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Last night I dreamed I had an uncle who was a member of the Mob. I knew he was about to commit a murder, and I wondered whether I should do anything to prevent the killing. Then I thought, “This is just a dream, so it doesn’t matter what I do.”
When I woke up, I wondered about that. Are we morally culpable for our actions (or inactions) in dreams?
I mentioned this to my wife, and she said she’d written a paper for school 40 years ago that touched on the topic. As far as she could remember, Pope Gregory the Great said we aren’t responsible for what we do in dreams.
I researched a little and found that wasn’t precisely what he wrote. He wrote that moral responsibility in dreams depends on their cause. If gluttony or impure thoughts led to a dream, one was morally responsible, but if a dream was caused by indigestion, one was not morally culpable. He did seem to think that usually, we shouldn’t worry too much about our dream life, though dreams may be an indication of our current moral state. (FWIW, I would not have ever thought of looking up Pope G if my wife hadn’t mentioned him.)
On the other hand, Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount that while it’s said that one should not commit adultery, “I tell you that if you have thought lustily, you are guilty.” I admit I haven’t always been a faithful husband in my dreams. (Again: FWIW, my wife is proofreading this post!)
So, what do you think, philosophers and theologians of Ricochet?
Discussion (14)
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No, but you may be culpable for whatever you do in your wife’s dreams.
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Plato’s Republic has some advice for virtuous dreaming.
Augustine’s Confessions repents over sinning in dreams.
If you think it's real at the time, it's a sin.
But if you're not able to think rationally because you aren't even fully conscious, it's a minor sin. See the confession scene in Canticle for Leibowitz.
The bigger issue may be HABITS. We have enough trouble already with tendencies to sin in waking life. Dream without ethics--and you're probably making it worse. Dream with ethics--and you'll make it a little bit better. Let no part of life be separated from the rigorous work of building better habits.
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I've been there, man. I have been there.
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Gregory seems to be on to something here. What happens in our dreams is not under our rational control because we are not conscious. So we are not directly responsible for them in the manner that we are for our thoughts and actions when we are awake.
But when we are awake we are morally responsible for actions that may have results in our dreams. An analogous case is that of alcohol. Someone drunk is no longer rationally in control of his actions, but he is responsible for the drinking that put him in that state at a time when he was in rational control of his actions. So if he runs someone over in his car he is rightly charged with vehicular manslaughter.
As far as the Scripture quote goes, the Church position is that sin involves rational submission of the will. Impure thoughts that come unbidden to the mind are not sinful, but dwelling on them rather than banishing them is.
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