What is SOLIPSISM in philosophy

In this one-teacher philosophy class we are going to study what is solipsism and examples. A doctrine that is introduced into the subjectivism and which states that the only thing we can be sure of is that there is only the self and that what surrounds us can only be understood through our mind (the self).

Therefore, there is only that of which the individual is aware, namely, "I only know that I exist" and "everything that exists, exists only in my mind”. If you want to know more about this current, keep reading this lesson from a PROFESSOR because here we explain it to you in detail.

To understand what solipsism is, we first have to analyze the word itself, which is made up of the Latin words: solus=alone, ipse=same and suffix ism=doctrine.

That is Solipsism is the philosophical doctrine of “only oneself” and which states that there is only my conscience and everything around me is created by my imagination or a representation created by myself, but that in reality nothing exists except my own self and my mind, since everything is the result of our perception and imagination.

Likewise, according to this current we must doubt of all the environment that surrounds us because everything is an emanation of our mind (sentient world), what we believe to be real from our own perspective or consciousness.

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So that you better understand what solipsism is, we will explain it to you with several examples given in philosophy, cinema and literature. Here are very clear examples of solipsism:

• Socrates and his phrase "I only know that I know nothing" (S.IV a. C.): With this phrase Socrates not only is he telling us that we must acquire knowledge for ourselves and that we do not possess the absolute truth, but it also tells us that I only know that I exist and that I can only confirm my own existence and none other, as established by solipsism.
• Sigismund from Life is a Dream by Calderón de la Barca (1635): This work highlights a clear example of solipsism in the protagonist Sigismund. Who, being locked in a tower for his whole life and without real contact with the outside, wonders if the world he sees through the window is real or is it a creation of your own consciousness to escape from his own world and, therefore, he wonders if the only true thing is his own being.
• The evil genius theory in Descartes' Metaphysical Meditations (1641): In said work discards states that we must doubt what surrounds us while he affirms that if a God (genius) has created us and the universe, he has done it so that we believe that everything is true when in reality it is a lie. That is, for Descartes the only thing that is true and that exists it is our nature and our self, as solipsism points out.
• The Electric Ant by Philip K. Dick (1969): This science fiction story tells us a story that drinks directly from solipsism. The protagonist of it Garson Poole, after a traffic accident he wakes up and begins to discover a whole series of things that have happened to him: he is missing a hand, he is an electric ant, a robot and that his reality has been created through a micro-perforated tape located in his chest. That is, Garson believes that all his reality is invented and that the only real thing is himself, his own self.
• Open your eyes (1997): This film tells the story of Cease, a handsome and rich young man, who has everything he wants until he has a car accident that disfigures his face and in which a girl dies. From this moment on, his life becomes an ordeal (he loses his beauty and his girlfriend) and create a parallel reality in which he is happy, but in the end he will end up not knowing how to distinguish what is real and what is not. César realizes that only he exists and that everything has been created by his mind, as solipsism affirms: everything that exists, exists in my mind.
• Matrix (1999): This feature film stands as a great example of solipsism by introducing us to its protagonist, Neo, as an individual living in a reality (the Matrix universe) only present in your mind and that is not real. The only thing that is real is his own self and what surrounds him can only be understood through his mind/awareness.

Ayala, H. (2003). Solipsism and external world in the philosophy of G.W. Leibniz. Polytechnic university of Valencia.