysical position, solipsism goes further to the conclusion that the world and other minds do not exist.¬ ¬ Denial of material existence, in itself, does not constitute solipsism.¬ ¬ A feature of the metaphysical solipsistic worldview is the denial of the existence of other minds. Since personal experiences are private and ineffable, another being's experience can be known only by analogy.¬ ¬ Philosophers try to build knowledge on more than an inference or analogy. The failure of Descartes' epistemological enterprise brought to popularity the idea that all certain knowledge may go no further than "I think; therefore I exist" without providing any real details about the nature of the "I" that has been proven to exist.[citation needed]¬ ¬ The theory of solipsism also merits close examination because it relates to three widely held philosophical presuppositions, each itself fundamental and wide-ranging in importance¬ ¬ My most certain knowledge is the content of my own mind—my thoughts, experiences, affects, etc.¬ There is no conceptual or logically necessary link between mental and physical—between, say, the occurrence of certain conscious experience or mental states and the 'possession' and behavioral dispositions of a 'body' of a particular kind (see the brain in a vat).¬ To expand on this a little further, the conceptual problem here is that the previous assumes mind or consciousness (which are attributes) can exist independent of some entity having this capability, i.e., that an attribute of an existant can exist apart from the existant itself. If one admits to the existence of an independent entity (e.g., your brain) having that attribute, the door is open.¬ ¬ 3. The experience of a given person is necessarily private to that person.¬ ¬ Some people hold that, while it cannot be proven that anything independent of one's mind exists, the point that solipsism makes is irrelevant. This is because, whether the world as we perceive it exists independently or not, we cannot escape this perception (except via death), hence it is best to act assuming that the world is independent of our minds. For example, if one committed a crime, one is likely to be punished, causing potential distress to oneself even if the world was not independent of one's mind; therefore, it is in one's best interests and is most convenient to assume the world exists independently of one's mind.¬ ¬ There is also the issue of plausibility to consider. If one is the only mind in existence, then one is maintaining that one's mind alone created all of which one is apparently aware. This includes the symphonies of Beethoven, the works of Shakespeare, all of mathematics and science (which one can access via one's phantom libraries), etc. Critics of solipsism find this somewhat implausible. However, since as an example, people are able to construct entire worlds inside their minds while having dreams when asleep, and people have had dreams which included things such as music of Beethoven or the works of Shakespeare or maths or science in them, solipsists do have counter-arguments to justify their views being plausible.

Solipsism (/ˈsɒlɪpsɪzəm/ from Latin solus, meaning 'alone', and ipse, meaning 'self') is the philosophical idea that only one's own mind is sure to exist. As an epistemological position, solipsism holds that knowledge of anything outside one's own mind is unsure; the external world and other minds cannot be known and might not exist outside the mind. As a metaphysical position, solipsism goes further to the conclusion that the world and other minds do not exist.¬ ¬ Denial of material existence, in itself, does not constitute solipsism.¬ ¬ A feature of the metaphysical solipsistic worldview is the denial of the existence of other minds. Since personal experiences are private and ineffable, another being's experience can be known only by analogy.¬ ¬ Philosophers try to build knowledge on more than an inference or analogy. The failure of Descartes' epistemological enterprise brought to popularity the idea that all certain knowledge may go no further than "I think; therefore I exist" without providing any real details about the nature of the "I" that has been proven to exist.[citation needed]¬ ¬ The theory of solipsism also merits close examination because it relates to three widely held philosophical presuppositions, each itself fundamental and wide-ranging in importance¬ ¬ My most certain knowledge is the content of my own mind—my thoughts, experiences, affects, etc.¬ There is no conceptual or logically necessary link between mental and physical—between, say, the occurrence of certain conscious experience or mental states and the 'possession' and behavioral dispositions of a 'body' of a particular kind (see the brain in a vat).¬ To expand on this a little further, the conceptual problem here is that the previous assumes mind or consciousness (which are attributes) can exist independent of some entity having this capability, i.e., that an attribute of an existant can exist apart from the existant itself. If one admits to the existence of an independent entity (e.g., your brain) having that attribute, the door is open.¬ ¬ The theory of solipsism also merits close examination because it relates to three widely held philosophical presuppositions, each itself fundamental and wide-ranging in importance¬ ¬ My most certain knowledge is the content of my own mind—my thoughts, experiences, affects, etc.