solipsism
- Philosophy. the theory that only the self exists, or can be proved to exist.
- extreme preoccupation with and indulgence of one's feelings, desires, etc.; egoistic self-absorption.
Origin of solipsism
Related Words for solipsism
egoism, subjectivity, narcissism, self-absorption, egocentricity, self-reliance, ipseity, singularity, uniqueness, autonomyExamples from the Web for solipsism
Contemporary Examples of solipsism
But in the age of the iPod, where solipsism has been made sophisticated, they are more right than anyone ever imagined.
Of course, when an entire throng is trying to rise above itself, an epidemic of free-form vulgarity and solipsism ensues.
Historical Examples of solipsism
The philosophic system becomes a solipsism, a pure lyric expression of the appetites of human nature.
Creative IntelligenceJohn Dewey, Addison W. Moore, Harold Chapman Brown, George H. Mead, Boyd H. Bode, Henry Waldgrave, Stuart James, Hayden Tufts, Horace M. Kallen
This theory is also called Subjective Idealism or Solipsism.
The New Gresham EncyclopediaVarious
I realize now that I may have been falling into the trap of solipsism, “who watches the quad,” et cetera, type of thing.
On Handling the DataM. I. Mayfield
Thus idealists are wedded to solipsism irrevocably; and it is a happy marriage, only the name of the lady has to be changed.
Winds Of DoctrineGeorge Santayana
solipsism
- philosophy the extreme form of scepticism which denies the possibility of any knowledge other than of one's own existence
Word Origin for solipsism
Word Origin and History for solipsism
1871, coined from Latin solus "alone" (see sole (adj.)) + ipse "self." The view or theory that self is the only object of real knowledge or the only thing that is real. "The identification of one's self with the Absolute is not generally intended, but the denial of there being really anybody else" [Century Dictionary].
solipsism
The belief that all reality is just one's own imagining of reality, and that one's self is the only thing that exists.