IMAGES OF THE NIGHT, PATHS OF THE WORLD, WAYS OF LIFE: FOUCAULT READS ARTEMIDORUS

Abstract

The article considers the complexity of the dream phenomenon across different moments
in human cultural history, focusing particularly on Foucault's interpretation of Artemidorus of Daldis'
Oneirokritika within the context of his studies on sexuality and the arts of existence. It argues that
Foucault's analysis not only sheds light on dream interpretation practices in Antiquity but also provides
a critical perspective on how individual representations of sexual dreams reflect social, ethical, and
political aspects that are irreducible to both identity and psychological intimacy. Foucault thereby shifts
the issue of sexuality towards a way of life, opening up an intriguing space for the philosophical
problematization of a political ontology of dreams.