Ludwig Wittgenstein and the interpretation of dreams

Abstract

The article begins by briefly introducing the main points of Freud’s approach to dream interpretation. Then, against this background, we discuss Wittgenstein’s understanding of dream interpretation, referring to both his personal dreams and his comparison of dreams with movies. The purpose of this article is to analyze some of Wittgenstein’s descriptions of dreams. At the core of his interpretation, unlike with Freud’s unconscious, is the idea of consciously perceiving a meaningful relationship between the dreamer’s mental state when awake and the content of his or her dream. The discovery of this relationship can, according to Wittgenstein, be achieved in various ways, for example by comparing dreams to movie presentations.