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Dreams
Fascinating and in-depth look at dreams by Henri Bergson, first published in 1913, and filled with countless amazing discoveries and revelations on par with Freud.
64 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1901
20 people are currently reading
491 people want to read
About the author
Henri Bergson
418?books770?followersPopular and accessible works of French philosopher and writer Henri Louis Bergson include
Creative Evolution
(1907) and
The Creative Mind
(1934) and largely concern the importance of intuition as a means of attaining knowledge and the ¨¦lan vital present in all living things; he won the Nobel Prize of 1927 for literature.
Although international fame and influence of this late 19th century-early 20th century man reached heights like cult during his lifetime, after the Second World War, his influence decreased notably. Whereas such thinkers as Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean Paul Sartre, and ³¢¨¦±¹¾±²Ô²¹²õ explicitly acknowledged his influence on their thought, Bergsonism of Gilles Deleuze in 1966 marked the reawakening of interest. Deleuze recognized his concept of multiplicity as his most enduring contribution to thinking. This concept attempts to unify heterogeneity and continuity, contradictory features, in a consistent way. This revolutionary multiplicity despite its difficulty opens the way to a re-conception of community, or so many today think.
Although international fame and influence of this late 19th century-early 20th century man reached heights like cult during his lifetime, after the Second World War, his influence decreased notably. Whereas such thinkers as Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean Paul Sartre, and ³¢¨¦±¹¾±²Ô²¹²õ explicitly acknowledged his influence on their thought, Bergsonism of Gilles Deleuze in 1966 marked the reawakening of interest. Deleuze recognized his concept of multiplicity as his most enduring contribution to thinking. This concept attempts to unify heterogeneity and continuity, contradictory features, in a consistent way. This revolutionary multiplicity despite its difficulty opens the way to a re-conception of community, or so many today think.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
October 9, 2018
As a taster for Bergson¡¯s philosophical style, I decided to read this short essay on Dream interpretation. To me it offered a novel idea, and that made it worthwhile.
From the beginning:
Slosson¡¯s spirited Introduction from 1914, written shortly after Bergson published his essay, offers a potent inoculation against any skeptical dream-interpreter (and they must have been plenty at the time):
Slosson then goes on to explain what he considers to be Bergson¡¯s original contribution:
Disinterestedness? Let¡¯s see. Perhaps I¡¯m a century too late to appreciate the significance of this idea, or perhaps it is the same as the one that I gained, only titled differently.
Now about the essay: Bergson spends some time convincing the reader that phosphens, or coloured spots that everyone sees when they close their eyes, are the seeds of dream-images. Then he proceeds to sounds, touch, and proprioception, and how external sensations filter into our sleeping mind. In more familiar language, he says that the physical sensations we are subjected to while asleep affect our dreams. How? In the vastness of our subconscious mind roam memories, lively, complete, memories that wish to escape, bubble up to the surface, find their expression. But they have no substance. So they find their substance in the sensations.?
Put differently, (in my words) the sensations represent flesh, while the memories are the soul seeking flesh they can animate. But only certain souls can fill flesh of a certain shape. And so the type of sensation-flesh that is offered at any particular moment determines the type of memory-soul that can fill it. Therefore dreams are a selection of memories determined by the dreamer¡¯s bodily sensations. Of course, Bergson puts it better:
The disinterestedness element comes in (also) when Bergson seeks to account for the preference given by the dreamer to one memory image rather than others, equally capable of being inserted into the actual sensations.
Indeed why one over another? He claims the memories that are chosen stem from the things we were least interested in during our waking hours:
I¡¯m not sure I believe that, nor am I up to date on the latest dream research. But I do like the idea¡ªbe it only a sleek metaphor¡ªthat dreams are memories ballasted by sensation.
