solipsism
noun
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French philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650) can be blamed for the idea that if one whittles away beliefs about which one cannot be certain, one will eventually land at the existence of the self as a singular certainty; however, he cannot be blamed for either the word solipsism or the theory it refers to. (Descartes avoided falling into solipsism by positing that ideas known with the same clarity as the existence of the self is known must also be true.) Philosophical application of the word likely owes something to the French translation of a satiric work written by Venetian scholar Giulio Clemente Scotti in 1645 called Monarchia Solipsorum —in French, La Monarchie des Solipses. The pertinent term is a composite of the Latin solus ("alone") and ipse ("self").
Examples of solipsism in a Sentence
The Learning Network, New York Times, 2 June 2025
The other two novels are very much first person explorations—even if there’s a change from the comic solipsism of the first novel’s narrator to the more engaged but still largely unencumbered narrator of the second.
—Ocean Vuong
october 15, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2019
Kesey’s idea of breaking barriers was to ignore them: the barriers between keeping LSD a serious aid to mind expansion and promoting it as a delirious conduit for mass recreation, between spiritual revolution and hedonistic silliness, between activism and solipsism.
—Geoff Dyer, Harper's Magazine, 2 Sep. 2024
Sure, better a Jesse than the Pacific Lumber Company, but there’s still a sentimental solipsism in Redwood, an uneasy aspect of emotional tourism smothered in a broadside of throw-pillow truisms on connection, growth, and healing.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 13 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Solipsism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/solipsism. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
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