contemporary philosophy of dreams

8/10/2019 Contemporary Philosophy of Dreams

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Markku Roinila

Philosophy of Dreams and Sleeping:Contemporary philosophy


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Some guidelinesAs is the case with all philosophy, dierence etween

analytical and phenomenological philosophy is clear!

"he de#elopment of rain research and e$perimentalpsychology started to pro#ide challenges to philosophy ofdreams and latest philosophy of dreams is trying to %nd

philosophical ways to discuss the results of rain&research&orientated modern psychology!

"he most important e#ent in the philosophy of dreaming was'orman Malcolm(s Dreaming )*++- which re.ected traditional#iews! /t was in many ways counter&intuiti#e and recei#ed alot of criticism!

/n addition to discussing the essence of dreams, the topic ofmorality in dreams and creati#ity in dreams ha#e gainedsome attention!


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Dream&argument: early 01th century#iews"he central prolem in 01th century philosophy of dreams is related to Descartes(s

dream&argument! Some early 01th century reactions:

2enri 3ergson )*4+&*+5*-holds that contrary to waking life, dreams are a peculiarunion of memories and sensations, comined with the dreamer(s lack of will!

6ean&Paul Sartre )*+1&*+41- argues that Descartes incorrectly suggests thatdreams occur as an apprehension of reality! 7or Sartre, the dream is more like thecomposing of a story: 8"he dreams is not %ction taken for reality, it is the odyssey

of a consciousness dedicated y itself, and in spite of itself, to uild only an unrealworld87! 2! 3radley )*459&*+05- is uestioning whether the 8real8 world is real! ;e

assume that the waking world is real ecause it is more rational and the wider andmore comprehensi#e of possile worlds and he accepts this assumption forpractical purposes! 3ut philosophically we ha#e no good reason to deny that thereare other, more real worlds that we might enter when dreaming!

3ertrand Russell )*4


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'orman Malcolm on dreams'orman Malcolm )*+**&*++1- is the most

in=uentical )and contro#ersial- analytic philosopherof dreams in 01th century!

Malcolm was a student of ;ittgenstein and he isclearly in=uenced y ;ittgenstein(s laterphilosophy > his approach is to study how languageis used to descrie e#ents!

/n the ook Dreaming)*++- Malcolm opposes theCartesian dream argument!Malcolm(s #iew was the paradigm #iew of the

analytic philosophy until *+ a wholecollection of articles called Philosophical Essays onDreaming, edited y Charles ?! M! Dunlop )*+


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Malcolm(s criticism of the dream argument in anutshell

Malcolm(s starting&point is the dream&argument y Descartes! 2e thinksDescarte(s argument, according to whichone has decepti#e e$periences whileasleep, is senseless!

7ollowing Russell, Malcolm argues thatdreams cannot e e$periences,

decepti#e or otherwise, ecausee$periences reuire awareness, that is,conscious e$periences!

7urthermore, conscious e$periencesreuire language )the capacity to declare8/ am ha#ing this e$perience8-, and theuse of language also shows that the

speaker is awake and therefore notdreaming! "hus there can e only wakinge$periences!

?rgo: ecause dreams are note$periences which can e shared, thereis nothing interesting in them and theyare not worth studying!


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Malcolm(s challenge to traditional#iewMalcolm(s most important in=uence in his criticism is ;ittgenstein(s

Philosophical Investigations )*+- where he says

8Bmust / make some assumption aout whether people when telling theirdreams are decei#ed y their memories or notE whether they really hadthese images while they slept, or whether it merely seems so to them onwakingF And what meaning has this uestionF > And what interestF Do wee#er ask oursel#es this when someone is telling us his dreamsF And if not >is it ecause we are sure his memory won(t ha#e decei#ed himF )Andsuppose it were a man with a uite specially ad memoryF-8

Malcolm(s article (Dreaming and scepticism( )Philosophical Review9)6anuary-:*5&< )*+9--was the starting&point of the ook Dreamingwhere he continues to elaorate the argument in short chapters!

/ will go through the asic arguments y following the presentation of 3en

Spriggett )http:GGwww!iep!utm!eduGdreamingGHS2- and some othersources!

Spriggett di#ides Malcolm(s criticism into three arguments: *- dreamreports are un#eriale 0- sleep and dreaming ha#e con=icting de%nitions- communication and .udgements cannot occur during sleep


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Ine cannot #erify dreamreports

;e cannot trust dream reports > they are insuJcient to show that there is consciousdreaming taking place during sleep! "he dream reports are not the same as the dreamsthemsel#es, ut there is no other way to check the claim )of Descartes- that dreams areconsciously e$perienced during sleep!

"he most important criterion to tell us that we ha#e een dreaming is that one awakes withan impression of ha#ing dreamt )memory of dreaming- and then tells aout the dream!2owe#er, there is no way to #erify that the memory actually corresponds with the consciouse$perience of seeing the dream! ;e can only elie#e what the dream reports tell us!"hereforedreams are only grammatical illusions > they do not really e$ist!