From the beginning:
Slosson¡¯s spirited Introduction from 1914, written shortly after Bergson published his essay, offers a potent inoculation against any skeptical dream-interpreter (and they must have been plenty at the time):
When a scholar laboriously translates a cuneiform tablet dug up from a Babylonian mound where it has lain buried for five thousand years or more, the chances are that it will turn out either an astrological treatise or a dream book. If the former, we look upon it with some indulgence; if the latter with pure contempt. For we know that the study of the stars, though undertaken for selfish reasons and pursued in the spirit of charlatanry, led at length to physical science, while the study of dreams has proved as unprofitable as the dreaming of them. Out of astrology grew astronomy. Out of oneiromancy has grown¡ªnothing.
Slosson then goes on to explain what he considers to be Bergson¡¯s original contribution:
Here, too, he [Bergson] set forth the idea, which he, so far as I know, was the first to formulate, that sleep is a state of disinterestedness, a theory which has since been adopted by several psychologists.
Disinterestedness? Let¡¯s see. Perhaps I¡¯m a century too late to appreciate the significance of this idea, or perhaps it is the same as the one that I gained, only titled differently.
Now about the essay: Bergson spends some time convincing the reader that phosphens, or coloured spots that everyone sees when they close their eyes, are the seeds of dream-images. Then he proceeds to sounds, touch, and proprioception, and how external sensations filter into our sleeping mind. In more familiar language, he says that the physical sensations we are subjected to while asleep affect our dreams. How? In the vastness of our subconscious mind roam memories, lively, complete, memories that wish to escape, bubble up to the surface, find their expression. But they have no substance. So they find their substance in the sensations.?
Put differently, (in my words) the sensations represent flesh, while the memories are the soul seeking flesh they can animate. But only certain souls can fill flesh of a certain shape. And so the type of sensation-flesh that is offered at any particular moment determines the type of memory-soul that can fill it. Therefore dreams are a selection of memories determined by the dreamer¡¯s bodily sensations. Of course, Bergson puts it better:
The sensation is warm, colored, vibrant and almost living, but vague. The memory is complete, but airy and lifeless. The sensation wishes to find a form on which to mold the vagueness of its contours. The memory would obtain matter to fill it, to ballast it, in short to realize it.
The disinterestedness element comes in (also) when Bergson seeks to account for the preference given by the dreamer to one memory image rather than others, equally capable of being inserted into the actual sensations.
Indeed why one over another? He claims the memories that are chosen stem from the things we were least interested in during our waking hours:
In normal sleep our dreams concern themselves rather, other things being equal, with the thoughts which we have passed through rapidly or upon objects which we have perceived almost without paying attention to them.?
I¡¯m not sure I believe that, nor am I up to date on the latest dream research. But I do like the idea¡ªbe it only a sleek metaphor¡ªthat dreams are memories ballasted by sensation.
October 10, 2017
This is a very short, very dated look at dreaming. It was a lecture given by Henri Bergson long before much dream research was done. Mr. Bergson mentions "deep sleep" and how dream researchers should focus on that, since it is his belief that's where the most interesting dreaming is taking place. He was correct there, without knowing at the time he was correct. He also was heading towards psychical studying of dreams, but had not fully jumped into it yet.
In addition, Mr. Bergson made some interesting observations about how sounds and light from the waking world can affect the dreaming world; such as those who are exposed to a bright light when sleeping may then dream of fires; or those who are exposed to bright moonlight may then dream of maidens. :) There's "bigger picture" matters in this lecture, too, which would require reading more of Henri Bergson's work to fully understand what he is proposing.
In addition, Mr. Bergson made some interesting observations about how sounds and light from the waking world can affect the dreaming world; such as those who are exposed to a bright light when sleeping may then dream of fires; or those who are exposed to bright moonlight may then dream of maidens. :) There's "bigger picture" matters in this lecture, too, which would require reading more of Henri Bergson's work to fully understand what he is proposing.
Want to read
July 26, 2023"In sleep, properly speaking, in sleep which absorbs our whole personality, it is memories and only memories which weave the web of our dreams. But often we do not recognize them."
page 31
page 31
May 29, 2020
A bird¡¯s eye view into his view of dreams. Written in clear language, this can be followed by a general reader as well as a philosophy enthusiast. More than philosophy, his perspectives on psychology, with a leaning towards psychoanalysis sans the sexuality is visible here.
