The Interpretation of Dreams was impressed by the work when he read it in 1905. Rank was moved to write a critical reanalysis of one of Freud's own dreams, and perhaps partly for this reason came to Freud's attention. It was with Rank's help that Freud published the work's second edition in 1909. The classicist Norman O. Brown, writing in "Life Against Death" (1959), described "The Interpretation of Dreams" as one of the great applications and extensions of the Socratic maxim "know thyself." The philosopher Paul Ricœur, writing in "Freud and Philosophy" (1965), described Freud's work as his "first great book", and argued that
Psychology of religion and dreams researching dreams is worthwhile. Some have debated that dreams are purposeless and completely random, whereas other have suggested dreams having an adaptive function that allows for positive implications. Although there isn't findings of specifically lowering negative effects, research has alluded to dreams embellished with religious themes having a positive benefit for the user. The biggest finding was related to dreams and religion included exploring this connection as a form of coping. This effect of the Western worldview of dreams and dream interpretation with religious connotations has spread as far as the churches in Nigeria, Africa. These churches believed their leaders