"he only way to #erify the dream reports would e oser#e eha#ior during the sleep, utthat is insuJcient to show that one is ha#ing a conscious e$perience in the sleeping state! /nfact, it would not suJce to show that there is any mental acti#ity in the sleeping state!

/n sum, one cannot claim 8/ dreamed that / was =ying8 ecause that would mean that / had aconscious e$perience in the dream that / was =ying )/ elie#ed in the dream that / was =ying-!So we really cannot know if we are dreaming during the sleep at all! Also, we cannot know

how long the dream would take K dreaming does not take place in space and time!According to Malcolm, Descartes(s #iew is founded on the idea that when we rememer

dreams we recall the same content of the earlier e$perience: 8 Descartes thinks not only thata man might ha#e thoughts and make .udgements while sleeping, ut also that if thosethoughts are clear and distinct they aretrue, regardless of thefact that he is sleeping!8 )2erehe was wrong > Descartes is saying that our memories of the dreams is fragmentary > he isnot saying that we can recall the dream e$actlyE he is also not saying that we can ha#econscious dreamsE that is, make .udgements > in that case the dreams would e coherent-!


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Sleep #s! dreaming"he Cartesian claim that dreams

could consciously occur during sleepis incoherent or e#en contradictory!Sleep is de%ned as lacking

e$periencesE dreams are said toin#ol#e conscious e$perience!

"his contradiction is seen when

#erifying the dream reports: if onecan show that one is ha#ing aconscious e$perience, one is notsleeping!

I.ection: there is a storm and thedreamer reports hearing thunder!Malcolm: one was not fully asleep if

one was ale to percei#e theen#ironment! So Malcolm is referringto eing sound asleep y his concept(sleeping( where we do note whathappens around us!


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Making .udgements duringsleep7or Malcolm, communication is reuired for #erifying that the mental state has

een e$prienced! "his argument is related to two others > if we are making a.udgement in sleep that / am now =ying )/ elie#e that / am now =ying- andcommunicate it to others, / can show that / am ha#ing a conscious e$perience!

3ut / cannot say 8/ am asleep8 without the statement eing false! /f one talks insleep and says / am asleep, this is a co&incidence, not an assertion!

/f the person was actually sleeping, then he would not e aware of saying the

assertion! And if he was aware of saying the assertion, he would not e sleeping!"hus Malcolm concludes that communication etween a sleeping indi#idual andindi#iduals who are awake is logically impossile! "herefore Any talk aoutmental states that could occur during sleep is meaningless!

3ehind this #iew is ;ittgenstein pri#ate language&argument > there cannot e amental state which only one indi#idual could pri#ately e$perience andunderstand!

And since men cannot communicate during sleep, they cannot make.udgements in sleep! Ine cannot .udge that / am now sleeping! )compare luciddreaming > for Malcolm that would not e proper, sound sleeping-!

/n a way, Malcolm is continuing Locke(s argument: there cannot e thinking indreams like Descartes says!


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Criticism of empiricist dreamscienceMalcolm discusses a study y Dement and leitman

where they try to show that people woken from a R?M&dream could rememer accurately the duration of thedream!

2e thinks dream science has a wrong starting&point:

8"he interest in a physiological criterion of dreaming isdue, / elie#e, to an error that philosophers,psychologists and e#eryone who re=ects on the natureof dreaming that a dream must ha#e a de%nite locationand duration in physical time!8 )p!


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A few uotes from Dreamingp! < 8/t would not occur to anyone to conclude that a man is sleepingfrom his saying (/ am asleep( any more than to conclude that he isunconscious from his saying (/ am unconscious(, or to conclude that he isdead from his saying (/ am dead(! 2e can say the words ut he cannotassert that he is asleep, unconscious or dead! /f a man could assert thathe is asleep, his assertion would in#ol#e a kind of self&contradiction,since from the fact that he made the assertion it would follow that it was

false!8p! < 8'o physiological phenomena will e of any use as e#idence that aman made a .udgement while asleep! /f it were estalished, for e$ample,that whene#er a person makes a .udgement the electrical output of acertain region of his rain rises or falls in some characteristic way, theoccurence of this electric phenomenon in a sleeping person would notpro#ide any proaility that the sleeper was making a .udgement!8 )K

compare 2oson > the content of dreams is irrele#ant-!p! *&0 8/f a man had certain thoughts and feelings in a dream it nomore follows that he had those thoughts and feelings while asleep, thanit follows from his ha#ing climed a mountain in a dream Nthat heclimed a mountain while asleep!8


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Prolems for Malcolm"o sum up, Malcolm thinks

that what we do whenawake and when we aresound asleep are twodierent things and theycannot e compared! /n

sleep we do not ha#e thesame e$periences, images,impression, thinking etc! aswhen awake!

Dreaming was thought to e

a ma.or work, ut it createda lot of opposition! /f itsdoctrines were taken forreal, philosophers shouldforget dreams altogether!3ut they are a ma.or part of

our li#es > why should wenot think aout themF


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;hat are e$periencesF 7or many who claim to ha#e

e$periences in dreams,Malcolm(s claims were simplycounterintuti#e!

