Traditionally, philosophers describe metaphysical solipsism in intuitive phenomenal and mentalistic terms, in terms of minds and their appearances. In this talk, solipsism takes the linguistic turn, and is formulated via a treatment of idiolectic language that is generally Russellian in form. In short, on this account, what exists for the solipsist is the values of certain variables within ‘it appears to me that’ contexts. This approach gives rise to a recognizable version of solipsism that resists familiar attempts, e.g., by Wittgenstein and by Putnam, to overturn it.
