The Scientific Literature on Dreams

Freud provides an overview of the scientific and theoretical findings on the interpretation of dreams up to that point in history. He notes that the first written work on dream psychology dates back to the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle's tract On Dreams and Dream Interpretation. However, he claims that no convincing theory of dream interpretation has yet been formulated; he asserts, "In spite of being concerned with the subject over many thousands of years, scientific understanding of the dream has not got very far." He laments that "little or nothing touching the essential nature of the dream or offering a definitive solution to any of its riddles" has been accomplished.

All Dreams Are Wish Fulfillments

Freud observes that, while scientific opinion has come to dismiss the idea that dreams can be interpreted, "popular opinion" has "stubbornly" held on to the notion that dreams...