Editing Solipsism (section)

===René Descartes===
The foundations of solipsism are in turn the foundations of the view that the individual's understanding of any and all psychological concepts ([[thinking]], [[volition (psychology)|willing]], [[perceiving]], etc.) is accomplished by making an [[analogy]] with their own mental states; ''i.e.'', by [[abstraction]] from ''inner experience''. And this view, or some variant of it, has been influential in philosophy since René Descartes elevated the search for incontrovertible certainty to the status of the ''primary goal'' of [[epistemology]], whilst also elevating epistemology to "first philosophy".{{citation needed|date=April 2012}}