"his is in fact included in thedream reports where we run,chase, are ha#ing romanticencounters etc! Are these note$periencesF

/n dream reports there can alsoe con#ersations and their

content is rememered! /naddition, there are strongimages related to these dream&images!

"hus one main counter&arguments is that e#en if / am

not ale to communicate the


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More prolems Dream reports ha#e also their prolems! As we discussed in the

eginning of the lecture series, some are etter at descriing theire$periences than others! Dunlop also o.ects that if there are nostates of consciousness in dreams, the dream reports are notdescriptions of e$periences at all )as Malcolm seems to think theyare-! ;hen we tell aout the dreams, they usually seem to concern

e$periences where we ha#e een conscious )dialogue, fore$ample-!

Malcolm would reply perhaps that he is trying to say what dreamsare not instead of saying what they are! Malcolm would say that theuestion 8;hat is dreamingF8 is simply unintelligile! K Malcolm(s

;ittgensteinian ackground! ;e can, of course, follow Malcolm(s ad#ice and .ust uit: 8/f we

cease to ask why it is that sometimes when people wake up theyrelate stories in the past tense under the in=uence of animpression, then we will see dream&telling as it is > a remarkalehuman phenomenon, a part of the natural history of man,

something gi#en, the foundation for the concept of dreaming!8)Dreaming, p! 4


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Putnam on the Conceptual Analysis ofDreaming

2ilary Putnam: Dreaming and QDepth Orammar(,8 in 3utler)?ds!-Analytical Philosophy I$ford: 3asil 3lackwell, *+90!

According to Malcolm(s charge, supporters of the traditional#iew do not understand the concept of dreaming! "his wascrucial for his attempt to undermine all empirical work ondreaming! /nstead of relying on an indi#idual(s waking reportscientists may now try to infer from rapid eye mo#ements orother physiological criteria that the indi#idual is asleep anddreaming! 7or Malcolm, these scientists are working from anew conception of sleep8 and dreaming8 which onlyresemles the old one!

Putnam o.ects to Malcolm(s claim, stating that scienceupdatesour concepts and does not replace them: thetraditional #iew seeks con%rmation in empirical work! /ngeneral, concepts are always eing updated y new empiricalknowledge!

/f Putnam(s attack is successful then the work that scientists

are doing on dreaming is aout dreaming as the traditional


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Da#id Rosenthal Consciousness Da#id Rosenthal: ?$plaining Consciousness8 in Philosophy of

Mind: Classical and Contemporary Readings, )eds- Da#idChalmers, I$ford ni#ersity Press, 0110!

Distinction etween 8creature consciousness8 and 8stateconsciousness8: Creature consciousness8 is what anyindi#idual or animal displays when awake and responsi#e toe$ternal stimuli! State consciousness,8 on the other hand,refers to the mental state that occurs when one has ane$perience! "his may e either internally or e$ternally dri#en!

Malcolm e#idently thinks that any form of state consciousnessreuires some degree of creature consciousness! 3ut it does

not seem to e conceptually confused to elie#e that one cane responsi#e to internal stimuli )hence state conscious-without eing responsi#e to e$ternal stimuli )hence creatureunconscious-!

/f, y sleep8 all we ha#e meant is creature unconsciousness,then there is no reason to elie#e that an indi#idual cannot

ha#e state conscious at the same time! An indi#idual can e


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Dennett: Are Dreams?$periencesF Most o.ections to Malcolm

tend to critisi@e his #iewsrather than oer alternati#e#ersions of philosophy ofdreaming! 3ut there are a few!

"he est known is DanielDennett in his article (AreDreams ?$periencesF()"hePhilosophical Re#iew, #ol! 40, 0)*+


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Dennett(s approach Dennett is trying to link philosophy of dreaming to the rain

research: 8"he most scandalous conclusion that Malcolmattempted to draw from his analysis of the concept ofdreaming was to the eect the contemporary dream researchy psychologists and other scientists was conceptuallyconfused, misguided, ultimately simply irrele#ant to dreaming8

)p! **E Malcolm p! 40-! 2is starting&point is to see how would the traditional #iew cope

if it was seen from the perspecti#e of the modern scienti%cpsychology!

7irst, it is clear that ??O patterns show that there aredreams

during the sleep! )and e#eryone has them-! Dennett isoptimistic that there are e#en some signs that in this methodthere can e some understanding of the contents of thedreams 2oson is more careful in this respect! 8Bwe mighte ale to predict from certain physiological e#ents oser#edduring sleep that the suseuent dream reports would allude

to, for e$ample, fear, falling from a height, eating somethingcold etc!8 )p! *0-


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Cassette&theory of DennettDennett is interested in cases where the dream merges

into the waking life )for e$ample, looking for a goat,%nding one and the the 3aa&aa&a of the goat changesinto the u@@ing sound of the alarm clock!

