I used to know the name of it, but it evades me now.
It’s the belief that reality exists in your mind, basically that if you believe something to be then it is. If you’re not sure, but have a good guess, those would be appreciated too, as I could probably recognize it on sight.
Thanks a lot.
-foxy
Berklianism…?
Solipsism?
Sorry; I think the correct spelling is “Berkeleianism” or something like that…
A couple of leads:
Rene Descartes (1596-1650): Meditations on First Philosophy. Discusses: what can be called into doubt, the nature of the mind, truth & falsity, the essence of material things & the existence of God; the existence of material things; the reliability of the senses; the dreaming argument; cogito ergo sum, & more.
George Berkeley (1685-1753): Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous. Discusses: a whole smattering of issues related to perception and reality, and the question of whether anything can be said to exist outside of the mind (debated both ways).
I’m not sure if “Cartesianism,” “Berkelianism,” or even “phenomenalism” [any Heidegger scholars out there to clarify that one?] would cleanly apply to what you’re asking about. The belief that objects have no objective reality (and are experienced only subjectively) is, I submit, not the same thing as believing that whatever mental constructs one can conceive of must therefore exist. The thinking process of the latter is perhaps best expressed in Decartes, but that was, IIRC, within the narrow context of trying to puzzle out the existence and nature of God – and might not necessarily have had any broader application.
Good luck. People have been puzzling over fields of inquiry like this for thousands of years.
Plain ole Idealism?
I think that Solipsism looks the most familiar, and looking at the definition from dictionary.com, it doesn’t seem to fit very well. What I’m looking for is more of a “the belief that reality is a figment of your imagination” or “reality is created by the individual”. Thank you for your help though.
-foxy
I think you’re thinking of Existentialism.
Or maybe you meant the “Anthromorphic Principle”
SOLIPISM!
This sounds like exactly what you said, that perceived reality (i.e., anything aside from you and your experiences) is your own creation. Reality is thus created by the individual.
Solipsism it is! In my mind, anyhow.