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
Vivian Gornick, New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2025
Agnes is socially competent, even charismatic, but beset by neuroses that seem genuinely frustrating to her, not the self-satisfied post-Woody Allen solipsism common to auteurs of this ilk.
—Paul A. Thompson, Pitchfork, 27 June 2025
Sly is often upheld as as an avatar for how the utopianism of 1960s America curdled into solipsism, cynicism, and bad vibes.
—David Kamp, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Their solipsism, and general lack of interaction with one another, causes Iris to liken them to orbiting planets that never intersect.
—The Learning Network, New York Times, 2 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for solipsism
Cite this Entry
“Solipsism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/solipsism. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
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