Perhaps there is a lirary of dreams with #arious themes:

8PerhapsBdreams are composed and presented #eryfast in the inter#al etween ang, ump, or u@@ and fullconsciousness, with some short delay systempostponing the full 8perception8 of the noise in thedream until the presentation of the narrati#e is ready for

it! Ir perhaps in that short inter#al dreams arecomposed, presented and recorded ackwards and themrememered front to ack! Ir perhaps there is a8lirary8 in the rains of undreamed dreams with #ariousinde$ed endings, and the ang, or ump or u@@ has theeect of retrie#ing an appropriate dream and insertingit, cassette&like, in the memory mechanism!8 )p! *4-


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'ature of e$perienceDennett present one of these

#iews as an alternati#e to thetraditional theory! /f that isright, 8dreams are not whatwe took them to e > or

perhaps we would say that itturns out that there are notdreams after all, only dream8recollections88 )p! *4-

/f the 8cassette&theory8 is

accepted, the nature ofe$perience would change!

Dream&recall is like dT.U #u&it only seems that / ha#ee$perienced it efore!

Ince this is elie#ed, itwould no lon er seem as


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A generali@ation8Suppose we generali@e the cassette theory to co#er all dreams:all dream narrati#es are composed directly into memory anksEwhich, if any, of these is a#ailale to waking recollection dependson #arious factors > precedence of composition, topicality ofwaking stimulus, degree of repression and so forth!8 )p! *+&*91-

/f this is supposed, there is no representation! "he dreams are.ust composed and showed!

Composition of dreams can take place during waking hoursduring a long time, e#en efore our irth!3ut more proale isthat the composition takes place during the R?M&phase of thesleep where there is clearly a lot of rain acti#ity!

"he latter would e supported y that fact that often dreamsinclude recent e#ents, so the composed dreams would ha#e tochange often!

Dennett(s e$planation for lucid dreams: although thecomposition and recording processes are entirely unconscious,on occasion the composition process inserts traces of itself intothe recording #ia the literary conceit of a dream within a


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Cassette&theory ande$perience

"he cassette&theorist would saythat we do not consciouslye$perience our en#ironment, utour unconscious e$periences arerecorded for later use )for short&term memory or composing

dreams, that is-! )K compareLocke(s theory of memory tracesmi$ed together-!

Ine can discuss whether these aree$periences or not and indeed it is

not clear )on the asis of sleepscience- whether dreams aree$periences at all or not! /f thisrecording is unconscious, dreamswould not e e$periences!

Recurrent dreams > this would %t

well to the cassette&theoryE utalso in these cases the process


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Prolems for DennettDennett takes the empirical #iew and does not really

discuss the relation etween theoretical and empiraltheories! Also, he does not allow e$periences to econscious during sleeping, ut he seems to accept it inthe sense that there are dreams!

Main prolem: how to distinguish the cassette&theoryfrom the traditional theoryF Dunlop: 8/f 8the dream one(recalls( on waking was composed .ust minutes earlier8,then we still ha#e the uestion of how dream contentmanaged to merge with the waking stimulusBone

possiility is that an en#ironmental stimulus can come torepresent many dierent things as it is worked intodream content!8 )Dunlop )ed!-, Philosophical Essays onDreaming, p! 5&-

Lucid dreaming: empirical tests y Stephen La 3erge

show that Dennett(s e$planation of lucid dreaming is notaccurate > test persons were gi#ing certain eye&


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?liminati#e materialism According to Paul and Patricia

Churchland,terms like elief,imagination, e$perience, desire anddream elong to our e#eryday 8folkpsychology8, which will e#entually ereplaced y scienti%cneuropscyhology!

"hus the concept of dream will eeliminated y science in the long run!/nstead, we start thinking aoutcertain kind of rain acti#ation orsomething like that! "he concept ofdream is like the concept of witch > it

will elong to past times! /n a way this pro.ect comes to the

same conclusion as Malcolm > scienceshould not e interested in dreams!

Against this one could say thatdreams are su.ecti#e, e$perienced

e#ents independently from whetherthey are conscious e$periences or not!


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After Malcolm 'orman Malcolm(s attack to traditional #iews was pro#ocati#e

and o.ecting his claims seems to ha#e taking strength fromthe philosophy of dreaming! After this discussion died down inthe end of


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Iwen 7lanagan(s Dreamingouls 7lanagan(s monograph Dreaming

ouls )0111- is the onlyphilosophical ook on dreams sofar to utili@e the empiral sleepscience!

2e says: 8My theory is

neurophilosophical one! / ha#etried to follow out the implicationsof recent work in the sciences ofthe mind on the nature andfunction of sleep and dreams whileat the same time trying to %tdreams into a general philosophical

theory of the conscious mind andthe nature of persons!8 )p! 4-

7lanagan is especially interested inthe function of dreams with respectto consciousness and its e#olution!"hus he takes a fresh start from

the Malcolm&orientated prolems! 7lanagan adopts a holistic


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2olistic theory of dreams 7lanagan is calling out for aholistic theory of dreams in

his natural method ofdreams!8Anthropology, sociology, andsocial psychology are alsoimportant in pro#iding acomplete picture of dreams!

