Medicine and philosophy - Classical Homeopathy Online

Aristotle on sleep and dreams 201However, a similar problem presents itself further down in the text, whenAristotle considers yet another possible explanation for the phenomenonof divination in sleep; and again the difficulty arises while accommodatingthe view of another thinker, in this case the atomist philosopherDemocritus.6 a democritean elementAs for dreams that do not have origins of the nature we just described, but originsthat are extravagant in time, place or size, or in none of these respects but withoutthose who see the dream having the origin in themselves – if foresight of thefuture [in these cases] does not occur as a result of coincidence, the explanationis more likely to be as follows than as Democritus says, who adduces idols andemanations as causes. Just as when something sets water in motion or air, and thismoves something else, and when the one has stopped exercising motion, such amovement continues until it reaches a certain point where the original movingagent is not present, likewise nothing prevents a certain movement and senseperceptionfrom arriving at the dreaming souls, proceeding from the objects fromwhich Democritus says the idols and the emanations proceed, and in whateverway they arrive, [nothing prevents them from being] more clearly perceptible atnight because during the day they are scattered more easily – for at night the airis less turbulent because there is less wind at night – and from bringing aboutsense-perception in the body because of sleep, for the same reason that we alsoperceive small movements inside us better when we are asleep than when we areawake. These movements cause appearances, on the basis of which people foreseethe future even about these things. (Div. somn. 464 a 6–19)Unfortunately, we do not have much information on Democritus’ views onprophetic dreams that would allow us to check what Aristotle is attributingto him, 53 but it seems that Aristotle is largely sympathetic to it, though withthe adaptation that instead of Democritus’ ‘idols and emanations’ (eidōlakai aporrhoiai) he favours ‘movements’ (kinēseis) as the mediating factors.Furthermore, Aristotle says explicitly that the explanation offered for these‘extravagant’ cases of foresight is built on the assumption that they are notdue to coincidence ( ). Thushe is offering an alternative explanation for cases of foresight which earlieron he attributed to coincidence (463 b 1–11) – and this was apparently alsowhat Democritus was doing. The experiences mentioned here are clearlyderived from sources outside the dreamer’s body, which emit ‘movements’that, after travelling over a great distance, reach the soul in sleep; and theycan do so more easily at night because, Aristotle says, there is less wind53 See van der Eijk (1994) 310–12 for a discussion and fuller references.