This volume is the first book-length historical and systematic study of the problem of solipsism in modern philosophy. Solipsism is, roughly, the thesis that only I really exist, or that the world is ontologically dependent on me (or my experiences and thoughts). That is, the solipsist claims that the world is ”my world”. Several different versions of the doctrine are distinguished, and it is argued that a transcendental variety of solipsism is philosophically the most interesting. Thus, the book focuses specifically on the debates over solipsism and its irrefutability in recent literature on Wittgenstein´s philosophy. Furthermore, it is suggested that the solipsism issue may teach us significant ethical and metaphilosophical lessons.

The author, Sami Pihlström is Docent and University Lecturer of Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Helsinki.