¬ There is no conceptual or logically necessary link between mental and physical—between, say, the occurrence of certain conscious experience or mental states and the 'possession' and behavioral dispositions of a 'body' of a particular kind (see the brain in a vat).¬ To expand on this a little further, the conceptual problem here is that the previous assumes mind or consciousness (which are attributes) can exist independent of some entity having this capability, i.e., that an attribute of an existant can exist apart from the existant itself. If one admits to the existence of an independent entity (e.g., your brain) having that attribute, the door is open.¬ ¬ 3. The experience of a given person is necessarily private to that person.¬ ¬ Some people hold that, while it cannot be proven that anything independent of one's mind exists, the point that solipsism makes is irrelevant. This is because, whether the world as we perceive it exists independently or not, we cannot escape this perception (except via death), hence it is best to act assuming that the world is independent of our minds. For example, if one committed a crime, one is likely to be punished, causing potential distress to oneself even if the world was not independent of one's mind; therefore, it is in one's best interests and is most convenient to assume the world exists independently of one's mind.¬ ¬ There is also the issue of plausibility to consider. If one is the only mind in existence, then one is maintaining that one's mind alone created all of which one is apparently aware. This includes the symphonies of Beethoven, the works of Shakespeare, all of mathematics and science (which one can access via one's phantom libraries), etc. Critics of solipsism find this somewhat implausible. However, since as an example, people are able to construct entire worlds inside their minds while having dreams when asleep, and people have had dreams which included things such as music of Beethoven or the works of Shakespeare or maths or science in them, solipsists do have counter-arguments to justify their views being plausible.

Solipsism (/ˈsɒlɪpsɪzəm/ from Latin solus, meaning 'alone', and ipse, meaning 'self') is the philosophical idea that only one's own mind is sure to exist. As an epistemological position, solipsism holds that knowledge of anything outside one's own mind is unsure; the external world and other minds cannot be known and might not exist outside the mind. As a metaphysical position, solipsism goes further to the conclusion that the world and other minds do not exist.¬ ¬ Denial of material existence, in itself, does not constitute solipsism.¬ ¬ A feature of the metaphysical solipsistic worldview is the denial of the existence of other minds. Since personal experiences are private and ineffable, another being's experience can be known only by analogy.¬ ¬ Philosophers try to build knowledge on more than an inference or analogy. The failure of Descartes' epistemological enterprise brought to popularity the idea that all certain knowledge may go no further than "I think; therefore I exist" without providing any real details about the nature of the "I" that has been proven to exist.¬ ¬ The theory of solipsism also merits close examination because it relates to three widely held philosophical presuppositions, each itself fundamental and wide-ranging in importance¬ ¬ My most certain knowledge is the content of my own mind—my thoughts, experiences, affects, etc.¬ There is no conceptual or logically necessary link between mental and physical—between, say, the occurrence of certain conscious experience or mental states and the 'possession' and behavioral dispositions of a 'body' of a particular kind (see the brain in a vat).¬ To expand on this a little further, the conceptual problem here is that the previous assumes mind or consciousness (which are attributes) can exist independent of some entity having this capability, i.e., that an attribute of an existant can exist apart from the existant itself. If one admits to the existence of an independent entity (e.g., your brain) having that attribute, the door is open.¬ ¬ The experience of a given person is necessarily private to that person.¬ ¬ 3. The experience of a given person is necessarily private to that person.¬ ¬ Some people hold that, while it cannot be proven that anything independent of one's mind exists, the point that solipsism makes is irrelevant. This is because, whether the world as we perceive it exists independently or not, we cannot escape this perception (except via death), hence it is best to act assuming that the world is independent of our minds. For example, if one committed a crime, one is likely to be punished, causing potential distress to oneself even if the world was not independent of one's mind; therefore, it is in one's best interests and is most convenient to assume the world exists independently of one's mind.¬ ¬ There is also the issue of plausibility to consider. If one is the only mind in existence, then one is maintaining that one's mind alone created all of which one is apparently aware. This includes the symphonies of Beethoven, the works of Shakespeare, all of mathematics and science (which one can access via one's phantom libraries), etc. Critics of solipsism find this somewhat implausible. However, since as an example, people are able to construct entire worlds inside their minds while having dreams when asleep, and people have had dreams which included things such as music of Beethoven or the works of Shakespeare or maths or science in them, solipsists do have counter-arguments to justify their views being plausible.