Can we be held morally accountable for what we do in our dreams?

Question

What do you think? Can we be held accountable for our dreams? What about lucid dreams?

Answer 1

I hope not.  My dreams are crazy.

Answer 2

Shoot, I've been held accountable for what I did in OTHER people's dreams.

Anyway, I would say in a lucid dream, yes. If you know you are dreaming and are consciously choosing your actions, then dreaming about being a serial killer would be immoral.  

Answer 3

Some people will punish themselves for their thoughts, so it isn't a stretch that someone would punish themselves for their dreams. Self-punishment though is such an ineffective way of dealing with life though, that punishing anyone for their dreams would only drive those actions and urges deeper into the psyche.

If you consider a dream like a movie, who wrote the script? It is the dreamer who must first create the dream before they can even consider some accountability for it.

However, if you believe that we are not responsible for what we dream, holding someone accountable defies our concept of justice. We don't hold someone accountable for something for which they are not responsible.

Answer 4

I'm with Todd on this one. I believe that if you are having a lucid dream AND are aware of the morality of your actions then you should be held accountable. It is possible to be in a lucid dream, well aware you're dreaming, and not be morally conscious (right term?). In that case, I'd say no.

Answer 5

Morality doesn't apply to dreams, only to waking life.  Dreaming is a different state of consciousness.  Everything and everyone in a dream is a manifestation of the dreamer.  And actions in dreams don't have any effect per se on waking consciousness.

Answer 6

i dont think you can be since you dont really get to plan what you dream about.

Answer 7

Even dream is not within your control!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 8

You have no self in your dreams to be responsible.  You have limited awareness but no self.  (That is why some dreams can become nightmares as the self is not there to protect.)  The self only exists when you are awake.  And there is no consequence to what happens in your dreams in the real world.  So, no, dreams are never an issue of morality.

Answer 9

If someone holds anyone accountable for his/her dreams. then the subject is held accountable.  It does sound like you are asking if it is morally correct to hold someone else morally accountable for what they do in their dreams, and imo it cannot be.

Much of this question centers around the definition of accountable.

My guess is that you mean ``is a person punishable?``  I could be wrong since words are tricky that way.  Anyhow imo accountable is not the same as punishable.  It means that the individual involved can give an account of what happened, he/she can tell a list of things that happened.  When it comes to dreams of any kind, imo, there is no guarantee that a person can give an accurate account since apparently dreams are mere interpretations and humans are designed, again supposedly, to forget what goes on in that realm.

As suggested there may be dreams of different sorts or different interpretations of different types of events occurring during a sleeping state.  

Imo, the real question might be, ``Are humans to be punished for what they do in order to satisfy others?`` and that is a question that I believe most humans are not ready for yet.  This has to do with the issue of justice and guilt which I see as an injustice or even as a joke when seen from a ``higher`` perspective.  

As well, in trying to figure out what actually lead to the question, I was reminded of a case where an adult who was sexually assaulting a child claimed innocence for the act because the perpetrator had been asleep during the act and was dreaming.  So what else is new?  Are people who make mistakes in life not always short on details or information?  Would people not act differently if they knew all the consequences?  Would people smoke tobacco if they knew the suffering of the lung cancer they were about to get?  And so on and on.

Thanks for the question.  It is a good one.  Cheers!

Answer 10

Once you know what it is, yes.