The solipsism It is a form of thought or philosophical current whose main precept is that the only certainty that man has is the existence of his own mind; that is, everything that surrounds him, such as his immediate reality, is subject to doubts.
This means that for solipsist philosophers and thinkers it is only possible to ensure the existence of the "I", so that the existence of the others - those who accompany that I in the course of his life - cannot be verified; consequently, the real presence of all others should be doubted.
In simpler terms, for solipsism the reality that surrounds the "I" cannot exist by itself, but rather that reality is about other mental states that emerge from that "I". So, everything that the "I" can perceive is nothing but a detachment from itself; this includes other people or entities around.
For practical purposes, two types of solipsism can be distinguished: in the first case it is one that manifests a metaphysical thesis, which supports the premise that there is only the "I" and its representations; the existence of everything else is subject to doubt.
In the second case, the experts speak of an epistemological solipsism -that is, one that studies the nature and origins of knowledge-, which consists in the fact that it is not possible to demonstrate or know that, apart from "myself", there are other "I's" (term used by Peter Hutchinson).
Some philosophers have wanted to refute the precepts of this philosophical current arguing that it is an exacerbated egoism, since in any case it would be necessary to admit that "other egos exist", or that at least "I have to recognize the existence of other egos".
For the philosopher and thinker Husserl, solipsism is possible insofar as a subject cannot affirm the existence of what surrounds him. Then, the universe is reduced to oneself and what surrounds me is part of a subjective fiction. Consequently, "only of myself can I have an accurate knowledge".
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The word "solipsism" comes from the Latin phrase Ego solus ipse, whose most faithful translation means "only I exist." According to some experts it is possible that the history of solipsism goes back to the origins of the human being, since it is probable that this idea crossed the mentality of men from the beginning of their self-reflective capacity.
In turn, it is believed that solipsism is a variant of the sophist precepts, but taken to the extreme of its philosophical essence.
Some consider that Platonic ideas saved the West from solipsism, because Plato argued that the existence of the "I" was intrinsically linked to the existence of the other; For this philosopher, whoever has the ability to reason is aware of the real presence of his neighbor.
Regarding the first use of the term, it is considered that this was used for the first time in a text called Monarchia solipsorum written by Clemente Scotti. This work, published in 1645, consisted of a short essay that attacked some epistemological ideas of the Society of Jesus.
In the famous play The life is dream, of the writer Calderón de la Barça, a certain solipsistic idea can be perceived in the monologue of the protagonist Segismundo, who affirms that he cannot trust anything he perceives because everything seems to him an illusion.
Some Eastern philosophies also come slightly closer to this position, such as Buddhism. However, it is necessary for the interested party to be cautious when making this comparison, since for Eastern knowledge the presence of the "I" rather hinders, so it must be eradicated.
One of the main characteristics of solipsism consists in its strongly radical character, since this epistemological theory admits no more reality than that of the subject who creates or perceives it; the only thing that can be corroborated is the existence of the individual's consciousness.
Another of the characteristics of solipsism is found in the relationship that this epistemological position maintains with other currents of human thought, such as idealism and realism..
Solipsism is linked to idealism since in the latter the priority that "the idea" has as a way of approaching or knowing the world is emphasized; this idea necessarily starts from the subject and from this it is possible to deduce the reality of those "existing" things.
For solipsistic currents, a thing can "be" only to the extent that the "I" is perceiving it. In other words, the thing can only exist through the subject; without it, no other element could “be”. By not being perceived by the human, things disappear.
This leads to the conclusion that it is not possible to know the essence of anything, since everything known is just an idea perceived by the "I". It is a radical current since it takes subjectivism to the extreme by affirming that the only thing that exists is one's own consciousness, that is, the solus ipse ("only me").
As a philosophical and metaphysical current, solipsism has been strongly criticized by many scholars. This is because this way of thinking has many contradictions within its premises; In addition, his radicalism regarding the figure of the other is annoying in the face of any humanist position.
It can be established that within the solipsist doctrine there is a clash of freedoms and wills at the moment of wanting to reduce -or deny- the factuality of the other to mere intellectual deductions.
For this reason, one of the arguments to disallow any solipsistic precept is found in language: language is the fervent proof that both the "I" and the "other" exist, since language is a cultural fact that seeks to establish communications with the other entities.
However, the solipsistic philosophers defend themselves against this argument by affirming that the "I" has the capacity to create other similar along with other languages due to boredom; in this way, the "I" can build cultures, languages and communications, among other elements..
According to connoisseurs of the subject, one of the main representatives of solipsism was George Berkeley, who inspired his theories from some ideas from English philosophy and from authors such as Bacon, Locke, Newton, Descartes and Malebranche..
Berkeley's postulates are considered to be the result of a combination between radical empiricist thought and Platonic metaphysics, so he used empiricist arguments to defend his metaphysical doctrines.
However, in his later years Berkeley was completely consumed by Platonic ideas, leaving empiricism aside..
The doctrine of this philosopher is based on the main idea of the rejection of the objective existence of both immediate and material reality, since this is subject to man's perception; consequently, the mind is the only place where the true existence of things is found.
This affirmation of the philosopher had to face two main diatribes: the duration of things and the concept of unity. In the first case, the philosopher had to admit that, by stopping perceiving or at the moment of perceiving a thing, the subject - the "I" - creates, destroys and re-fabricates the object again..
For example, when looking at a tree, if the observer closes his eyes and opens them again, he has had to destroy said tree in order to create it again..
In the second case, the questioning arises from the identity of the perceived object. That is to say, to maintain coherence in the discourse, Berkeley had to defend the idea that by opening and closing your eyes several times you are not looking at the same tree, but rather many trees that have been built and destroyed in a way. keep going.
This philosopher claimed that solipsism was completely irrefutable since, according to the author, all human beings are at the mercy of the "egocentric predicament".
This he defended through the idea that all the knowledge that the human being apprehends comes to him thanks to the senses, to our brain and the way in which it processes information.
Therefore, man is mediated and limited by his way of apprehending external knowledge: the only certainty is his own perception, the rest can neither be known nor assured, since it is impossible for us to access it..
According to Martín Gardner, this solipsistic way of thinking is similar to the belief that the "I" acts as a kind of God, because it has the ability to create absolutely everything that surrounds it, both good and bad, both pain like joy; all this is guided by the desire to know and entertain oneself.
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