solipsism •
\SOH-lip-sih-zum\ • noun : a theory holding that the self can know
nothing but its own modifications and that the self is the only existent thing; also : extreme egocentrism
Examples: The actor’s memoir
of the years during which he struggled to break into show business is loaded
with so much introspection that it borders on
solipsism.
"Perhaps the most
shocking part of [the novel] 10:04 is just how kind it feels, how Lerner is
unafraid to show the narrator escaping intellectual solipsism and expressing
real emotion." — Anthony Domestico, Boston
Review, September 2, 2014
Did you know? Fans of
René Descartes credit the French philosopher with introducing solipsism as a
major problem of modern philosophy, but the word solipsism most likely sprang
from a French satire written by Giulio Clemente Scotti in 1652 called La
Monarchie des Solipses. The term wasn't used in English until the late 19th
century, when solipsism, a composite of the Latin solus ("alone") and
ipse ("self"), was applied purely in the philosophical sense.
Recently the word has taken on another, more general
sense, suggesting an ego-driven selfishness or self-indulgence.
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