more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
Solipsism, when its implications are followed out strictly, coincides with pure realism. The self of solipsism shrinks to a point without extension, and there remains the reality co-ordinated with it.
Gist of Idea
Strict solipsism is pure realism, with the self as a mere point in surrounding reality
Source
Ludwig Wittgenstein (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus [1921], 5.64)
Book Ref
Wittgenstein,Ludwig: 'Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (Pears)', ed/tr. Pears,D. /McGuinness,B. [RKP 1961], p.58
A Reaction
Despite this, Michael Morris is more inclined to see him as an idealist. It is not clear whether the present account of solipsism is idealist or realist. Berkeley seemed to think his idealism was true realism. Can reality be co-ordinated with a point?
| 2257 | I myself could be the author of all these self-delusions [Descartes] |
| 23661 | We are only aware of other beings through our senses; without that, we are alone in the universe [Reid] |
| 6932 | Ideas arise through communication, and reason is reached through community [Feuerbach] |
| 5362 | It is not illogical to think that only myself and my mental events exist [Russell] |
| 23503 | Strict solipsism is pure realism, with the self as a mere point in surrounding reality [Wittgenstein] |
| 2777 | Extreme solipsism only concerns current experience, but it might include past and future [Dancy,J] |
| 21227 | The Cogito demands a bridge to the world, and ends in isolating the ego [Velarde-Mayol] |
| 10357 | Methodological Solipsism assumes all ideas could be derived from one mind [Kusch] |