"his is ecause the uses, ifany, to which dreams are putdepend on local customs andhaits!8 )p! *9&*


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Pluralist e#olutionary #iew /n contrast to 2oson and his colleagues, 7lanagan thinks that

sleep and consciousness are products of e#olution!

Dreams, howe#er, are not directly products of e#olution, utconsciousness during sleep )dreaming- is merely an accident ofnature, a side eect of sleep and consciousness!

8Can dreams fail to ha#e an adaptationist e#olutionarye$planation ut still make senseBand thus worth attention in theprocess of seeking self&knowledgeF "he answer is yes!8 )p! 0-

"hus for 7lanagan, dreams do not really ha#e any iologicalpurpose per se, ut they are useful to human life all the same!

"hey are a side&eect of adaptation that human eings ha#e

learned to use in creati#e and helpful ways! Dreams do matter, for they sometimes possess meaningful

structure, are sometimes self&e$pressi#e, and sometimespro#ide insights into oneVs own mind and oneVs relations withothers! Dreams re=ect and re#eal our inner sel#es in ways thatwaking thought and eha#ior cannot! /n dreams, wee$perience memories, thoughts and emotions that might ne#er


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7lanagan(s physiologicaltheory According to 7lanagan, rains work oth during when we are

awake and when we are sleeping!

During sleep, the rain stocks up neurotransmitters that will eused the ne$t day! 3y accident, pulses that originate from thisstockpiling chore )coming from the rain stem- also reacti#atemore or less random parts of memory! naware that the odyis actually sleeping, the sensory circuits of the cereral corte$process these signals as if they were coming from outside andproduce a chaotic =ow of sensations! ;ith an analogy fromarchitecture 7lanagan show that dreams are .ust the noise therain makes while working o#ernight!

Dreams can e compared to hearteat which does not reallyha#e a iological function!

Like Malcolm, 7lanagan seems to think that dreams arepointless from the point of #iew of science!"hey are .ustredundant eects of rain acti#ity! /n this sense 7lanagancontinues the doctrine of Locke where dreams are a product of

waking state acti#ity!


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I.ection y Re#onsuo Antti Re#onsuo: "he Reinterpretation of Dreams: An

?#olutionary 2ypothesis of the 7unction of Dreaming,8!ehavioral and !rain ciences0 )0111-, pp! **0*! -

7lanagan(s #iew is opposed y Antti Re#onsuo who thinks thatdream is an adaptation! 2is threat simulation theory arguesthat dreams ful%ll a practicing purpose in human life > wepractice for diJcult situtations in waking life!

According to Re#onsuo, the actual content of dreams is helpfulto the sur#i#al of the organism ecause dreaming enchanceseha#iors in waking life such as percei#ing and a#oiding threat!

"his reuires that dreaming is similar to waking life and is

e$perienced as waking life at the time of the dream!"hreat simulation theory is well supported y empirical tests >

during R?M&phase an$iety is the most common emotion andanger third!

7lanagan answers y asking why animal&like instincts ha#e toe continually rehearsed y humans, ut Re#onsuo isemphasi@ing that the instinct rehearsal concerns animals )like


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Dreams and self&e$pression Since the content of our dreams comes primarily from

within, dreaming is in some sense the purest form ofself&e$pressi#e action! "hus some dreams are self&e$pressi#e!

Self&e$pression is not directly related to personal

identity! According to 7lanagan, it is perfectly plausilethat / might dream aout =ying to the moon without thatdesire(s eing a strong, central, or standing desire ofmine > perhaps without its eing a desire / possess at all,

.ust mere noise!8 )p! *5-

Rather, self is conscious %ction )compare autoiography-whereas in dreams associations are free anduncontrolled!

;hile many dreams are .ust noise, some dreams aremeaningful, interpretale and self&e$pressi#e! Although

7lanagan does not agree with 7reud, some dreams cane diJcult to inter ret which is in fact wh the can


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Morality Dreams St! Augustine thought that dreams are happenings, not actions

and one is not responsile for in#oluntary thoughts in dreams!

7lanagan tends to say that only eha#ior can e seen asmorally prolematic! /t does not make much dierence whethera morally e#il is #oluntary or in#olontary! "his #iew would a#oide$cessi#e moralism! Prolem is that / can commit e#il actions ifno one notices them!

7lanagan thinks that dreams can e #olontary! /t is common totry to continue a nice dream or stop an unpleasant dream! 3utthere may e prolems! 7lanagan tells aout his pleasantdream in#ol#ing Marilyn Monroe which he could continue y

will! Prolem is, while it was pleasant, it also in#ol#ed anotional adultery!

"his kind of one(s in=uence to one(s dreams takes place inlucid dreaming! Certain people can actually work on plotre#isions as the dream occurs and the action unfolds! "hereforelucid dreams are roustly #oluntary!

