philosophers say that the only thing you can know for sure is that you yourself exist.?

Question

because of the "i think therefore i am". but they say you can never know that everything else exists. but at the same time that idea of being skeptical of life would ultimately lead to solipsism. which is the idea that you alone exist and your life is an illusion generated by your subconcious.

with that in mind. solipsism has ALOT of flaws self contradictions and refutations against it. the only reason it cant be totaly refuted it because we can not experience anything other than ourselves. and with the idea of solipsism as self contradicting, isnt it safe to say that reality is in fact real? all evidence scientificaly, logicaly, and philisophicaly point towards the existence of a world independent from yourself. so why deny it if there is absolutely no theory that can back up your idea?

in addition to that. what would living a life being skeptical about the existence of loved ones be? there would be no reason purpose or value to life. wouldnt you agree?

Answer 1

Curiously enough, the philosopher you're quoting (Descartes) only used 'I am, I exist' as the FOUNDATION for the rest of his philosophy. Then, taking that one thing he's sure of, he uses it to become sure of lots and lots of other things. He spends most of a book doing so.

But there are shorter ways of doing the same thing. Are you familiar with Occam's Razor? It's the logical argument that suggests that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. That's about all you need for this.

The simplest explanation for just about anything is that things are what they seem to be. Something SEEMS separate from you? It is. Something SEEMS real? It is.

Of course - like the solipsists - you can commit a kind of mental suicide and construct some convoluted explanation for why the whole universe is in a secret conspiracy to make everything appear real and separate but in fact not be. You can draw a billion conspiracy hamsters moving everything around when you're not looking at them if you like, and nobody can ever say you're wrong because they'd have to look to know otherwise, and the hamsters aren't there when you look.

But that's ridiculous and we all know it. So relax! ( :

Answer 2

Buddhists would argue that not even yourself can be proven and in fact doesn't exist. Not in the sense that there isn't awareness of Mind, but in the sense that you, the ever present "I" is just a concept like anything else you have. Just like you have the concept of a cup; how it is used, what they should look like, varieties of cups; there is a concept of you (ego) that you hold. This concept tells us what we like, dislike, how we view ourself and our importance in the world. And the Buddhist argument is that because it is a concept imposed on the world, it does not actually exist in it.

Think of it like this....the rules of a board game are not inherent in their pieces, we impose rules when we play due to our concept of the game. But in reality we are simply moving plastic bits around in some odd way, and objective reality cares nothing for rules, it simply is cause and effect and all things are of equal value. This is the idea that is approached; the concept of a cup and the concept of the self are identical in this aspect in that they are imposed on objective objects (the physical body, the physical cup). In reality that cup could preform any number of things. If crunched up, it could fill a hole. In wet sand it makes sand castles. 1,000,000 years in the future that same cup, it's parts/particles, will be dispersed into countless other things. Before the cup was made, it was like this as well, coming from many different things. It is only in this particular instant in time that it is cup-like enough that we impose our beliefs about it being a cup upon it. We are slaves to our biases, how we think things should behave, and we are also slaves to our own habits for the same reasons, even though ever moment of every day is utterly unique and has never happened before and will never happen again.

Of course most people would say "But how could I not exist? If the objective world exists, how could my ego not be, I think therefore I am!". From the Buddhist perspective thinking is part of a delusion, a distraction from the calm quiet Mind you understand if you meditate long enough to silence your internal monologue. After a while, you notice that your thoughts are not all there is, but are "painted" on the canvas of Mind, or even like like ripples in calm water. At least so I have read, I am still developing my meditative practices and am still a novice.

Answer 3

I think there is an escape from solipsism, without having to prove the reality of the outside world:

This is because even thought you may not know if the world is real, you might assume that it is.
This i kind of a "Pascal`s wager" situation.[1]
You can believe that world is real, or that they it is not real.

If they world is not real and you believe that it is NOT REAL-- you are OK, there is nothing you can do.

If they world is NOT REAL and you believe that it IS REAL -- you loose only a little because you have to treat fake world as real.

If the world is REAL and you believe that it is real -- you live a normal life.

BUT if the world is REAL but you believe that it is not, you will live a truly horrific life. You will mistreat people thinking that they are figments, you will not know love or compassion. You will loose a lot.

So the risks of assuming world to be fake is far greater then assuming it to be real. So you might as well assume that the world is real.

Answer 4

If you yourself are the only reality, why consult people who may or may not even exist through this question?

I agree 100% that we all only have the experience of one person and that the human condition is troubled by limitations. However, my feeling is that what I would call "love" and "friendship" reassures me that there is a reality outside of myself. My interpretation of reality might vary, however, and each person has different perceptions, but it does not make my view of the world an illusion. Personally, I find the idea of all of humanity being one far more intriguing than the concept of isolation and permanent separation.

Answer 5

first of all we have undertand what makes up a philosopher. Their understanding of the world is only based on personal beliefs. If we try to apply their philosophy to our life style or personal experience, most ot the time there ideas will not fit. All this nonsense about ,"do we really exist?" ... "what is our purpose?" and so on, to me, has been answered through personal experiences that has led me to believe in th words of God through the bible and other sources. My opinion, based on what I have read of philosophers, is that they are a group seeking some outside source of existence away from the fact that there is a God so that they can live their lives in any way they choose, amoral or not, and not have to answer to any on for their actions.

Answer 6

I agree with your conclusion based on your reasoning. It is a very self-absorbed philosophy which cannot allow anything or anyone else to affect it in any manner. It does not mean he would be a selfish person, but it would mean he lived in an impersonal world. I think he could have a purpose for living but without any real passion or feeling behind it. Nice question.

Answer 7

i am sceptical about the existance of loved ones and everything else for that matter. i have moment when i doubt even i exist in the form i think i do. but i look at it like this

if im dreaming and none of this exists, then im goin to wake up because you cant dream forever and i figure if its a dream i may as well make it a happy dream.

if this is real then it does matter so i should try to be happy

if its something else altogether that i cant possibly comprehend in this life then i shouldnt worry about it till i need to and jus get on with what im doin and be happy

ao i dont think it matters if we exist or im in a dream, or im in sum1 elses dream, or im a figment of sum1 elses imagination, or ur al figments of my imagination or im jus part of sum game or whatever. it doewnt matter. make the best of what u got, dream or not.

Answer 8

Well, that depends on if I'm imagining this or not. Everything could simply be a figment of one person imagination, but it cannot be another persons, only your own, as if it was another persons, you wouldn't be a figment of their imagination because you know yourself that you are living and not simply a part of their mind.

Answer 9

You don't exist any more than the rest of us do.

This is just a trick that we play on ourselves.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 10

I agree, there would be no purpose to life if you constantly are skeptical of it. It's just sad, and would probably lead to depression. :(