ABSTRACT
The doctrine called “solipsism” is usually defined as the belief that I alone exist. It is not one doctrine unless it is true. If it is true, it is the assertion that I, Bertrand Russell, alone exist. But if it is false, and I have readers, then for you who are reading this chapter it is the assertion that you alone exist. This is a view suggested by the conclusions reached in the preceding chapter, to the effect that all my data, in so far as they are matters of fact, are private to me, and that inferences from one or more matters of fact to other matters of fact are never logically demonstrative. These conclusions suggest that it would be rational to doubt everything outside my own experience, such as the thoughts of other people and the existence of material objects when I am not seeing them. It is this view that we are now to examine.
