The Epistemology of Dreams

Abstract

In this paper the author does research into various opinions, arguments, and objections of philosophers to René Descartes’ Dream Argument from the First Meditation in his work Meditations on First Philosophy. To be expounded here are The Dream Argument from Descartes’ epistemology, the flaw in the construction of the argument and the issue of dream ontology. Central to this paper is the review of Ernest Sosa’s article Dreams and Philosophy, and the objections thereto of Claudia Lorena García. The goal of this research is to provide a review of recent discussions on this ever–current issue, since by means of this argument Descartes questioned radically the certainty of sensory experience which has lead many philosophers to attempt to find a satisfactory response to this problem.