Xoluntariness marks a moral accountaility or moral


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6ohn Sutton on dreaming Sutton: QDreaming(

)https:GGwww!academia!eduG*+1GDreaming-

/n his encyclopedia&article, Sutton presents the latestpsychological theories on dreaming! 2e also calls for originalnew #iewpoints, of which he mentions the learning in dream&theory of Da#id 7oulkes!

Sutton asks good uestions, of which / mention here two:

*- Do indi#idually and culturally #ariale eliefs aout dreamingonly in=uence dream reports, or is the form of dreamsthemsel#es in certain aspects also mallealeF /n other words: docultural dierences in=uence the content of dreamsF /n

philosophical accounts this is not usually thought to e aprolem! Sometimes the age of the dreamer can e an issue orthe uality of memory, ut not ethnical or racial ackground!;ould need more study!0- Most roadly, is dreaming a uasi&perceptual hallucination oran imaginati#e constructF

Sutton(s other uestion gi#es the di#iding&lines etween analytic


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Sutton on perceptual and imaginati#e approachto dreaming

6ohn Sutton asks: 2ow clear aconsensus can we otain aoutthe details of thephenomenology of dreamingF2ow good is our access to ourown e$perienceF And of course,how well can we rememer our

dreamsF Sutton argues )p! 4-that the imaginati#e dreaminghas e#en more gaps and ismore fragmentary that theperceptual #iew!

According to some e$periments

y 7oulkes, only a small numerof dreams were e$perienced ina see&oneself&mode8 where /8is the one who wittnesses ore$periences! Iften in dreamswe see images from otherperson(s point of #iew )Q%eld

memories( #s! Qoser#er(


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Dreaming as imagination

Some philosophers )/chikawa, Sosa, McOinn- elie#e that dreaming is.ust the imagination at work during sleep )K Aristotle, 2oes-! Anyconscious e$periences during sleep are imagistic rather thanperceptual!

McOinn: "he Iser#ational Attitude: if we are percei#ing )orhallucinating-, say, two indi#iduals ha#ing a con#ersation then wemight need to strain our senses to hear or see what they arediscussing! During dreams of course, the ody is completely rela$edand the sleeping indi#idual shows no interest in his or her surroundings!

Dreaming is the natural instance of shutting out all of our sensoryawareness of the outside world, argualy to entirely engage theimagination! "his suggests that the dreamer is hearing with theirmind(s ear and seeing with their mind(s eye! "hey are entertaining

images, not percepts! Recognition in dreams! /n dreams we seem to already know who all of

the characters are, without making any eort to %nd out who they are)without using any of our senses-! "his might suggest that in dreamswe are partly in control of the content )e#en if we fail to reali@e it-ecause we allegedly summon up the characters that we want to! ;e

recogni@e who dream characters are, such as relati#es, e#en when theylook drastically dierent!


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Re#onsuo on modelling dreams

Re#onsuo: Inner Presence)0119-

Xisual awareness has eenused as the model system inconsciousness research!Re#onsuo argues that dreamingshould also ha#e a placealongside #isual awareness, asa special instance ofconsciousness and therefore aworthy model to e studied!"he dreaming rain alsocaptures consciousness in a

theoretically interesting form8! Agreeing with 2oes and

Locke, Re#onsuo argues thatdreaming is an unusually raree$ample of pure8consciousness, eing as it is

de#oid of ongoing perceptualinput and therefore might


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Dreaming as pure consciouse$perience

3ut it is clear that su.ecti#ity is pure in dreams! "hey re#eal theespecially su.ecti#e nature of consciousness: the creation of aworld&for&me8! "hus there is a phenomenological aspect to them >one can see here an attempt to comine the analytical andphenomenological approach to dreaming!

Modelling dreaming can also help rain research! During dreaming

the phenomenology is demonstraly not ontologically dependenton any process missing during dreaming! Any parts of the rain notused in dreaming can e ruled out as not eing necessary tophenomenal consciousness!

Malcolm had argued that dreaming was worthy of no further

empirical work for the notion was simply incoherent, and Dennettwas sceptical that dreams would turn out to e#en in#ol#econsciousness! "he radical proposal now is that dreaming ought toe championed as an e$ample of conscious e$perience, a mascotfor scienti%c in#estigation in consciousness studies!

/t is alleged that dreams can recapitulate any e$perience from

waking life and for this reason Re#onsuo concludes that the same


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An alternati#e #iew on dreaming andconsciousness

;indt, 6! M!, 'oreika, X! 2ow to /ntegrate Dreaming into aOeneral "heory of ConsciousnessYA Critical Re#iew of ?$istingPositions and Suggestions for 7uture Research,8 Consciousnessand Cognition, 01)5- )01**-, pp! *1+* > **1

;indt 'oreika re.ect dreaming as a model system utsuggest it will work etter as a contrastsystem to wakefulness!

"his is ecause there are many #iews on dreams, utwakefullness is pretty self&e$planatory! /n addition, Scientistsdo not e#en directly work with dreams themsel#es, ut ratherdescriptions of dreams!

