Intense feelings of solipsism

[Lucretius]

It’s both. As John Paul II says in his book Memory and Identity:

“We have to go back to the period before the Enlightenment, especially to the revolution brought about by the philosophical thought of Descartes. The cogito, ergo sum (I think, therefore I am) radically changed the way of doing philosophy. In the pre-Cartesian period, philosophy, that is to say the cogito, or rather the cognosco, was subordinate to esse, which was considered prior. To Descartes, however, the esse seemed secondary, and he judged the cogito to be prior. This not only changed the direction of philosophizing, but it marked the decisive abandonment of what philosophy had been hitherto, particularly the philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas, and namely the philosophy of esse.”

In other words, you have to do something, you have to function, to be. This worldview seems to be based on how human artifacts are. If a refrigerator doesn’t work, it is no longer a refrigerator, but a pile of metal. This philosophy works for artifacts and devices, but then is stops making sense of things when they are substantial, especially if the things are alive. Of course, the philosophy of the Moderns do not realize this, and treat organic things as if they were artifacts.

I think (as well as many others) that this metaphysics (that everything is a sort of machine) was influenced by all the new machines that were being created in Descartes’s and Galileo’s time (the scientific revolution). It also influenced religion. Deism, for example: God started the machine, and left it running ever since (the universe is God’s artifact). William Paley’s watch maker argument is another. The intelligent design theorists of today view the world like this as well.

I think its influence can be seen in the abortionist justifications of their holocaust: since a fetus doesn’t function as a person, therefore it must not be a person (non agit ergo non est).

That’s why I’m still trying to climb out of the massive ditch that is the modern worldview, the modern metaphysics. There is an author who once wrote that the Medieval ages were the real Age of Reason, while the “Enlightenment” was the Age of Unreason, the Age of Iconoclasm. Every day I believe him more and more (of course, most “educated people” think most thinkers in the Medieval west were a bunch of fundamentalists who hated women, so I don’t trust their opinion in the slightest).

BTW, I was trying to point out that “cogito ergo sum” was just a species of the overall reversal of the medieval axiom “agere sequitur esse”. IOW,
“cogito ergo sum” (or “res cogitans esse sequitur cogitare”) is a specific application of (the false) “esse sequitur agere,” and
“res cogitans sum ergo cogito” (or “cogitare sequitur res cogitans esse”) is a specific application of (the correct) “agere sequitur esse.”

Christi pax,

Lucretius

 

[katesmom]

I went through these same feelings about 4 years ago. The thoughts were intense and It was life altering for me. I assume it was so life altering because I have pretty severe anxiety and OCD (I doubt everything)

The thought popped into my mind one day about being the only one in existence and what if I was all alone? I watched my children play and kept having that thought come into my mind over and over - I cried and felt hopeless! I researched for answers everywhere (Google, Books, other people) but I couldn’t find what I wanted to. I wanted something to say its not true! The repetitive thoughts about solipsism ruined my life for about 3 months until I hit rock bottom and went to see a doctor because I was so depressed. I needed medication or therapy or both and I knew it. Thanks be to God, I was self reflective enough to know that I needed help because I was so sad

Most everyone I know can have the solipsism thought experiment and brush it off. But not for someone with anxiety. Because of the solipsism thoughts I had developed Major Depressive Disorder and had to take an antidepressant for a period of time until I started to feel normal again It took some time, but as my health returned I started to see the beauty of everything around me.

Solipsism is the worst philosophy. You cant prove it or disprove it. But unfortunately when I went through Solipsism, I wasn’t ok with that answer so I freaked out as you read in my story above. But now I’m better and in a much better place!

Now, I shrug it off as just a thought. I dont dwell on it or worry about it. I honestly feel more alive and present in my after being through that. I am now a better person? It made me a stronger person too? Funny how things work out

I’ll Pray for you. I really hope you feel better soon!!