May 2, 2024
if you like this review i now have website:
340313: minor work by bergson. still interesting. general trend is towards equivalence of dream and waking life, how our posture, environment, sights, all effect. how there is no abrupt division. how dreaming self is just as rational. how time is malleable. how space is unbounded. how dreaming incoherence is only waking mind trying to force interpretation rather than experience flow...
340313: minor work by bergson. still interesting. general trend is towards equivalence of dream and waking life, how our posture, environment, sights, all effect. how there is no abrupt division. how dreaming self is just as rational. how time is malleable. how space is unbounded. how dreaming incoherence is only waking mind trying to force interpretation rather than experience flow...
July 31, 2022
Peculiar intro to the topic. Intriguing observation concerning two ego¡¯s, one while awake and one while asleep meeting at the point of awakening. (Particularly how someone or oneself can appear otherworldly in the moments between awaking and sleeping.)
My takeaway includes how memories appear in dreams as the fumes of our mind¡¯s engines. Likewise a remembering to not overly-mystify dreams but remember their psychological elements.
My takeaway includes how memories appear in dreams as the fumes of our mind¡¯s engines. Likewise a remembering to not overly-mystify dreams but remember their psychological elements.
July 6, 2021
Decided to read this book after it appeared in a music video for the song 'OH' by the group Stray Kids. This book gives an interesting view on dreams. Makes me think.
June 10, 2018
This Essay is very informative , it provides many examples and facts from various people , psychologists and experiments . The size of this book is very comfortable and isn't hard to cover, if you start reading it you better finish it without stopping for some time , because its an Essay after all , therefore there are no chapters and ect. It goes beautifully when read without hesitation. Can be re-read any time as a very informative Essay. Author way of explaining various subjects about dreams is honestly very comfortable for even someone who is not into psychology and doesn't know the terminology (might need to search 3-5 terms, but they can be understood without too). By the way , my favorite quote - "In a dream we become no doubt indifferent to logic, but not incapable of logic."
Henri Bergson. Dreams (Kindle Locations 320-321).
Henri Bergson. Dreams (Kindle Locations 320-321).
March 8, 2025
somewhere between Freud and Jung (though predating Jung, I believe), Bergson's take on dreams is mainly phenomenological. he doesn't scratch the unconscious depth as nearly as Jung, but he does end this lecture by pointing to the direction of going there, which is exactly what Jung did.
an interesting thought came to mind when I read this in the introduction: "To use Professor Bergson's striking metaphor, our memories are packed away under pressure like steam in a boiler and the dream is their escape valve". isn't it exactly David Lynch's character Phillip Jeffries on season three of Twin Peaks? the percolator, as weird as a dream. I wonder if Lynch was aware of this connection.
an interesting thought came to mind when I read this in the introduction: "To use Professor Bergson's striking metaphor, our memories are packed away under pressure like steam in a boiler and the dream is their escape valve". isn't it exactly David Lynch's character Phillip Jeffries on season three of Twin Peaks? the percolator, as weird as a dream. I wonder if Lynch was aware of this connection.
October 27, 2022
¡°The sensation is warm, colored, vibrant and almost living, but vague. The memory is complete, but airy and lifeless. The sensation wishes to find a form on which to mold the vagueness of its contours. The memory would obtain matter to fill it, to ballast it, in short to realize it. They are drawn toward each other; and the phantom memory, incarnated in the sensation which brings to it flesh and blood, becomes a being with a life of its own, a dream.¡±
March 2, 2025
Easy to digest singular lecture of Bergson¡¯s on the matter and nature of dreams. I found myself agreeing with his conclusions though I felt that he was in fact holding back some of his thoughts in terms of how they relate to psychical phenomena of which he had to toe the line between his interest in such things and ensuring his reputation was not slandered as a result of said interest.
Overall, solid foundation to build from.
Overall, solid foundation to build from.
April 21, 2020
Very interesting and very simple. I guess that its simplicity is what gives its power to agree with. I don't know if modern science support much or any of these claims but they seem quite logical to me at this point. Mostly because I explained a reaccuring dream that I had (now easily understood by my sleeping position).
