Kluwer Academic/Human Sciences Press, Inc., New York City
Kluwer Academic/Human Sciences Press, Inc., New York City
Volume
10, Number 1, March 2000
CONTENTS
Special Issue on Historical Studies of Dreaming
Guest Editors: Kelly Bulkeley and Hendrika Vande Kemp
Introduction to the Special Issue on Historical Studies of Dreaming
Kelly Bulkeley, Hendrika Vande Kemp
Page 1
Dream Interpretation in Ancient Civilizations
J. Donald Hughes
Page 7
Genesis Dreams: Using a Private, Psychological Event as a Cultural, Political
Declaration
Ariel Knafo and Tziporit Glick
Page 19
Dreams in the History of Philosophy
Christopher Dreisbach
Page 31
The Phenomenology of True Dreams in Maimonides
Alan Brill
Page 43
A Historical Loop of One Hundred Years: Similarities Between 19th Century and
Contemporary Dream Research
Sophie Schwartz
Page 56
Kelly Bulkeley and Hendrika Vande Kemp
Introduction to the Special Issue on Historical Studies of Dreaming
Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol 10(1)
1-6, Mar 2000.
J. Donald Hughes
Dream
Interpretation in Ancient Times
Dreaming Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol
10(1) 7-18, Mar 2000.
Abstract:
Dream interpretation was regarded by ancient peoples in
Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome as an art requiring intelligence and,
sometimes, divine inspiration. It became a motif in literature. It was treated
as a science by philosophers and physicians. Dreams were thought to come either
as clear messages, or as symbols requiring interpretation. In a
method called incubation, the dreamer could sleep in a sacred place in
expectation of a dream that would elucidate a problem for which the dreamer
desired guidance. Dream-books listing images and their meanings were popular.
Historians reported leaders’ famous dreams that affected the course of events.
Very few ancient writers were skeptical of dreams; Cicero was one. Dream
interpretation was an honored profession with exponents such as Artemidorus of
Daldis. Ancient dream traditions and beliefs can provide perspective for
consideration of more recent theories of dream interpretation.
Key Words: ancient; Mesopotamia; Egypt; Greece; Rome.
Ariel Knafo and Tziporit Glick
Genesis
Dreams : Using a Private, Psychological Event as a Cultural, Political
Declaration
Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol 10(1)
19-30, Mar 2000.
Abstract:
The article examines the role of the 13 dreams in the book
of Genesis. The dreams are first shortly described (following Gnuse, 1984, and
Oppenheim, 1956) in their historical context: the Near-East of over 3000 years
ago. The structure of some of the dreams is then discussed and compared to
dreams from another historical period, that of modern Jewish Moroccan pilgrims (Bilu
& Abramovitch, 1985), whose faith is based largely
on the Bible. Following this discussion of the structure, the message of the
dreams, regarding both the near future, and the remote, national future, is
described. The article discusses the argument that all these dreams serve the
purpose of establishing a common national identity, which has been historically
the basis of Jewish faith. Possible reasons for using dreams in conveying the
message are then discussed. The article ends with a discussion on the declining
importance of the dream in the post-Genesis Bible.
Key Words: Bible, culture and dreams; history; Judaism; visitational dreams.
Christopher Dreisbach
Dreams in
the History of Philosophy
Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol
10(1) 31-41, Mar 2000.
Abstract:
For 2,500 years western philosophers showed great interest in dreams--as subjects, examples, analogies, and contexts. Since 1960 this interest has declined, while scholars in other disciplines continue to study dreams, often addressing philosophical issues. The history and the current dialogue invite philosophers to reinvigorate their study of dreams. This essay develops these observations about the philosophy of dreams by focusing on its history, briefly noting its recent decline, and closing with comments about its future.
Key Words: dreams; history; philosophy.
Alan
The
Phenomenology of True Dreams in Maimonides
Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol
10(1) 43-54, Mar 2000.
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.
Sophie Schwartz
A Historical Loop of One Hundred Years: Similarities Between 19th
Century and Contemporary Dream Research
Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol
10(1) 55-66, Mar 2000.
Abstract:
Contemporary cognitive and neuropsychological approaches to dreaming show striking methodological and conceptual similarities with the scientific dream literature of the last century. The use of introspective dream reports and the emphasis on dream phenomenology are characteristic of both periods but were banished during the first half of this century, the former by behaviorism, the latter by psychoanalysis. Three main common axioms of 19th century and contemporary dream research are described: (a) dream experience results from cognitive syntheses realized in the absence of external constraints; (b) dream narrative or dream coherency involves mental associative mechanisms; (c) dream bizarreness emerges from a cerebral state characterized by functional dissociation. According to these three axioms, the observation of dream phenomena reveals that distinct cognitive processes might function in a partly autonomous, automatic, and dissociated way, making dreaming a unique model of these cognitive processes.Key Words: dreaming; epistemology; cognitive processes; neuropsychology; consciousness states.
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