# What is the name of this belief? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 28, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-belief/164885 "2003-03-28T20:56:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-belief/164885/1 "2003-03-28T20:56:00Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-belief/164885/2 "2003-03-28T20:59:05Z")
Berklianism…? ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-belief/164885/3 "2003-03-28T20:59:53Z")
Solipsism? ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-belief/164885/4 "2003-03-28T21:08:08Z")
[Phenomenalism](http://www.philosophypages.com/dy/p2.htm#phnm)? > [@](#): > > Belief that the immediate objects of sensation provide no evidence for the existence of anything beyond themselves. Taken together with basic principles of empiricism, this entails that what we usually describe as physical objects have no reality apart from our individual, private perceptual experiences of them. Although an anticipation of this view may occur in the work of Berkeley, Mill and most of the logical positivists explicitly defended some form of phenomenalism. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-belief/164885/5 "2003-03-28T21:08:10Z")
Sorry; I think the correct spelling is “Berkeleianism” or something like that… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-belief/164885/6 "2003-03-28T21:38:09Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Mephisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@Mephisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephisto)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-belief/164885/7 "2003-03-28T21:58:08Z")
Plain ole _Idealism_? ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-belief/164885/8 "2003-03-29T06:15:11Z")
I think that Solipsism looks the most familiar, and looking at the definition from [dictionary.com](http://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 ---
**Author:** ![Rusalka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecd19e/32.png) [@Rusalka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rusalka)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-belief/164885/9 "2003-03-29T06:23:30Z")
I think you’re thinking of Existentialism. ---
**Author:** ![Rusalka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecd19e/32.png) [@Rusalka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rusalka)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-belief/164885/10 "2003-03-29T06:36:24Z")
Or maybe you meant the “Anthromorphic Principle” ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-belief/164885/11 "2003-03-29T08:24:14Z")
SOLIPISM! ---
**Author:** ![peepthis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@peepthis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peepthis)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-belief/164885/12 "2003-03-29T09:17:59Z")
[Solipsism](http://www.philosophypages.com/dy/s7.htm#solm): > [@](#): > > Belief that only I myself and my own experiences are real, while anything else—a physical object or another person—is nothing more than an object of my consciousness. 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. ---
**Author:** ![cleops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2acd7d/32.png) [@cleops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cleops)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-belief/164885/13 "2003-03-29T16:01:59Z")
Solip **s** ism it is! In my mind, anyhow.