Re#onsuo simply assumes his conception of dreaming is

correct! 2e elie#es that dreaming can e a model of wakingconsciousness ecause dreams can e identical replicas ofwaking consciousness in#ol#ing all possile e$periences! ;indt 'oreika elie#e that dreams tend to e dierent to wakinglife in important ways )compare analytical #s!phenomenological approach- K ;indt 'oreika ha#e similar

suspicions as Malcolm!


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A modest approach

"he contrast analysis does not ignore dreaming, ut proposes amore modest approach!

;ith research di#ided etween waking consciousness,dreaming and a comparison of the two states, this morepractical approach will yield etter results, argue ;indt and'oreika!

3y using the proposed method, we can see how consciousnessworks oth with and without en#ironmental input! 3oth areeually important! After all, oth are genuine e$amples ofconsciousness!

"his approach also means that the outcome will e mutually

informati#e as regards the two types of consciousness withinsights gained in oth directions! /t is important to comparedreaming as an important e$ample of consciousness operatingwith radically changed neural processing to wakingconsciousness!

;ith the contrasti#e analysis there is the prospect ofcomparing dream consciousness to oth pathological and non&


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2usserl: ;orld as a dream

?dmund 2usserl )*4+&*+4-continued the Cartesian tradition!

Descartes(s scepticism pro#ided amodel of how to suspend ournatural commitment to ourepistemic eliefs in order to ring

to light the fundamental featuresat work in elief as such!Descartes(s hyperolic doutwhich puts in uestion the#ery e$istence of the world isthe most radical of theseforms of suspension of elief!

Similarly, for 2usserl,phenomenology must e ale tocope with the most radicaldenial of the world, with the

challenge of the most radicalhyperolic dout which sees


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Surrealists and dadaists

"he surrealists and dadaists wereconsciously using the characteristicsof dreams )such as irregularity,unpredictaility, space&timediscontinuity- in the theoreticalwritings and artistic e$periments!

Andre 3reton(s Manifesto )*+05-argues that dreams are moreintersting than waking life and onecan e$press oneself more freelywhen dreaming:

8;ithin the ounds in which theyoperate )or are thought to operate-,

dreams, to all appearances, arecontinuous and show signs of order!8;hen will there e sleeping logicians,sleeping philosophers[8Can the dream not also e applied tothe solution of life(s fundamental

uestionsF8"hey say that e#ery e#ening, efore he


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6ean&Paul Sartre

A similar #iew of dreams asfree e$pression wasmaintained y 6ean&PaulSartre )*+1&*+41- in hisL(imaginaire )*+51-!

Against Descartes, Sartre

argued that unlikeperceptions, dreams areassociated with a specialtype of 8elief8 or8fascination withoute$istential assumption8!

Dreams are ad#entures likestories in no#els, close toconsciousness without anessential relation to reality!

8"he dream is not %ction taken

for reality, it is the Idyssey of


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Merleau&Ponty on temporality indreams

/n $e pro"lem de lapassivite Maurice Merleau&Ponty )*+14&*+9*-discusses the time indreams in a little same wayas Malcolm:

"he dream is not an actcircumscried temporally!2ence, the uiuity of thedream, thanks to itssymolic matrices! 3ut it isalso trans&temporal! Awakenedconsciousness entails thetime of consciousness and thetime of its o.ect ! Ineiricconsciousness B does notcontain this clea#age!Concerning a dream, theuestion arises whether it is


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3inswanger and 7oucault on dreams ande$istence

Ludwig 3inswanger )*44*&*+99- was a Swiss psychiatrist and pioneerin the %eld of e$istential psychology!

/n *+04 %andlungen in der Au&assung und Deutung des #raumes)"ransformations in the #iew and interpretation of the dream- wasissued and in *+1 3inswanger pulished a short treatise #raum undE'isten()Dream and e$istence-!

3inswanger was an important early in=uence to Michel 7oucault )*+09&*+45- /n an introduction to 3inswager(s Dream and ?$istence, in anessay Dream, /magination, and ?$istence8 )*+0- 7oucault thinks that3inswanger(s e$istential&psychological prioriti@ing of dreams is .usti%edand completed in the two&fold operation of %rst prioriti@ing theimagination o#er perception, and then founding the imagination indreams! ;e can only regain the rigorous goals of phenomenology if we

recogni@e that dreams, rather than eing an eect of the imagination,are the source of the imagination! Moreo#er, since dreams ha#e asymolic structure of their own, y analy@ing dreams we analy@e thefundamental structures of perception!

2owe#er, the Malcolmian prolem occurs: once 7oucault has pairedontology with an in#estigation of the imagination through dream

analysis, howe#er, he has eliminated the possiility of the descriptionand adeuation of the contents of consciousness! "he image, created


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Postmodernist reality Some postmodernist thinkerslike 6ean 3audrillard )*+0+&

011 there areonly =eeting images which

make up a dream&likehyperreality: neon&lights, t#&

screens, social media, mo#ies,#ideos, computer games etc!

