--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "compost1uk" <compost...@...> wrote:
>
> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "wgm4u" <wgm4u@> wrote:
> >
> > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote:
> > snip
> > > It's very important to Barry that no one reality be
> > > any more valid than any other, because that way *he
> > > can never be wrong, nor can he ever be said to lie*.
> > > He desperately needs this justification for his
> > > solipsism.
> >
> > Does this sound like you Barry?
> >
> > * Main Entry: so·lip·sism
> > * Pronunciation: \ˈsō-ləp-ˌsi-zəm, ˈsä-\
> >
> > A theory holding that the self can know nothing but its own modifications
> > and that the self is the only existent thing; also : extreme egocentrism.
> >
>
> Or Monism - Brahman? "Barry's not Brahman (He's a very naughty boy!)"
>
> (IMHO Barry is a "perspective realist", not a solipsist. Though
> he sometimes follows the relativist path so far, one wonders if
> he might fall of the Cliff Of Incoherent Scepticism. That is to
> say... the cliff that may or may not be there, depending on
> your *opinion* at the time. Assuming of course that one can be
> said to *know* one's opinion at any one time, rather than merely
> opining about one's opinion...)
<grin>
As I pointed out in response to Billy, however, the
"solipsism" aspect with Barry is that he indulges in
extensive fantasizing and believes his fantasies are
the reality, no matter how contrary they are to
consensus and archive reality.
("archive reality" = my term for facts on the public
record)
The "perspective realist," as I understand the term,
doesn't privilege his perspective over other
perspectives. Barry does pay *lip service* to this
principle on a regular basis, but the rest of his
behavior belies any genuine belief in it. In other
words, he's a solipsist who pretends to be a
perspective realist.
One *hopes* that this pretense is generated by
uncertainty, somewhere in his psyche, about the
validity of his fantasies--in other words, that he
does have some dim sense, possibly not consciously
recognized, that he's just making stuff up. The
pretense of not privileging his fantasies is a way
of getting himself off the hook, at least publicly.
