Editing Solipsism (section)

==Varieties==
There are varying degrees of solipsism that parallel the varying degrees of [[skepticism]]:

===Metaphysical===
{{Main|Metaphysical solipsism}}

[[Metaphysical]] solipsism is a variety of solipsism based on a philosophy of [[subjective idealism]]. Metaphysical solipsists maintain that the [[self]] is the only existing reality and that all other realities, including the external world and other persons, are representations of that self, having no independent existence.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}} There are several versions of metaphysical solipsism, such as Caspar Hare's [[egocentric presentism]] (or [[perspectival realism]]), in which other people are conscious, but their experiences are simply not ''present''.

===Epistemological===
{{Further|Epistemological solipsism}}

Epistemological solipsism is the variety of [[idealism]] according to which only the directly accessible mental contents of the solipsistic philosopher can be known. The existence of an external world is regarded as an unresolvable question rather than actually false.<ref name="maar">{{cite web|url=http://maartens.home.xs4all.nl/philosophy/Dictionary/S/Solipsism.htm|title=Philosophical Dictionary:Solipsism|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103023018/https://maartens.home.xs4all.nl/philosophy/Dictionary/S/Solipsism.htm|archive-date=3 January 2017|access-date=8 April 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Further, one cannot also be certain as to what extent the external world exists independently of one's mind. For instance, it may be that a God-like being controls the sensations received by the mind, making it appear as if there is an external world when most of it (excluding the God-like being and oneself) is false. However, the point remains that epistemological solipsists consider this an "unresolvable" question.<ref name="maar"/>

===Methodological===
{{Main|Methodological solipsism}}

Methodological solipsism is an [[Agnosticism|agnostic]] variant of solipsism. It exists in opposition to the strict [[Epistemology|epistemological]] requirements for "knowledge" (''e.g.'' the requirement that knowledge must be certain). It still entertains the points that [[Problem of induction|any induction is fallible]]. Methodological solipsism sometimes goes even further to say that even what we perceive as the brain is actually part of the external world, for it is only through our senses that we can see or feel the mind. Only the existence of thoughts is known for certain.

Methodological solipsists do not intend to conclude that the stronger forms of solipsism are actually true. They simply emphasize that justifications of an external world must be founded on indisputable facts about their own consciousness. The methodological solipsist believes that subjective impressions ([[empiricism]]) or innate knowledge ([[rationalism]]) are the sole possible or proper starting point for philosophical construction.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wood|first=Ledger|title=Dictionary of Philosophy|year=1962|publisher=Totowa, NJ: Littlefield, Adams, and Company|pages=295}}</ref> Often methodological solipsism is not held as a belief system, but rather used as a [[thought experiment]] to assist [[skepticism]] (''e.g.'' [[René Descartes]]' [[Cartesian skepticism]]).{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}