How does solipsism change one’s pattern of behavior, compared to other things being alive? I noticed that when you take enlightened self-interest into account, it seems that many behaviors don’t change regardless of whether the people around you are sentient or not.
For example, if you steal from your neighbor, you can observe that you run the risk of him catching you, and thus you having to deal with consequences that will be painful or unpleasant. Similarly, assuming you’re a healthy person, you have a conscience that makes you feel bad about certain things, even when you get away with them.
Do you think your conscience would cease to bother you if you could know for a fact that there were no other living creatures feeling pain around you? In what other cases does a true solipsistic world make your behavior distinct from a non-solipsistic one?
I’m certainly comfortable with violent fantasy when the roles are acted out. This suggests to me that if I were convinced that certain person-seeming things were not alive, conscious, were not what they seemed that this might tip me in to some violent behaviors. I think at minimum I would experiment with it, try a slap here, a punch there. And where I went from there would depend on how it felt I suppose.
Also I would almost certainly steal more stuff if I was convinced that everything was landscape.
noticed that when you take enlightened self-interest into account, it seems that many behaviors don’t change regardless of whether the people around you are sentient or not.
When I was younger and studying analytical philosophy, I noticed the same thing. Unless solipsism morphs into apathy, there are still ‘representations’ you can’t control and that you can care about. Unless it alters your values, there should be no difference in behaviour too.
If I didn’t care about other people, I wouldn’t worry about donating to charities that actually help people. I’d donate a little to charities that make me look good, and if I’m feeling guilty and distracting myself doesn’t seem to be cost-effective, I’d donate to charities that make me feel good. I would still keep quite a bit of my money for myself, or at least work less.
As it is, I’ve figured that other people matter, and some of them are a lot cheaper to make happy than me, so I decided that I’m going to donate pretty much everything I can to the best charity I can find.
If there were no other beings that could consciously suffer, I would probably adopt a morality that would be utterly horrible in the real world. Video games might hint at how solipsism would make you behave.
How does solipsism change one’s pattern of behavior, compared to other things being alive? I noticed that when you take enlightened self-interest into account, it seems that many behaviors don’t change regardless of whether the people around you are sentient or not.
For example, if you steal from your neighbor, you can observe that you run the risk of him catching you, and thus you having to deal with consequences that will be painful or unpleasant. Similarly, assuming you’re a healthy person, you have a conscience that makes you feel bad about certain things, even when you get away with them.
Do you think your conscience would cease to bother you if you could know for a fact that there were no other living creatures feeling pain around you? In what other cases does a true solipsistic world make your behavior distinct from a non-solipsistic one?
I’m certainly comfortable with violent fantasy when the roles are acted out. This suggests to me that if I were convinced that certain person-seeming things were not alive, conscious, were not what they seemed that this might tip me in to some violent behaviors. I think at minimum I would experiment with it, try a slap here, a punch there. And where I went from there would depend on how it felt I suppose.
Also I would almost certainly steal more stuff if I was convinced that everything was landscape.
In fantasies you’re in total control. Same applies to video games for example. Risk of severe retaliation isn’t a real.
Well, the obvious difference would be that non-solipsists might care about what happens after they die, and act accordingly.
When I was younger and studying analytical philosophy, I noticed the same thing. Unless solipsism morphs into apathy, there are still ‘representations’ you can’t control and that you can care about. Unless it alters your values, there should be no difference in behaviour too.
If I didn’t care about other people, I wouldn’t worry about donating to charities that actually help people. I’d donate a little to charities that make me look good, and if I’m feeling guilty and distracting myself doesn’t seem to be cost-effective, I’d donate to charities that make me feel good. I would still keep quite a bit of my money for myself, or at least work less.
As it is, I’ve figured that other people matter, and some of them are a lot cheaper to make happy than me, so I decided that I’m going to donate pretty much everything I can to the best charity I can find.
If there were no other beings that could consciously suffer, I would probably adopt a morality that would be utterly horrible in the real world. Video games might hint at how solipsism would make you behave.