School #28

Solipsism

Descartes (cogito), Bishop Berkeley (idealist strand)

Solipsism is the view that only the observer's own mind can be known to exist with certainty. The external world, other minds, and even one's own body may be nothing more than representations within one's consciousness. It is the most extreme observer-centric position.

I. Time

Extent Finite
Ontological Status Emergent
Grain Continuous
Freedom Non-Deterministic
Traversability Linear
Dimensionality One
Direction Uni-directional

Time is emergent — it exists only as a feature of the observer's conscious experience. Since only the observer's mind can be known to exist, time is whatever the mind experiences as temporal succession. Time is finite, continuous, linear, and uni-directional as experienced, but whether these features reflect anything outside the mind cannot be established.

II. Space

Extent Finite
Ontological Status Emergent
Curvature Undefined
Dimensionality Three
Locality Non-local

Space is emergent and mind-dependent — it exists only as a structure of the observer's perceptual experience. Its curvature is undefined because the solipsist cannot establish that space has any objective geometry. It is non-local in the sense that all spatial experience is internal to the mind. Space is finite because the observer's experience is bounded.

III. Matter

Extent Finite
Ontological Status Emergent
Conservation Conserved
Dimensionality Three
Locality Non-local

Matter is emergent — it is merely a representation within the observer's consciousness. Whether anything material exists outside the mind is unknowable. Matter is conserved and non-local only as features of the internal perceptual world. The solipsist cannot confirm that matter has any independent existence whatsoever.

IV. Observer

Time Instance Single
Space Instance Single
Extent of Knowledge Immediate
Retainment of Knowledge Total
Physicality Disembodied
Agency Active
Number Singular
Time Instance: Single — the sole observer experiences one moment at a time; sequential temporal experience is all that can be verified
Space Instance: Single — there is only one location from which reality is experienced; all spatial relations are features of the observer's perceptual structure
Extent of Knowledge: Immediate — the observer can only know the contents of their own mind; no external knowledge is accessible with certainty
Retainment of Knowledge: Total — all knowledge is internal and mental; the observer retains whatever their mind contains
Physicality: Disembodied — the body itself is merely another representation in the mind; no independent material body can be confirmed
Agency: Active — the observer's mind is the source and ground of all apparent reality; the observer constitutes everything that appears
Consciousness: Present — consciousness is the one undeniable reality; the observer's mind is the only thing that can be known with certainty to exist
Number: Singular — by definition, solipsism admits only one observer; all apparently distinct observers are mental constructs of that single mind

V. Energy

Extent Finite
Ontological Status Emergent
Conservation Variable
Dispersibility Irreversible

Finite and emerging — energy, like all physical phenomena, is a representation within the observer's consciousness. Conservation: Variable — energy "conservation" is a regularity within the observer's experience, but has no independently verifiable physical status. Usage: Multiple within the observer's representational experience.

VI. Information

Ontological Status Emergent
Conservation Non-conserved
Granularity Continuous

Only the information within one's own mind is real — external information may not exist at all.

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