"his can also e e$perienced in#irtual reality where our

perceptions are produced ycomputers and we li#e in

synthetic cyerspace! 2owe#er, these takes place

when we are awake > the dreamis produced arti%cially! /lkka 'iiniluoto has

reformulated the Cartesianuestion: how do we know

whether we are .ust li#ing in thereal world or in #irtual realityF

;olfson: A Dream /nterpreted


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;olfson: A Dream /nterpreted;ithin A Dream/n A Dream /nterpreted ;ithin aDream, ?lliot ;olfson guides the

reader through contemporary

philosophical and scienti%c modelsto the archaic wisdom that thedream state and waking reality areon an eual phenomenal footing&&that the phenomenal world is thedream from which one mustawaken y waking to the dream

that one is merely dreaming thatone is awake! ;olfson draws onpsychoanalysis, phenomenology,and neuroscience to elucidate thephenomenon of dreaming in a #astarray of ilical, rainic,

philosophical, and kaalisticte$ts! "o understand the dream,;olfson writes, it is necessary toemrace the parado$ of the%ctional truth&&a truth whoseauthenticity can e gauged onlyfrom the standpoint of its

arti%ciality!


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Malcolm and phenomenology

;indt and Met@inger in their paper ("he Philosophy ofDreaming and Self&Consciousness: ;hat 2appens to the?$periential Su.ect during the Dream StateF( )011


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?thics of dreaming

;e ha#e already seen thatSt! Augustine wasconcerned aout sinfulse$ual thoughts in dreams!2is #iews were in somerespect shared y Iwen

7lanagan in Dreaming ouls! Are we morally responsile

for our actions in dreamsF

Are we morally oliged tonot entertain certain

thoughts, e#en if thesethoughts do not aect ourlater actions and do notharm othersF

Conseuentialism #s


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Conseuentialism #sdeontologism

?mpirical uestion for a conseuentialist: are dreams, fantasies and#ideo games are really without eha#ioural conseuence towardsothersF )Dri#er: dreams do ha#e conseuences, ut it is a dierentmatter whether they can e e#aluated ethicallyE one has to producegood systematically in order one(s actions to e ethical > dream actionsdo not do this!-

Conseuentialist theories may well argue that, pro#ided that dreamsreally do not aect my eha#iour later, it is not morally wrong toharm8 other dream characters, e#en in lucid dreaming!

Deontological theories, in stark contrast to Conseuential theories,elie#e that we ha#e oligations to act and think, or not act and think,in certain ways regardless of eects on other people!

According to Deontological moral theories, / ha#e a duty to ne#erentertain certain thoughts ecause it is wrong in itself! Deontologicaltheories see indi#iduals as more important than mere conseuences ofaction!

Since dreams are often actually aout real people, / am not treatingthat indi#idual as an end&in&itself if / chose to harm their dreamrepresentati#e8! "he asic Deontological ma$im to treat someone as

an end rather than a means to my entertainment can apply to dreams!Q (


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Xirtue ethics on dreaming

7ollows the ancientGAugustinian #iew of de#eloping one(s moralcharacter!

"his moral approach considers an indi#idual for his or her o#erall life,how to make it a good one and de#elop that indi#idual(s character!

"he uestion can we ha#e immoral dreamsF8 needs to e opened upto: what can / get out of dreaming to help me acuire #irtuousnessF8

2as also a 7reudian trait as dreams argualy put us in touch with ourunconscious and indirectly tell us aout our moti#es and haits in life)compare 7lanagan-

/n order to achie#e happiness, ful%lment and de#eloping #irtuousnesswe owe it to oursel#es to recall and pay attention to our dreams!

Certain changes people make in waking life do e#entually show up8 in

dreams! Dreams, as unconsciously instantiated, capture patterns ofthought from waking life!

?mphasis on lucid dreaming & new modes of thinking can e introducedand this is the process y which people learn to lucid dream! 3yperiodically introducing thoughts aout whether one is awake or notduring the day, e#ery day for some period of time, this pattern of

thinking e#entually occurs in dreams! 3y constantly asking am /awakeF8 in the day it ecomes more likely to ask oneself in a dream, to


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/nterdisciplinary approach

- Dreaming can e researched y co&operation of #ariousdiscplines such as pscyhology, anthropolgy, theology, artand philosophy!

7our asic uestions to all disciplines concerningdreaming:

a- ;hat is the source of a dreamF /s it the self or outsidethe selfF /f the self, is it the mindF "he rainF "he spiritF /fit is outside self, is it OodF Ither minds or spiritsF )cf!Rosen Sutton, (Self&representation and Perspecti#es inDreams(, Philosophy Compass4G** )011-, *15*&*1-

- ;hat is the location of a dreamF /s it the mind or rainF/s there a dream world to which the dreamer or part of thedreamer tra#els during the dreamF

c- ;hat aout the content of the dreamF ;hat is the stuof dreamsF /s it physicalF MentalF ;hat aout the #eracity

contemporary philosophy of dreams

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