June 13, 2021
Pseudoscientific, very outdated and a reflection of the obsession with Freud and psychoanalysis at the time. Nonetheless, Bergson wrote in a very nice manner and it was quite enjoyable to read. In terms of psychoanalysis and the pseudoscience of Dream interpretation, this is one of the more sane books on the topic.
Read
December 15, 2020"Yes, I believe indeed that all our past life is there, preserved even to the most infinitesimal details, and that we forget nothing, and that all that we have felt, perceived, thought, willed, from the first awakening of our consciousness, survives indestructibly."
October 17, 2024
I wanted to learn more about dreaming, but I didn't actually learn anything I didn't already know from this. Perhaps it is too dated and too much has been learned since then. Still, a short enough read that I'm not too mad about it.
August 23, 2018
Short, but a nice book to kill an hour with.
Most of what Bergson says tallys with my own experience.
Most of what Bergson says tallys with my own experience.
August 10, 2019
This short and pleasant text should be essential reading for anyone interested in Bergson¡¯s larger thought.
April 10, 2020
An interesting take on the topic. I wasnt fully into it but there were some good ideas spread throughout.
January 21, 2021
analyse int¨¦ressante sur le monde sans limite du r¨ºve
September 15, 2022
Very good.
August 22, 2018
QUOTES
Our memories are packed away under pressure like steam in a boiler and the dream is their escape valve.
The brain, ... , is that which allows the mind to adjust itself exactly to circumstances. It is the organ of attention to life. Should it become deranged, however slightly, the mind is no longer fitted to the circumstances; it wanders, dreams. Many forms of mental alienation are nothing else. But from this it results that one of the r?les of the brain is to limit the vision of the mind, to render its action more efficacious.
We live outside of ourselves. But sleep makes us retire into ourselves.
Our memories are packed away under pressure like steam in a boiler and the dream is their escape valve.
The brain, ... , is that which allows the mind to adjust itself exactly to circumstances. It is the organ of attention to life. Should it become deranged, however slightly, the mind is no longer fitted to the circumstances; it wanders, dreams. Many forms of mental alienation are nothing else. But from this it results that one of the r?les of the brain is to limit the vision of the mind, to render its action more efficacious.
We live outside of ourselves. But sleep makes us retire into ourselves.
April 1, 2016
This conference delivered by Bergson a year after Freud's Interpretation of Dreams is still relevant today. More importantly, this conference makes it easier to understand Bergson's in between position between materialism and idealism, even though his position is closer to the later than the first. That explains to understand his concept of intuition. The only reason to get this book, which is contained in Mind-Energy, is the introduction. The introduction contextualizes Bergson's argument with other's studies on Dreams that are not those of Freud's and Jung's.
October 28, 2016
This was a good book. It's short and free on Project Gutenberg. The idea of dreaming at the very end (no reason to spoil it) stands up to modern science of dreaming. There's a good explanation of what you need to do to enter "dream" or "dream-like" states. There's also a detailed explanation of how outside stimuli of different types can effect the dreaming process. Bergson did plenty of reading on dreams and thankfully kept this essay relatively short.
August 13, 2014
Labai grak?ti sapn? teorija, i?d?styta Bergsono 1901 m. perskaitytoje paskaitoje. Ikipsichoanalitin? teorija. ?iuo metu atrodo, kad kitoki? nei psichoanalitin?s ir b¨±ti negali. Labai sveika perskaityti visiems besidomintiems sapnais. Angli?k? variant? rasite ?ia:
June 24, 2013
Mr. Bergson speculates that dreams are nothing more than our minds trying to interpret light patterns behind closed lids. An interesting theory, but I personally think we travel the astral realm in dreams. I¡¯ve had too many personal experiences attesting to this to think of dreams as something so pointless.
February 4, 2016
It was an interesting read indeed and a very good theory. I'm very fascinated in the psychology of dreams and to be honest, the book made sense.
May 24, 2024
"In a dream we become no doubt indifferent to logic, but not incapable of logic."
Good stuff.
Good stuff.
April 28, 2011
insightful
April 14, 2017
A quick theory about why we dream, not a dictionary of subconscious symbols.
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