Philosophy

Greetings, Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Dresden.

I find myself endlessly fascinated by the topic of philosophy, so I decided that, for my next few posts, I would do descriptions of the more popular philosophic belief systems. Keep in mind I'm not endorsing any of these viewpoints, just telling you a bit of information about them.

First up, a personal favorite: Solipsism.

Now, at the basic level, solipsism is fairly simple. It is the belief that nothing outside of your own minds can be trusted or confirmed as true. To put it even simpler, I cannot be sure that anything except my own thoughts exist. For all I know, the entirety of existence is just a construct I've dreamed up. Solipsism is a very unpopular form of philosophy, with an infinitesimally small amount of followers. However, it is well known, if only for its radical viewpoints.

Three main points of solipsism are:

1. The only knowledge that can ever be certain at all is my thinking. My thoughts are verifiable and true, but anything beyond that is completely unknown.
2. There isn't necessarily a link between purely mental constructs (thoughts) and purely physical ones (pain, hunger, the five senses, etc.) For all we know, we could be a brain in a vat, who is only experiencing these things through some sort of advanced technology we are unaware of.
3. The experience of a given person can only be certain to that specific person

To a true solipsist, other people aren't real. This does not mean they are unimportant or not to be cared about. As far as a solipsist is aware, other people are just background ideas that their brain has crafted for some ineffable purpose. However, their conscience is, according to solipsism, quite real, and going against causes verifiable mental anguish.

Many people find the ideas behind solipsism to be depressing, but some espouse it as a freeing ideal. If nothing exists besides yourself, then there isn't a real need to worry about external conflicts. However, the positive or negative effects of solipsism on the human brain aren't my concern. That, my dear readers, is for you to think about.

I hope you've enjoyed this, leave a comment if you have a particular philosophic view point you'd like me to research and report back on.