The Interpretation of Dreams

Part of the bestselling Capstone Classics Series edited by Tom Butler-Bowdon, this collectible, hard-back edition of The Interpretation of Dreams provides an accessible and insightful edition of this important work of psychology.

Sigmund Freud`s The Interpretation of Dreams introduced his ground-breaking theory of the unconscious and explored how interpreting dreams can reveal the true nature of humanity. Regarded as Freud`s most significant work, this classic text helped establish the discipline of psychology and is the foundational work in the field of psychoanalysis. Highly readable and engaging, the book both provides a semi-autobiographical look into Freud`s personal life - his holidays in the Alps, spending time with his children, interacting with friends and colleagues - and delves into descriptions and analyses of the dreams themselves.

Freud begins with a review of literature on dreams written by a broad range of ancient and contemporary figures - concluding that science has learned little of the nature of dreams in the past several thousand years. Although the prevailing view was that dreams were merely responses to `sensory excitation, ` Freud felt that the multifaceted dimensions of dreams could not be attributed solely to physical causes. By the time Freud began writing the book he had interpreted over a thousand dreams of people with psychoses and recognised the connection between the content of dreams and a person`s mental health. Among his conclusions were that a person`s dreams: