Is it possible for a solipsist to believe there is one other "real" entity?

Question

Or does this, by definition, make the solipsist a...dualiptist, for lack of a better word?

Answer 1

Chitinou...

It depends, it seems to me, on what you define as a "real entity" and how one defines the "self."

The notion of the "self" is undefinable without referents, which in turn cannot be described without acknowledging they exist. For example, when I think of my "self," I think in terms of what I am (e.g., a man, a father, a brother, a student, etc.) and what I do (I sing, I play the guitar, I do woodworking, I read, etc.)

Are these definitions of my "self" "real entities" that exist outside of myself?

If they are, then the philosophy of solipsism is paradoxical. If they are not, then one must ask how these ideas (e.g., brother, father, student, musician, woodworker, etc.) are able to be defined. What other means would we use to describe and prove the existence of my "self"?

Indeed, any attempt to define the "self" using language suggests that language itself is an "other entity," which, if true, would render solipsism inherently and therefore fatally contradictory. Even a self-constructed "private language" (a la Wittgenstein) is still a language, an "other entity."

Fascinating question. Thanks for posting it.

Answer 2

I think the sense in which "real" entity is implied in your question dictates the answer will be "no". From the point of view of the solipsist, no other "real" entity exists. All information they have and receive cannot be proven to be separate from themselves with any level of certainty. The person they interact with is only part of their own conscious state - they are not a separate entity. I feel like I am going around and around in circles here - it's a fascinating and enigmatic issue.
If they believed anything contradictory to this, they are no longer a solipsist. There cannot be a compromise.
If someone believed in the existence of only one other real entity other than their own consciousness, I don't know what that would be called. For lack of a better word, sure - dualiptist.

Answer 3

If you believe in solipsism then you are the only one, to have the thought of another would be totally alien.

Answer 4

definitly not even though i dont know much on the subject i allways do some research before answering definitly a dualipists is what your describing

Answer 5

dunno