EMPIRICISM, SOLIPSISM, AND REALISM

Abstract

MUCH ambiguity in modern work on the relationship of consciousness and reality arises from the fact that the underlying assumptions are not always clearly stated and vary with the author, who may presuppose sense-data only, the existence of other conscious creatures, or that of a physical world, etc. The greatest difficulty of all however is caused by the uncertainty whether the author admits only such knowledge as is gained exclusively by our senses, or whether he presupposes other kinds of knowledge. Such extra-sensorial knowledge can be claimed to support any statement on any level, even the assertion that two concepts formed on different levels are identical. In this paper, we start from two assumptions which are, in my opinion, the simplest and therefore the most general on which any view of the world can be based. On these, we proceed to build up a solipsistic world. We then add two more assumptions, which together we call the axiom of absolute symmetry. These are again the minimum and therefore the most general assumptions which express the belief in other persons and in a real world in a logically manifest form. We then investigate which changes the 'axiom of absolute symmetry' brings in. We shall also touch on the consequences of admitting extra-sensorial knowledge.