The phenomenology of true dreams in Maimonides.
A. A. Brill
Dreaming March 1, 2000 DOI: 10.1023/a:1009403823905 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key points | Argues that for Maimonides true dreams involve the imagination subordinated to intellect, with dream images forming objective graded levels according to their purity from desire and intellectual use. The dream's content is a new piece of knowledge—a solution, political agenda, or future vision—that must be contextualized within one's own life. True dreams are extraordinary, not supernatural, and lack presentational immediacy. |
Abstract
Maimonides' conception of true dreams posits an important role for the faculty of imagination within the growth of the intellectual self. However, unlike many modern theories of the dream, Maimonides requires one to subject the imagination to intellectual processes, in order to be able to harness the imagination for the practical knowledge. The imagination found in the dream images consists of objective graded levels based on the purity of the imagination from desire and the use of the intellect. The content of the dream is new piece of knowledge, a solution, a political agenda, or a vision for the future that needs to be contextualized within one's own life. Maimonides emphasizes the image as an intellectual object, specifically a single object and not the event. For Maimonides dreams do not give supernatural content nor are true dreams a universal part of daily life. They are extraordinary and do not have presentational immediacy.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From dopamine to salience to psychosis--linking biology, pharmacology and phenomenology of psychosis. | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How do the brain's time and space mediate consciousness and its different dimensions? Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation-induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based model. | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |