On Kant’s po(i)etic concept of dream

Abstract:

Dreams have always been a puzzling, because obscure and irrational-connoted topic; this being the reason why they were neglected for so long by learned scholars. Kant is one of the first to investigate the hidden traits and potentialities of the dream, in his anthropological-aesthetic work. The objective of this article is therefore to show how, according to Kant, dreams are a connection, as well as a scission between human consciousness and unconsciousness, and this through the hybrid factor of the I’s capacity of imagination (Einbildungsfähigkeit); to demonstrate Kant’s explanation of the inverse formation of oneiric representations in one’s unconsciousness and their inherent and unique strength and influence on the human soul, and thereby to render explicit the philosopher’s singular view of dreams as “involuntary poetry”, as opposed and/or connected to conscious poetry.

Key Words:

Kant, dream, representation, imagination, (un-)consciousness