Aristotle on sleep and dreams 189
dreamer) it is very likely that all we are dealing with is a coincidence of two
occurrences without any physical relation ( 463 b 1 – 11 ).
As for question (iii), we need to look more closely at one of the most
famous – but also rather controversial – passages fromOn Divination in
Sleep( 463 b 12 – 18 )
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In general, since some other animals have dreams too, dreams are not sent by a god,
nor do they exist for this purpose; however, they are beyond human control, for
the nature [of the dreamer] is beyond human control, though not divine. A sign
of this is that quite simple people are inclined to having foresight and to having
clear dreams, which suggests that it is not a god who sends them, but rather that
all people who have, so to speak, a garrulous and melancholic nature, see all kinds
of visions [in their sleep].
This passage is very characteristic of Aristotle’s method in tackling the
phenomenon of dreams and prophecy in sleep. He firmly rejects the belief –
which was generally accepted in his time, even in intellectual circles – that
dreams are sent by a god. The argument he produces against this belief
consists of an intriguing combination of two empirical claims with an
a prioripresupposition. The empirical claims are that some other animals
(apart from human beings) also dream (no. 5 ) – an inference based on
the observation that dogs often bark during their sleep, as we learn from
Hist. An. 536 b 27 ff. – and that prophecy in sleep particularly occurs with
people of mediocre intellectual capacities (no. 6 ). These two claims are
combined with a rather sophisticated belief about the conditions of divine
dispensation of mantic knowledge. Aristotle silently presupposes that gods,
if they sent foreknowledge of the future to humans, would not send this to
simple-minded people but rather (or even exclusively) to the best and most
intelligent of people. This appears from another passage further on in the
treatise ( 464 a 19 – 21 ):
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And for this reason this experience [i.e. foresight of the future concerning events
whose origins lie outside the dreamer] occurs with simple people and not with the
most intelligent; for it would present itself both during the day and with intelligent
people, if it were a god who sends them.