Some Remarks on the Phenomenology of Dreams

LUIS ROMÁN RABANAQUE

Lima

Workshop; Interamerican Phenomenological Workshop: Methods and Problems ? Current Phenomenological Perspectives and Research. In Memoriam Lester Embree; 2018

Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú

The question of dreams is closely related to the problem of the un-conscious. Due to its place within consciousness at large, the latter faces very particular difficulties. In this paper, we will deal with four main topics. Firstly, we will discuss the possibility of phenomenologically accessing the unconscious and the dreams. Although Husserl seems to grant this, in recent literature some important objections have been raised that need to be met. Secondly, after showing that access to these phenomena is possible, we will consider what methods can be appropriate for their analysis. For this purpose, we will draw on Lester Embree?s indications on reflective analysis, as well as on descriptions provided by Edmund Husserl and Eugen Fink. Thirdly, we will briefly sketch the most relevant structures in the phenomenon of (night) dreaming. In a final section, we will advance an eidetic typology of dreams based on a set of both formal and material criteria, including the logical coherence of dreams, their content, their relationship to temporality, and the role that the I and the body play in dreaming.