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What are the historically most cited and used arguments that philosophers have made for believing that other people have individual minds and feelings contrary to the assertions of solipsists?

J D
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John
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  • The fact that they behave like you and you believe to have an individual mind. – Mauro ALLEGRANZA Sep 24 '21 at 15:16
  • that is, would it be reasonable to believe that other people also have individual minds and feelings? – John Sep 24 '21 at 15:21
  • If you are **not** a "hard-solipsist"... YES. – Mauro ALLEGRANZA Sep 24 '21 at 15:33
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  • I'm not a solipsist. I believe that other people have individual minds and feelings, I just want to know if there are good arguments that make this belief believable. – John Sep 24 '21 at 15:38
  • When you ask, leave out opinion: good, best, etc, and then place it in philosophical/historical context. You've recognized that solipsism is the main theme in this debate so reference it, and then appeal to the canon and those knowledgable of it. Don't be afraid to research your question: [related on PhilSE](https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/questions/78482/does-modern-philosophy-believe-in-solipsism). Use a variety of sources, like [SEP: Other Minds](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/other-minds/) and [IEP: Solipsism and the Problem of Other Minds](https://iep.utm.edu/solipsis/). – J D Sep 24 '21 at 15:43
  • I read it all thanks. The fact is that I believe that other people also have individual minds and feelings, but I want to know if it is reasonable to believe in it. Are the arguments that other people also have individual minds and feelings more plausible than solipsism? – John Sep 24 '21 at 15:48
  • In philosophy, reasonable and unreasonable are a bit flexible because the moment you ask is it 'reasonable', you have the circular problem of deciding what exactly is 'reasonable'. This of course, is all things philosophy. Suffice it to say, with materialism and naturalism being the dominant position of Western Philosophy for before either of us were born, solipsism is generally dismissed by contemporary professional philosophers. I'll write up a full answer in a bit. – J D Sep 24 '21 at 15:51
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    Minds today are generally taken to be equivalent to consciousness, and empirical methods make consciousness for all humans a near certainty. From an analytical and historical perspective, evolution and neurological sciences form the basis for changing the question from does everyone have a mind and why, to why is consciousness like it is? This culminates in the [IEP: hard problem of consciousness](https://iep.utm.edu/hard-con/). – J D Sep 24 '21 at 15:54
  • Yes that answers my question. But let me ask you? If I believe that other people also have individual minds and feelings, would that not be considered implausible? Is the analogy argument and the best explanation argument good evidence for believing that other people have individual minds and feelings? – John Sep 24 '21 at 16:30
  • @John the proposition that other people have minds would only be implausible if there is some reason(s) to discount the possibility that it is true. I'm unaware of any reasons, so the idea is clearly plausible. In a practical, scientific way, the model that "other people have minds similar to my own" is a good model for making predictions about the future; assuming that there is a massive structural difference between myself and others does not form a good model for making predictions about the world. – Dave Sep 24 '21 at 17:13
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    I like John Searle's tongue in cheek argument: "Your solipsism is immediately refuted by my solipsism". – Weezy Sep 24 '21 at 15:29
  • The question would be "what reason do you have to doubt that things are as they appear to be, which is that people have their own mind just like you ?" – armand Sep 25 '21 at 00:34
  • See the list of responses to the philosophical-zombies thought experiment: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_zombie#Responses My answer, is that following the Private Language Argument, your word use implicitly embodies community intelligence and real history that words like self & mind required to develop & have meaning for you. In short, intersubjectivity. Discussed here: 'Is there anyway to prove things happen/exist if I'm not aware of them?' https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/questions/79815/is-there-anyway-to-prove-things-happen-exist-if-im-not-aware-of-them/79819#79819 – CriglCragl Sep 25 '21 at 11:01
  • thanks. That is, to believe that other people also have individual minds and feelings will not be considered a mistake or a wrong belief? – John Sep 25 '21 at 11:21

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Unless it somehow transpires that thoughts have a physical form, i.e. that they are particles, I think we currently have to rely on a type of naïve realism, which is actually valid considering most of our interactions in day to day life have a cultural basis.

DanielFBest
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